Campaigners fighting to stop Sizewell C being built have written to every MP demanding the £14billion project is cancelled following work being halted on a new nuclear power station on Anglesey.

East Anglian Daily Times: Together Against Sizewell C Campaigners meet on Sizewell Beach Picture: LUCY TAYLORTogether Against Sizewell C Campaigners meet on Sizewell Beach Picture: LUCY TAYLOR (Image: Archant)

Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) says the decision by Japanese firm Hitachi over its project at Wylfa, which has also cast doubts on two other power projects, should mean a halt to the new nuclear build programme and a “root and branch review” of energy policy.

TASC chairman Pete Wilkinson said: “The ill-advised energy policy the government has been supporting ever since Tony Blair announced it in 2005 has become a yoke around its neck.

“In the last decade, government has been faced yet again with the uncomfortable truth that nuclear is expensive, dangerous, technically complicated and a very bad choice if the objective is to meet cost, climate change and electricity demand targets.

“Investors are increasingly nervous about funding what is essentially a redundant technology.

“Nuclear generates huge amounts of radioactive waste, of which some remains lethal to living organisms for centuries and for which there is no acceptable management solution. Electricity demand is falling and the cost of renewables is becoming more and more competitive as their efficiency increases.

“People are realizing the scale of disruption to their environment and their way of life for new nuclear stations, which are little more than white elephants that are likely to be, by the time they are constructed, surplus to requirements.

“It is time to recognize, as Margaret Thatcher was forced to do in the 80s, that nuclear is not an investable option.”

Chris Wilson, TASC press officer said the group recognised Sizewell C would create some jobs for east Suffolk residents but felt to create them by “destroying” the environment, “devastating” an area of outstanding natural beauty, and changing the way of life for thousands was not the way to do it.

Hitachi said it had not been able to reach agreement on financing and associated commercial arrangements at Wylfa.

EDF Energy says it believes nuclear has a “strong future” in the UK and says more than 10 companies have expressed interest in investing in Sizewell C.