CAMPAIGNERS fighting against plans for a new nuclear power station have hit out at claims it is a key asset in the fight against climate change.

The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) has refuted a statement saying the Bradwell B power station would be Essex’s “biggest contribution to climate action”.

The statement from Bradwell B Power Station came in relation to the COP26 climate discussions in Glasgow and said the project was “ideally placed” to play a “major part” in achieving net zero by 2050 emission goals.

But BANNG has claimed, due to the nuclear power station being on a low-lying site, rising global temperatures would see it become vulnerable to rising sea levels and other weather events by the end of the century.

BANNG’s secretary Varrie Blowers added: “Rather than contributing to net zero, Bradwell B would be ‘ideally placed’ to become the casualty of climate change.”

The group added another point which emerged from COP26 is Bradwell B, if it gets past its regulatory, financial and planning hurdles, would not begin operating until the middle of the next decade.

BANNG claims this would be too late to make an appreciable contribution to net zero by 2050.

A spokesman for the group said: “It would also arrive at a time when far cheaper and greener alternatives would be emerging, giving greater flexibility and resilience to energy supply.

“Far from making a contribution, Bradwell B would have a negative impact on net zero by soaking up resources that would be better deployed elsewhere rather than on an outmoded and unnecessary technology inflicting costs and risks on future generations.”

With biodiversity also a theme of the COP26, BANNG claimed a new nuclear power station would also harm habitats, wildlife and the marine conservation zone of the Blackwater estuary.

The planning inspectorate overturned a ruling by Maldon District Council and has granted permission for Bradwell B to conduct temporary ground investigation and load testing works on the proposed site.

A spokesman for BANNG added: “We are only talking here about land investigations, not the construction and operation of a proposed nuclear power station.”