A PUBLIC meeting has been called at Lydney's Annexe Inn this Thursday (January 17) by people opposing a 'giant' N-station on the far bank of the Severn at Oldbury.

Plans the new development at Oldbury will have appalling impact on the Forest of Dean, says new grouping Severnside Together Against Nuclear Development (STAND).

"Since German nuclear giants RWE and E.ON dropped their plans to build new UK reactors, and France's EDF declined to tender, Hitachi, probably best known in this country for its televisions, has joined forces with Horizon, the company that produced the original designs for the new proposed nuclear power stations at Oldbury," says a spokesman.

"They plan to start building three huge new reactors next to the old power station as soon as possible.

"The new nuclear plants will be just a few miles as the crow flies from the Forest of Dean. They will be using the new Advanced Boiling Water Reactors which have been approved in the USA but not yet in any other country. The advantage of this type of reactor is that they can be built quickly.

"Given the ongoing environmental disaster at Fukushima, Japan, some local environmentalists are concerned about the safety of any nuclear development here in the UK. But with this particular proposal there are extra concerns."

Barbara French of STAND claims that it is utter folly to consider building a new nuclear station on the site.

"With rising sea levels, and the history of a tsunami and a sea surge of three meters above normal high tide up the Severn, it is madness to be building on that site," she said.

"It can only be a matter of time before it suffers a catastrophic flood, one way or another. Should there be a serious accident, the experience of Chernobyl in the Ukraine, and more recently Fukishima in Japan, shows that not only Lydney, but Gloucester, Bristol and surrounding areas would be uninhabitable, perhaps for ever. And, unlike in Japan, there appear to be no plans at all to protect the local population should there be an accident."

Another concern is the size of the development.

"They say that plans produced by Horizon show the intended reactor size will be four times the size of the present reactor building," said Barbara French. "And on top of that, the three or four cooling towers will be absolutely enormous and an eyesore."

The Annexe meeting on Thursday starts at 7.30pm.

"Plans produced by Horizon can be viewed and the people of the Forest of Dean can have a chance to voice their opinions on a proposal which could have enormous implications for Severnside and the Forest," said Barbara French.