Hinkley Point: Anti-nuclear demonstration blocks main road to Somerset complex

“What a great day I had at the Anti-Nuclear Demo at Hinkley Point on Saturday 10th March. It was really uplifting to be among so many truly committed environmentalists who want to see the back of nuclear power.
Over a 1000 people came from far and wide, on foot, bike, car, van and bus(many of them) to express their strong feelings against New Nuclear. The numbers may not have been large compared with the tens of thousands of anti-nuclear protesters in Germany and Japan, but it was a large protest against nuclear for the UK. The tide is turning against nuclear power, more and more countries are either shutting down their existing nuclear plant early or stopping further nuclear expansion.
I am proud to have joined the anti-nuclear campaigners, as nuclear power has had its day. The desires by the French state owned company, EDF and other major power players to build New Nuclear is like the final desperate days of a dying dinosaur that should have been made extinct a long time ago. Nuclear is definitely not Green, but is definitely Unwanted by the majority of the British public. It is uneconomic and always has been and as Fukushima, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island etc have shown, it is definitely Not safe.

Peter”

“This is a disappointing article by the Western Daily Press considering people had come from across their readership area and beyond. Perhaps, because the event happened over a weekend, they couldn't find a journalist prepared to spend any time to report in depth. Did a journalist even go or did they just rely on press releases and phone EDF? This article doesn't list the other speakers or their messages that touched on so many issues: politics, that there is no need for nuclear, health, weapon proliferation, uranium mining and the unheard voices of affected indigenous populations. There is not even a mention the moving testimony given by the Japanese couple that had fled Fukushima or the ceremonies done by the monks.

Neither did the journalist pick up a hot topic discussed by many of the people present amongst themselves, not just from speakers, (and was reflected in placards): that the findings of a report entitled 'A Corruption of Governance?' showed MPs were misled when they voted on the Energy National Policy Statements and that the nuclear industry has got control of Whitehall.

Or perhaps, as is obviously the case with the local papers, they are not prepared to risk losing EDF as a highly lucrative advertising customer considering EDF are taking out non-stop, full page advertisements in all the press. If they print anything critical about this key customer there is the threat, implied or anticipated, that EDF will stop advertising through them – these are cash-strapped times and readership of newspapers is falling all the time. There has to be some reason coverage is consistently biased in favour of EDF and that opposing arguments are not being printed.

I am a fan of the Western Daily Press normally but the overall minimal and biased coverage of the nuclear debate is worrying.”

“Urm I live in Somerset, not far from Hinkley and I went to the protest. I have never been to a protest before and certainly wasn't bussed in from somewhere else! I met several other local people I knew there who I wouldn't have expected to meet at any protest as they felt very strongly about it and came and I can vouch for the fact of there being about 1,000 or so people there as it was very crowded! EDF are totally wrong in saying only 400-450.....but then again they don't want local people protesting!”