On Saturday 10th March Heysham Anti Nuclear Alliance, families and community members will undertake a seven-mile bicycle ride from Lancaster to Heysham Nuclear Power Station Nature Reserve to mark the one year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The event has been organised to highlight ongoing concern over the safety and environmental impact of nuclear power.
Assembling at Lancaster Priory at 11.00am, the bicycle ride will follow the path of Lancaster Greenway to Morecambe. From here the cyclists will continue along the promenade and on to the Heysham Nuclear Power Station Nature Reserve for a community picnic. The picnic is set to start at 1.00pm and is a second meeting point for those coming by other modes of transport.
Also planned are talks, a workshop about the lack of a solution for nuclear waste, and a walk around part of the perimeter of the station.
The event will end at around 3.00pm.
“One year on from the catastrophic nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, the reactors are still not under control,” notes 25-year-old Morecambe resident Rory Walker. “There’s still a 12 mile exclusion zone and the costs of stabilising the plant and salvaging the area are set to be as much as £37 billion just for the first two years.
“Against this back drop, Germany and Italy have said ‘No’ to new nuclear. Yet Britain is pushing ahead despite this being a tried, tested and failed technology. Investment in the planned 18 new nuclear reactors is likely to exceed £60 billion.
“This vast sum of money would be much better spent investing in the renewable power sector and providing finance for energy saving projects.”
The event is taking place at the same time as a national mobilisation at Hinkley Nuclear Power Station in Somerset. Anti-nuclear campaigners and local residents will be blockading the existing power station at Hinkley in protest against plans to build the first new nuclear power station in the UK for 25 years.
Nicky Johnson, 36 of Heysham said “Recent changes to national planning law mean that once the Hinkley power station has been given permission, there is no way that a new nuclear power station at Heysham could be stopped. Therefore, although the diggers are not yet on our doorstep, now is the time to act against new nuclear.
“I’ll be attending the event at Heysham as it is a good opportunity to express my ongoing concerns about new nuclear power on my doorstep as well as across the UK.”