Hinkley Point C does not make financial or environmental sense and should not go ahead despite approval from the UK Government.

That’s the view of campaigners from Greenpeace and Stop Hinkley, who went to 10 Downing Street yesterday to deliver a petition, signed by 300,000 people, calling for the cancellation of the nuclear project.

ELN spoke to some of those involved in the campaign and asked how things have changed following the news of the green light to build.

Emma Gibson, Head of Energy at Greenpeace, believes Hinkley Point C is a waste of money and the UK should instead focus on developing its renewable portfolio. She plans to continue fighting against the project in light of Theresa May’s approval.

She told ELN: “This isn’t good news today. I’m not going to say that we aren’t disappointed about the news but I don’t think it means that it’s a dead cert that this project is going to go ahead at Hinkley C because there are still legal problems, financial problems and technical problems.”

Sue Aubrey and Val Davey, two local campaigners from the Stop Hinkley group, said their primary concern is the dangerous legacy of radioactive waste left behind from nuclear power generation. Ms Aubrey suggested waste from the Hinkley Point C plant would be particularly harmful.

She said: There’s a new generation of nuclear power stations and it produces a different kind of waste which actually is more powerful, it’s stronger, a smaller amount is more radioactive so it’s actually more dangerous to handle.”

Richard Crane was present to support the anti-Hinkley campaign. He told ELN Hinkley doesn’t make sense from a business perspective and since it was initially commissioned, advances in renewable technology have taken away much of the need for nuclear.

He added: “Renewables can produce more energy than Hinkley at half the cost and without any of the security or safety issues.”

The nuclear industry welcomed the news of governmental approval.