Meacher calls halt to UK nuke plant plans

Lobby Correspondent
Plans for new nuclear power stations in the UK following the disaster in Japan should be stopped, an MP has said.

Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher said the disaster at Fukushima should end any nuclear revival in Britain.

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has already ordered a report from the chief nuclear inspector on the implications for the UK of events at Fukushima power station.

Mr Meacher said: “This was no glitch in an unsophisticated backwater of a state that could be explained away by poor design or low operating standards.

“This happened in one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world with an unsurpassed reputation for detail and precaution and a commitment to a major industry with 55 reactors. Yet still there were no back-up diesel generators.

“The reactors needed huge amounts of cooling, four of the reactors were built too close together, the cooling ponds containing spent fuel were unwisely built immediately above the reactor cores, and there were dangerously too many fuel rods (over 11,000) bunched together on site.

“Of course no other country would now make the same mistakes, but if this all happened in top-tech Japan, how can we be sure that there aren’t other equally unpredicted (or unpredictable) flaws with similar catastrophic potential at other sites, whether in the UK or anywhere else?”.

Mr Meacher is not alone in his opposition. Two separate Commons motions have been laid in Parliament since the Japanese disaster.

Newport West MP Paul Flynn claims a full independent evaluation into the long-term implications for the safety and cost of nuclear power needs to be done following problems at the Fukushima power plant.

Mr Flynn, along with six other long anti-nuclear campaigning MPs say Energy secretary Chris Huhne should suspend a new-build nuclear power programme and extend the lifespan of some existing plants until the investigation is completed.

Prime Minister David Cameron said there were “big differences” between reactors in the UK and Japan but a safety review had been ordered to ensure lessons were learned.