No new nuclear

IssueJune 2010
News by David Polden

A new anti-nuclear movement, “Stop Nuclear Power”, has organised two protest camps at Sizewell, the intended site for one of the first of a new wave of UK nuclear power plants. The second camp took place on 23-26 April, around the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster.

Over 50 protesters and a nuclear white elephant camped on power station property near existing reactors. There were workshops, a tour of the proposed new reactor site, and a blockade using tape labelled “nuclear hazard”, a Chernobyl commemoration and talking to local people.

A London group of Stop Nuclear Power has been set up and has organised leafleting at some of the many pro-nuclear conferences that are held in the capital.

One of its members, Stuart Holmes, performed a one-person action at the Methodist Central Hall on 3 May when he leapt onto the stage during a speech by then-PM Gordon Brown and revealed a placard reading “NuKiller Power NO” before being wrestled away by security. Stuart was interviewed by police for half an hour before being released without charge. The incident received a lot of coverage in the mainstream press.