Nuclear terror evacuation fears

By Nic Rigby
BBC News Online

Sizewell B, near Leiston, Suffolk, was built between 1988 and 1995

A terrorist attack on Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk could see a major evacuation involving 271,500 people, a new study has found.

Nuclear expert John Large, who has just published the figures, believes the nuclear industry has put its "head in the sand" over terrorist concerns.

He believes people should be given more information about the level of threat.

British Energy (BE) said Sizewell B has a high level of security and accused Mr Large of "scaremongering".

Mr Large, from John Large and Associates who specialise in assessing nuclear, chemical and other hazards, is due to address the Sizewell Stakeholder Group (SSG) at a public meeting on 12 July in Saxmundham on the possible impact of a release of radioactivity from the power station.

The public should be able to make the judgement [on nuclear safety] for themselves Nuclear expert John Large

He said his new research, which has used the latest US satellite data on the spread of radiation, has looked at what would happen if there was a major terrorist raid on Sizewell or if a plane was flown into it.

Mr Large found that within two hours of a serious nuclear leak places as far away as Norwich may need to be evacuated.

Within three hours a radiation cloud would reach King's Lynn and within seven hours even the city of Sheffield could be affected.

He found that in a worst possible scenario 826,000 in East Anglia would have to be moved from their homes, it was more likely that an evacuation involving 271,500 people would be need.

He said he has concerns over how well the authorities would be able to react to arrange this scale of evacuation.

Robust plans

The study also found that an incident would cause 11 short-term deaths and 7,217 long-term deaths.

Julie Bennett, Sizewell B's owner BE's communications manager, said the company would be putting forward its views at the Saxmundham meeting.

"We will be putting our response to the meeting. We want to reassure people from this type of scare-mongering and welcome the opportunity to do so," she said.

Mrs Bennett said BE has robust plans in place if there are any incidents at the plant.

Mr Large rejected the accusation of scaremongering: "My view is the nuclear industry needs to be more transparent. The public should be able to make the judgement [on nuclear safety] for themselves."

Councillor Joanna Spicer Suffolk County Council's portfolio holder for public protection - which covers emergency planning, said: "The Health and Safety Executive requires the county council to produce an 'off site' plan to deal with a number of issues including evacuation following any incident at Sizewell.

"The Health and Safety Executive sets out exactly what the plan must cover.

"In March this year the HSE put the county council's plans through rigorous testing and confirmed the testing had been successful."

The SSG meeting is taking place at Market Hall, Saxmundham, Suffolk, at 2000 BST on Thursday 12 July.