Activists fined for nuclear security exposé

Eleven campaigners from Greenpeace have been fined for their action in exposing inadequate security measures at the Sizewell B nuclear facility last year.

The group were among nineteen activists who entered the plant on January 13th 2003 and accessed the reactor dome and control area, in order to highlight the ease in which potential terrorists could do the same. Security did not arrive for five minutes, and no alarms were activated by the breach.

The charges related to criminal damage, following painting on the buildings, to which all the activists pleaded guilty.

Ben Stewart, speaking on behalf of the defendants said, "I accept the verdict of the court, but believe that the action we took was justified because it exposed the incredibly lax security at an obvious terrorist target. Neither my co-defendants nor I would do anything to interfere with the operation of the plant or on site safety, but if terrorists targeted a nuclear power station it would be deadly. These places contain stores of dangerous radioactive waste, nuclear fuel, as well as the reactor itself. Sabotage involving explosives could spread radioactive fallout for miles around."

"I urge the Government and nuclear industry to act now to close these dangerous plants. I strongly believe that people don't need to live with this risk. We can get all our electricity from clean safe renewable energy. Terrorists are unlikely to blow up a wind farm and they can't make a dirty bomb from a solar panel."