A COUNCILLOR has labelled an anti-nuclear group “disgusting” because it tried to “make political gain” in light of the Japanese earthquake.

Miriam Lewis (Con, Heybridge West) made the comments after a statement released by Blackwater Against New Nuclear (BANNG) said UK power stations could be at risk of suffering the same fate as Fukushima, which was hit badly by the earthquake last week.

The group’s statement said: “With rising sea levels and climate change making storm surges more likely, Bradwell is very vulnerable to being overwhelmed by the sea.

“Even tsunamis triggered elsewhere cannot be ruled out, as the Government’s own siting assessments recognised.

“Confidence in the pronouncements of the nuclear industry, which was never high, has now been totally shattered.”

But Miss Lewis responded: “However BANNG tries to dress up it's pseudo-intellectual scaremongering intentions in sympathetic footnotes on this press release, making political gain out of such a tragedy as has occurred in Japan is disgusting.”