MOD report security fears over Sizewell

SECURITY measures at a Suffolk nuclear power plant are inadequate to deal with a terrorist strike, a Ministry of Defence report claimed today.

It is a terrifying situation exposed by The Evening Star two years ago when we flew a plane to within touching distance of the vast nuclear reactor at Sizewell B, near Leiston.

No questions were asked when we hired a light aircraft in July, 2002, from an East Anglian airport to fly over some of the region's famous landmarks.

But one of these, the Sizewell B nuclear plant, is also the most dangerous.

The aircraft could easily have been a terrorist jet loaded with high explosives, ready to cause catastrophe across the country – but no checks were made.

And now these recently declassified MOD papers prove that complaints were made about RAF jets practising a flypast for the Queen over Sizewell B.

But more worryingly, people who have complained about low flying near nuclear sites have been subjected to a RAF "spin operation" to make them drop their complaints, the report says.

More than 40 complaints have been made about aircraft flying dangerously close to nuclear sites since 2000, ten of them last year.

The report also reveals that poor radar coverage has allowed the MOD to cover up a number of near misses by aircraft at nuclear installations.

One jet got so close to Torness nuclear power plant that it set off three perimeter alarms – but did not show up on the radar.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "The threat from terrorism remains real and serious, but the public should remain alert but not alarmed. We will never hesitate to issue a warning if it is the best way to protect any community or venue facing a specific and credible threat."

N How concerned are you about a security threat at Sizewell? Write in to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk or visit the forum at www.eveningstar.co.uk