TWO campaign groups opposing new nuclear development in Maldon district have said claims carried by the BBC today (Monday, 26 July) that the Government may act to remove China's involvement with Bradwell B "does not mean that their fight is over".

The BBC reports that a Whitehall source has confirmed the story first broken by The Financial Times (FT) that the Government may act to prevent state-owned Chinese nuclear power company CGN from future involvement in UK nuclear projects.

CGN and French energy giant EDF are partners in the Bradwell B Power Generation Company (BRB) - the company formed to bring about Bradwell B.

However, local pressure groups say any presumption that this news - if correct - will mean that a new nuclear power station will not be built at Bradwell after all may be misguided.

A spokesperson for BAN (Bradwell B Action Network) said: "If true, the news that the Government may take this action does not mean that there will not be new nuclear at Bradwell.

"The area is still prioritised for new nuclear development and what we want to see is Bradwell removed from that list."

In a statement released this evening, BANNG (The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group) said: "The FT quotes an unnamed official as saying that there is not 'a chance in hell of Bradwell being built'.

"But before the disappearance of the Chinese project is cheered, it should be remembered that the site will presumably still apparently be available for nuclear activities. It emerged recently that Bradwell is on the list of possible sites for the UK's prototype fusion energy plant and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) may be a distant possibility.

"Until Bradwell is removed from the Government's list of sites potentially suitable for nuclear development we must remain vigilant. And the site must be removed for all the reasons we have consistently given."

A spokesperson for Bradwell B Power Generation Company (BRB) said it has decided not to comment on the FT story.