KEPT IN DARK ABOUT POWER STATION SAFETY

Letter to the Western Daily Press, 15 May 2008 from Allan Jeffery, Bridgwater

As a local resident, I have always been assured that a meltdown accident, as occurred at the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island reactors, could never happen at Hinkley Point because of the built-in safety systems in the British AGR reactors.

I am therefore dismayed to hear that the important last resort safety system is missing at Hinkley Point B power station.

The fact is that, despite being in the original design plans, the third and ultimate safety level, the release of boron powder or beads into the reactor, is not there. If used, it would effectively end the life of the reactor but make a meltdown impossible.

Hinkley Point B and its sister reactor, Hunterston B in Scotland, have been told by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate to make sure the system is in place in the near future or they may close down the reactors.

Our local MP, Ian Liddell- Grainger should be pushing for an inquiry as to why Somerset residents have been misled for so long about the safety of our local reactor, especially as BE are trying to extend the life of this old reactor with its deteriorating graphite core and recently patched-up corroded boiler tubes.

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