Hundreds of Bristol activists, and thousands more from around the country are planning to surround and blockade Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset on the weekend 10-11 March to mark the first anniversary of the Fukushima Daichii reactor disaster.
Hundreds of Bristol activists, and thousands more from around the country are planning to surround and blockade Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset on the weekend 10-11 March to mark the first anniversary of the Fukushima Daichii reactor disaster. Similar actions will be taking place all over the world on those dates as part of a new, growing anti nuclear movement.

Japan, the most technologically advanced country and the world’s 4th largest economy has been brought to its knees by the ongoing events at Fukushima. The reactors that went into meltdown in March 2011 are now melted through, and 40 years of nuclear waste are emitting vast amounts of radiation, which has spread around the globe and is contaminating the whole environment of Japan. The disaster is far from over as more earth quake after shocks continue to destabilise the situation. In desperation the Japanese government is transporting and burning radioactive rubble all over Japan, and exporting highly contaminated food as” aid” to developing countries.

Men, women and children are living in highly radioactive areas but, they are not being evacuated as they should be. This intense radiation exposure will have very serious health consequences for present and future generations. How has Japan ended up in this dreadful situation? They said, “It can’t happen here.” Sound familiar?

Since the first civilian reactor started generating in Russia in 1954, there has been, on average, a major accident every 14-18 years: Windscale 1957, Three Mile Island 1979, Chernobyl 1986 and Fukushima 2011. This is about 1 in 6 chance with the current number of reactors. The more reactors that are built, the chances of major disasters increase. Bristol would have to be evacuated if there is a major accident at Hinkley Point, yet the council have no clear contingency plans in place should such an event take place.

 Despite the recurring horrors stories from in Fukushima in Japan, powerful political and economic interest groups are silencing the world’s media. The British government has approved a new nuclear agenda and is planning to build eight new reactors in the UK.

It’s worth remembering that nuclear power was military in its inception and continues to serve the government’s interest in staying in the nuclear arms race: providing it with the science and necessary raw materials. Generating electricity is not a primary concern of the nuclear industry, it is a massive public relations exercise to normalise this deathly technology, even to the point of absurdity, making it seem like” a green solution to climate change”.

The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), a new government bureaucracy set up to fast track major infrastructure planning in the UK with out conducting proper democratic public enquiries, has received 900 on-line objections and a 13,000 signature petition against the building of EDF’s new two reactor power station at Hinkley Point. A 420 acre area of outstanding natural beauty and environmental importance in the Severn Estuary will be destroyed by its construction.

 Hinkley C is the first in line of the new nuclear build so it’s really important to stop it there before they get started! Protests stopped the building of Hinkley C in 1987 after the Chernobyl disaster so it is possible to stop it again in the ‘post Fukushima’ world of 2012.

The Stop New Nuclear Alliance, which comprises of 10 national anti nuclear and environmental groups is organising the ‘Surround and Blockade’ at Hinkley point on Saturday/Sunday 10-11 March. We organised a very successful blockade at Hinkley in October 2011 and we are building out from that success.

We are asking campaign groups nationwide to mobilise for this event; spread the word. Call out fliers; posters, leaflets training and a logistical mobilisation packs are all available now on our website www. stopnewnuclear.org.uk.We are urging groups to organise a film or discussion event to promote the issue, host training in civil disobedience and consensus, organise a coach, bring a camp kitchen, get involved, pledge to be there and bring five friends, or if you can't be there, donate money to help make it happen.

It takes a lot of people to surround and blockade a nuclear power station, come join us on March 10th/11th and have some fun at this festival of anti nuclear resistance!

STOP HINKLEY C NUCLEAR POWER STATION IN ITS TRACKS! Say no to the use of this toxic technology. It’s not clean, it’s not green and it can never be worth the risk.

Find out how!

Please come to our weekly meetings in the build up to the event   

Wednesdays at KEBELE 7.30pm 14 Robertson Rd Easton Bristol 

Contact email swanactive@gmail.com

SWAN is the Bristol group aligned with the Stop New Nuclear Alliance

Stop New Nuclear Alliance

c/o 5 Caledonian Road

London N1 9DX

Phone: 0845-2872381

Email: campaig@stopnewnuclear.org.uk

Website: http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk

Other groups in the Stop New Nuclear Alliance are:

Rising Tide, Stop Hinkley, CND, CND Cymru, Kick Nuclear, Trident Ploughshares, Shut Down Sizewell, Sizewell Blockaders and Stop Nuclear Power Network.