Archived press release

Bradwell nuclear power station closes - goodbye nuclear, hello wind

28 March 2002

Campaigners will be outside Bradwell with a large (8 feet high) model wind turbine. They will be joined by local residents in saying no to more nuclear power stations, and calling for more investment in renewables. BNFL is holding a press event at Bradwell from 11am on the same day.

Campaigners and local residents today (Thursday 28 March) welcomed the closure of Bradwell nuclear power station in Essex. The station is due to be shut for decommissioning on Easter Sunday, after 40 years operation. Friends of the Earth today called on the Government to rule out the building of another nuclear power station on the site and to encourage investment in renewable energy, such as wind power instead.

Local residents want the Government to hand over access to the national grid at Bradwell to a clean and safe alternative. The Bradwell area enjoys wind speeds of over 6 m/s making it an attractive proposition for a wind farm.

Wind developer and green electricity company, Ecotricity, plan to build the equivalent output of two Bradwells by 2010. Ecotricity say that they could equal the existing capacity of Bradwell with just 55 of their manufacturer's latest 4.5 MW wind turbines, the first prototype of which is being erected in Germany this summer[1]. And an off-shore wind farm planned for Clacton-on-Sea - and due to begin operation in 2004 - will match 40% of the capacity of Bradwell [2].

Bryony Worthington, Energy Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
"Nuclear power is uneconomic, unsafe and unpopular and leaves a legacy of toxic waste that will last for tens of thousands of years. No-one knows how much it will cost to clean- up Bradwell or where the waste will go. Wind power is clean and safe and is a logical successor to the Bradwell dinosaur.

It would be madness to build anymore nuclear power stations. There is a future for the nuclear industry but that lies with cleaning up the toxic waste it has already created - not in generating even more."

Bradwell nuclear power station, which opened in 1962, has been peppered
with incident, and local residents living in its shadow have long been calling for its closure [3]. In 1990, the National Radiological Protection Board stated that people living near Bradwell faced an “unacceptable risk of dying from cancer due to radiation exposure” [4]. Despite this it was licensed to continue operating until 2002.

The final cost of decommissioning is uncertain. In 1990 (30 November), Stephen Byers estimated the cost of decommissioning all of the UK’s nuclear stations at £12.6 billion. Much of this is expected to be paid by taxpayers.

The nuclear industry wants to build more nuclear power stations. But because nuclear power is so uneconomic, massive financial subsidies from the Government would be needed.

The nuclear industry is now attempting to sell itself as “planet-friendly power”, saying that nuclear power is an essential weapon in the battle against climate change. This is not true. In 2000 a Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report [5] looked at the role of nuclear power in tackling climate change and concluded: “We do not...accept the arguments of those who hold that it is indispensable”.

The public do not want new nuclear power stations. A national poll in December revealed that 68% of those interviewed did not think that nuclear power stations should be built in Britain in the next ten years [6].

Notes

[1] Ecotricity are currently developing their E112 turbine which has a capacity of 4.5MW. For more information please contact Clare Summers at Ecotricity on 01453 756 111

[2] For more information please contact Dan Pearson, Enron Wind, 0207 793 2805

[3] In the late 90's radiation levels in topsoil on the site were found to exceed safety limits and BNFL were prosecuted over an illegal liquid waste discharge. In 2000 local residents publicised health risks in a report on cancer clusters in the area.

[4] NRPB (1987) Interim Guidance on the Implications of Recent Revisions of Risk Estimates - G59 ICRP 1987 Como Statement.

[5] RCEP report: Energy - the changing climate, June 2000

[6] RSPB press release, 13 December 2001. BMRB interviewed over 1000 people.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust