Campaigners from the national Stop Nuclear Power Network are planning a packed programme of activities at Sizewell over the Easter weekend (22-25 April). (1).

The annual beach camp beside the nuclear power station in Suffolk, England, now into its third year, will have added significance this year due to the unfolding disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, and because it marks 25 years since the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in the Ukraine. (2)

The weekend will include a national rally at the entrance to the power station (3) and a public meeting in nearby Leiston, both on Saturday, workshops, discussions and guided tours on the beach on Sunday, and Chernobyl commemorations on Monday.

Local campaigner and camp organiser Mell Harrison, from Beccles, said: “Around the world, people are questioning the safety of nuclear power in the wake of events in Japan. We may not have many major earthquakes in England, but the low-lying Suffolk coast is highly vulnerable to flooding, and rising sea levels and storm surges can be expected in years to come due to climate change. What right do we have to gamble with our children’s future? What we need are community-based energy solutions, not more nuclear dinosaurs.”

Notes:

1. The weekend’s events are being organised by the Stop Nuclear Power Network, a UK-based network of groups and individuals campaigning against nuclear power and supporting sustainable alternatives.
http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net

More details of the programme can be found at:
http://www.sizewellcamp.org.uk
E-mail: camp [at] sizewellcamp.org.uk

2. For details of Chernobyl 25th anniversary commemorations taking place in the UK and around the world this month, see:
http://www.chernobyl-day.org/?lang=en
http://www.chernobyl.org.uk/activities.php

3. Confirmed speakers for the rally include Kate Hudson, General Secretary of CND, Charles Barnett, Shutdown Sizewell, Ron Bailey, No Need for Nuclear and Mell Harrison, Stop Nuclear Power Network and Boycott EDF