Greenpeace video of 'terror attack' is condemned
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A video showing terrorists crashing a passenger plane into a nuclear power station - a vivid attack on the Government's alleged intention to build a new generation of nuclear power plants - has been condemned by the nuclear industry as "distasteful".
The 45-second Greenpeace film shows a family on a beach when a plane screams over them and smashes into the Sizewell nuclear plant behind them. "Do we really want more nuclear power stations? Tell Tony Blair nuclear power is not the answer to climate change," it warns.
British Nuclear Fuels, which runs Sellafield, said it would not dignify the video with a full response. "We are not prepared to comment on what appears to be a distasteful publicity campaign," said a spokesman.
The Department for Trade and Industry accused Greenpeace of trying to "sensationalise" the issue.
Dr Frank Barnaby, a former Aldermaston nuclear physicist who now works for the Oxford Research Group, said Greenpeace, who released the computer-generated film on the internet, was "facing up to reality". He said: "The public have the right to know the danger. The Government says the terrorism threat is real. Building more nuclear power stations, especially after 11 September, is a risk we don't have to take.For the Government to encourage it is crazy."
He added that a terrorist attack on a British nuclear plant was "going to happen" and predicted that an attack at Sellafield in Cumbria, Britain's largest nuclear power plant, could kill more than two million. The worst-case scenario could see 2,500kg of caesium-137, the most dangerous isotope, escape - 100 times more than that released in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Although there are no-fly zones two miles around civil nuclear power stations to prevent aviation accidents overhead, Dr Barnaby said that there would probably not be enough time to prevent a terrorist attack.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments