NO TO NUCLEAR OFF IRELAND'S SHORES: NO TO THE HINKLEY POWER PLANT
The UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
A large new and unnecessary £20bn nuclear power plant is being built in Hinkley Point, Somerset on the west coast of Britain, just 240km from Ireland.
Hinkley Point's distance from the Irish coastline will be the same as travelling between Dublin and Cork.
The project has been beset with misfortune:
- The private contractor, Areva, that will build the nuclear reactors at Hinkley has been caught forging quality control documents by the French police and nuclear watchdogs. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/04/uk-nuclear-parts-made-at-french-plant-in-fakery-probe/
- The project does not take into account sea level rise with climate change, even though the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was directly caused by unexpected flooding.
- The weather patterns analysis for what would happen in the event of a disaster is based on a two year timeframe – even when it comes to extrapolating the effects of a 1 in 10,000 year event.
- Brexit means that the UK Government will not be held to the same high EU environmental standards as it currently is. The UK is planning five more nuclear power plants right along the west coast of Britain.
- Worst of all, the UK Government approved the project without ever once considering the effect of the project on the Irish public. This is despite the fact that winds frequently blow from Hinkley across the east coast of Ireland every day. The ESRI has estimated that a nuclear disaster would amount to losses of €161bn for Ireland, devastating agriculture and tourism for years. Ireland has no adequate emergency response planning to deal with such an incident or protect the public.
Back in the 1970s Ireland’s first music festival came from the protests against a nuclear power plant being built at Carnsore Point in Co.Wexford. Now, in 2018, the Irish public have a chance to stop another nuclear power plant being in the UK that could potentially destroy the Irish environment and economy.
The public can make their voices heard in a country-wide Transboundary Environmental Public Consultation being done by every Irish local authority. This consultation was hard fought for by Irish and international environmental NGOs to make sure that the Irish public are aware of the dangers they face from Hinkley, and the other 5 projects in the UK’s planning pipeline for the west coast. This petition will be sent to the UK Government as part of the public consultation. Sign the petition to let them know you are against the Hinkley Power Plant.
More Information: Sunday Independent: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/explainer-all-you-need-to-know-about-hinkley-point-the-uks-new-nuclear-power-plant-36622763.html
ESRI: https://www.esri.ie/pubs/BKMNEXT313.pdf
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2018/mar/29/why-is-uk-government-so-infatuated-nuclear-power
Petition by
To:
The UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
From:
[Your Name]
We urge the UK Government not to go ahead with the Hinkley Point C power plant for the following reasons:
• Hinkley Point Somerset is on the west coast of Britain, just 240km from Rosslare, in
Co. Wexford, the same distance as travelling between Dublin and Cork.
• The private contractor, Areva, that will build the nuclear reactors at Hinkley has
been caught forging quality control documents by the French police.
• The project does not take into account sea level rise with climate change, even
though the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster was directly caused by expected
flooding.
• The Bristol Channel has experienced a tsunami in recorded history.
• Brexit means that the UK Government will not be held to the same high EU
environmental standards as it currently is.
• The UK Government approved the project without ever once considering the effect
of the project on the Irish public. This is despite the fact that winds frequently blow
from Hinkley across the east coast of Ireland.
• The ESRI has estimated that an accidental release of radioactive material from a
power plant like Hinkley C, could amount to losses of €161bn for Ireland,
devastating agriculture and tourism for years. Ireland has no adequate emergency
response planning to deal with such an incident or protect the public.
• The transboundary consultation required by the Espoo Convention had to be
achieved by complaints from Irish NGOs; the UK must now respect the Espoo
Convention and revisit the decision to approve the plant.