UP TO 1.5million people might have to be evacuated from their homes if terrorists attacked Sizewell B, according to an independent consulting engineer.

UP TO 1.5million people might have to be evacuated from their homes if terrorists attacked Sizewell B, according to an independent consulting engineer.

John Large, who is shortly due to present his findings to a Suffolk nuclear liaison group, said the radioactive plume from such an attack could spread over a large area of East Anglia and, according to weather conditions, into the Midlands or the London area.

He said Sizewell B was not designed to withstand a terrorist attack.

Mr Large, who runs the London-based consultancy, Large and Associates, is due to address the Sizewell Stakeholder Group (SSG) on July 12 on the possible impact of a release of radioactivity from the B station, the only American style nuclear plant in the UK.

The talk was arranged before the recent terrorist incidents in London and Glasgow but it follows official secrecy over the predicted consequences of an attack on the Suffolk plant - considered to be among the priority nuclear targets in the country.

Martin Pearce, British Energy spokesman, said emergency plans for a release of radioactivity had been drawn up for the Sizewell site and these were publicly available.

Experts who had considered the worst credible scenario had decided some years ago that a 1.5-mile evacuation zone was appropriate.

Mr Pearce said: “That is based on the most credible accident but it won't change for terrorist attack. Anything Mr Large predicts is speculation. He is entitled to his view and to give it to the SSG.”