Two hundred people turned out for a public meeting to discuss concerns about radioactive discharges being released in the Blackwater estuary.

The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) held a public meeting last week at the MICA Centre in West Mersea, attended by representatives from the Environment Agency and Magnox, which runs Bradwell Power Station.

Metal casings surrounding spent fuel rods, known as fuel element debris, are being dissolved at Bradwell and effluent from the dissolved magnesium released into the river.

Both Magnox and the Environment Agency say the discharges are within authorised limits set by the latter, and a similar process is used at Dungeness Power Station.

But independent marine radioactivity consultant, Tim Deere-Jones, addressed the public meeting about his concerns that there was not enough information or monitoring of discharges and that the shallow estuary was the wrong location.