Finally - halt to Hinkley

10.22.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 10th Oct 2006

Somerset County Council's Liberal Democrat group welcome the closure of Hinkley Point nuclear power station at long last. The safety of the county's citizens comes before the profits of the nuclear energy sector.

Liberal Democrats at County Hall called for the plant to be closed down four months ago when news was first made public about the cracks in the reactor - news only made available because of a request under the Freedom of Information Act. A recent boiler inspection at the Somerset plant revealed that tube cracks inside the reactor were worse than expected and so the site will now be shut down while further investigations take place.

Somerset County Council recently reaffirmed its opposition on nuclear power and is leading the country on sustainable energy technologies. Liberal Democrats remain the only party totally opposed to building new nuclear power stations, largely because of the danger they pose and the unsolved problems of dealing with radioactive waste for thousands of years to come.

ENDS.

Related Link:

The full report on the Somerset County web site.