AN anti-nuclear group has called for an open debate with the Government over plans for a new Bradwell power station.

The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group has made detailed submissions as part of a national consultation.

The Mersea-based group has argued Bradwell should be taken off the Govenrment’s list of possible nuclear sites because it is vulnerable to flooding.

The group also argues Mersea – a couple of miles across the Blackwater Estuary from Bradwell – would be hard to evacuate in an emergency. It also cites the potential impact on the island’s oyster industry and risk to health caused by emissions.

Chairman Andrew Blowers said: “There is real concern the consultation process is being pursued in a hurry and out of the public view, in order to reach a predetermined conclusion to develop at Bradwell.

“Therefore, we are calling upon the Government to engage in open debate with us and to accept a new nuclear power station at Bradwell would present risks to people and the environment that are quite unacceptable.”

French power firm EDF and British Energy own land either side of the original and now decommissioned Bradwell nuc-lear plant.