What’s on TV tonight: Building Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Power Station documents the creation of Hinkley Point
The i 1 hr ago Gerard Gilbert
Pick of the day: Building Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Power Station
9pm, BBC Two
There’s an interesting interlude in the midst of this documentary about the building of Hinkley Point C that delves into the financing of the nuclear power plant. The fact that the deal with the Chinese and French firms putting up the money doesn’t look like a good long-term one for UK consumers somewhat undercuts the grandeur of the engineering. But back to that engineering, and cameras follow the construction of a flood defence system designed to prevent a disaster like the one that befell Fukushima in Japan, while specialists work to uncover Second World War bombs that threaten the installation of the cooling tunnels.
One cynical but reliable rule of thumb when reporting official statements is that the more often a fact is emphasised, the less likely it is to be true. The first time we were told on Building Britain’s Biggest NuclearPower Station (BBC2) that the new Hinkley Point C reactor will be able to withstand the impact…
Building Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Power Station, BBC2, review: A boys-and-their-toys view of a divisive build. Much of the programme is devoted to emphasising just how big the plant will be: we are shown a tunnelling machine so enormous it requires a police cavalcade; we are treated to front-row seats for the “largest continuous cement pour…
Building Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Power Station, review: why didn't this film ask the real questions? It seemed a little odd for one local’s (admittedly very valid) complaints about traffic to be given more airtime than, say, worries over industrial espionage in a project part-funded by the Chinese state, or of ballooning budgets (from £18 billion to£22 billion).…
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS: Film-makers can tell us to forget worries as many times as they like. If a tidal wave or a plane strike does tear open the Hinkley C nuclear reactor, we re all Fukushima d.