Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Hinkley Blockaded: No New Nuclear Power!

imc-uk | 03.10.2011 12:03 | Anti-Nuclear

More than 300 people, mostly from the south-west but with representation from across the country and as far afield as Belgium and Germany, successfully sealed off the main entrance to Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset on the morning of Monday 3 October in opposition to EDF Energy's plans to build two new mega-reactors on the site. Over 200 of those taking part also spent the weekend at a temporary protest camp set at nearby Nether Stowey.

Blockaders were joined at the EDF gates by a theatrical troupe who enacted a nuclear disaster scenario, while Seize the Day provided a musical backdrop to the event. 206 helium balloons were released to represent the number of days since the Fukushima meltdown. The balloons will be tracked, to show which areas of the West Country would be worst affected by a nuclear disaster at Hinkley (and hopefully to prevent wildlife from suffering the harm which can be caused by deflated balloons).

The blockade remained in place for a total of nine hours, with participants reporting a 'great festival feel... Dancing, singing and chanting.'. There was one arrest, of a protester found in possession of a craft knife while walking along a footpath. He was later released without charge.

Recent newswire articles on Hinkley: Solidarity banner drop | Blockaders begin mass protest | Radio interview with Ornella Saibene | Anti-nuclear march through Bridgwater | Hinkley Pre-blockade press release | Announcement by Stop New Nuclear |

Related articles: French anti-nuclear camp in November | Nuclear accident in France: 1 | 2 | Previous feature: Don't buy the lie | Other links: Stop New Nuclear | Photos from the camp and blockade

3
3


MONDAY'S BLOCKADE

Following the blockade, Stop New Nuclear spokesperson, Andreas Speck, said "This blockade shows that people who understand the true dangers of nuclear power are prepared to use civil disobedience to get their voice heard. The government has hoodwinked the public into believing that we need nuclear power to keep the lights on. But this is totally untrue."

Angie Zelter hit out EDF’s claims that Hinkley Point is sustainable. She said: "Over its lifetime, Hinkley will consume more energy than it produces - if you take into account the energy used to extract uranium and the power needed to store radioactive waste for hundreds of years. It doesn’t add up."

Some press reports noted that the car park and toilets for the event had been provided by EDF. Members of the organising group said that they had been keen to avoid unnecessary expenditure and had asked the police to provide toilets for them as well as parking space given the narrow lanes in the area and the large number of vehicles expected. The cops had apparently dealt with this request by passing it on to EDF which had been more than happy to oblige and advertise the fact. One protester said of the toilets: "Don't worry - we pissed all over them." Only as the last person was leaving, we hope.

The blockade comes just a few weeks after an explosion at a waste processing plant in France. A French anti-nuclear camp is planned for November.

Protesters are urging ministers to look to Germany where the government has pledged to phase out nuclear power within ten years. ‘The German government has just published a blueprint for a sustainable, nuclear-free future,’ said Camilla Berens from campaign group, Kick Nuclear. The key focus is energy reduction and a bridging technology called combined heat and power (CHP). The burning question is, if Germany can do it, why can’t we?’

SATURDAY'S MARCH AND PROTEST

On 1 October, two days before the Hinkley blockade, more than 150 people converged opposite EDF Energy's regional HQ in Bridgwater before marching through the town centre. Two protesters were dressed as the grim reaper, while a choir from Wales sang songs opposing the new reactor proposed for Wylfa nuclear power station on Anglesey. At a rally in Cornhill, the crowd heard that radioactive waste from the new EPR reactors earmarked for Hinkley will be so toxic that it will have to be stored at the site for more than 100 years.

PROTEST CAMP

A Stop New Nuclear protest camp was set up from Friday near Nether Stowey, Somerset to accommodate blockaders in advance of Monday's action. Around 200 people spent the weekend there, taking part in workshops, hearing horror stories from Greenpeace France about nuclear developments there and forming affinity groups ready for Monday's action.

There was a brief incursion onto the site by a police surveillance vehicle after the blockade on Monday, contrary to the agreement between the camp organisers and the police. No surprises there, then.

imc-uk

Comments

Display the following 3 comments

  1. Selected images from the blockade and weekend — dv
  2. re. knife arrest. — henry twigger
  3. Indian people oppose nuclear power — Bird Lover
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech