THE Government’s head of new nuclear development is to speak to Mersea islanders, worried about plans to build a second power station over the water in Bradwell.

Hergen Haye, from the Department of Energy and Climate Change, will outline the Government plans at meeting in West Mersea, organised by Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group.

Campaigner, Professor Andy Blowers, is urging islanders to attend, saying it might be their last chance to convince the Government to rule out a new plant at Bradwell.

The Government has already endorsed Bradwell as a suitable site, but a statement from the campaign group said: “We believe the case for Bradwell is less than convincing. Highly-radioactive waste will be stored indefinitely on a site liable to flooding. There will be severe impacts on the Blackwater estuary from the huge cooling water requirement and it will be more or less impossible to evacuate some local communities in the event of a nuclear incident.”

Group members have already appeared before the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change to voice their concerns, but failed to persuade the Government to remove Bradwell from its list.

Now it hopes the public meeting will show officials the strength of feeling against the plans. Representatives from Essex County Council, Colchester Council, Maldon District Council, and West Mersea Town Council have been invited, along with local MPs.

The meeting is at the MICA centre, in the High Street, West Mersea, at 7pm on Wednesday, December 1.

After finalising a list of possible sites for power stations, the Government is now seeking views on the plans, but has said it will not organise local meetings.

The old power station at Bradwell opened in 1962 and was decommissioned in 2002. It is being partly demolished, though the reactor cores will remain on site for centuries because they are so radioactive.