Stop Hinkley Public Meeting The Anniversary Legacies: 30 years since Chernobyl; 5 years since Fukushima

Date: Thursday 10^th March

Time: 7pm for 7.30pm until 9.30pm

Location: Temple Methodist Church, Upper High Street, Taunton, TA1 3PY

Speaker: Linda Walker Executive Director of Chernobyl Children’s Project

Subject: Casting a Shadow over Generations.

Linda Walker founded the Chernobyl Children’s Project (CCP) in 1995 and has coordinated its activities since then. She visits Belarus four times a year to review progress on projects. In recognition for the work of CCP (UK) she was awarded an MBE in 2006.

The Chernobyl Children’s Project supports children and families in Belarus, the country most affected by the Chernobyl disaster, by, amongst other things bringing children to Britain for recuperative holidays. Linda will give her assessment of the impact of the Chernobyl accident on human health and children in particular. As well as increases in cancers since the accident there is no doubt among national and international experts that the state of health of the people in the contaminated territories is extremely poor. Many children who do not have serious illness have damaged immune systems and autoimmune diseases in which the body’s own tissue is treated as an enemy by antibodies.

Speaker: Brian JonesVice-Chair of Welsh CND

Subject: My Visit to Fukushima

Brian Jones grew up and now lives in South Wales. He taught mathematics for 30 years before retiring early in the summer of 2014, which gave him the opportunity to go on the week-long Fukushima Study Tour in October 2014 organised by Green Cross. Brian will give his impressions about how the Japanese authorities are dealing with the Fukushima disaster. He will say they are still in fire-fighting mode, doing what they have to do to prevent things from getting worse. “Japan is one of the most technologically advanced and richest countries in the world and they can’t solve the problems created by a nuclear accident. And as usual, it is the ordinary people, who used to live near the nuclear plant but have been forcibly evacuated, who are suffering the most.”

Roy Pumfrey, who will chair the meeting for Stop Hinkley said “Britain is hoping to plough on with nuclear power, but we should heed the lessons of Fukushima and Chernobyl to avoid another disaster. In recent weeks we’ve had the FT telling us the case against Hinkley Point C is ‘hard to refute’; The Observer says investors are giving it a wide berth; The Express says it’s not just poor value for money – it’s an outrage; HSBC says there is ample reason to cancel. But whatever the money men say it is the testimonies of evacuees and children suffering thirty years later that should finally put the nail in the coffin of this absurd project.”