2.4 km, radius around the plant as defined by the EDF within which local residents should receive potassium iodate tablets.
On 9 December 2014, on a day of driving winds and torrential rain, a group of 24 people visited the Hunterston B nuclear power plant in Ayrshire.
This visit was part of an intensive 5 day Transmedia Production module delivered by the UWS Creative Media Academy as part of the EU-funded Honeycomb Creative Works project.
Fieldwork and digital production was undertaken by the group both at the plant and within the confines of the surrounding area.
What follows is a record of our own subjective impressions, documentation and artistic response to the people we met and the local environment.
The ‘2.4km’ transmedia production does not set out to offer an "objective" assessment of the benefits and risks of civilian nuclear power, rather it provides an opportunity to share the reflections, opinions, feelings, and perceptions of one group of ordinary citizens on one particular day.
This inaugural edition of the UWS web platform is edited by Professor Nick Higgins and Peter Snowdon of the UWS Creative Media Academy, with additional support from guest mentor Alain de Halleux.
The Creative Media Academy would like to take this opportunity to thank EdF Hunterston, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, and the local population for their all their assistance and generosity in making this project possible.
What we saw
Ten minutes to draw
Meeting EDF
After the visit
Hunterston B power plant visitors center, 9 December 2014. Photograph by Peter Snowdon. On the vast car park that stretches between Hunterston B and the shore of the Clyde estuary, stand hundreds of cars and vehicles of all types: battered white contractors’ vans; smart family saloons; even
An appropriate image?
The nuclear policeman
Circa noontime on a strange December day, a young man of good pedigree sits in front of us. Eloquent and erudite, he speaks knowledgeably of architecture and horticulture as potential future pursuits while a radio microphone is pinned to his lapel and a lens focuses sharp on his countenance. His nam
Living in the shadow
A guided tour
Elements
Precautionary
A gift from God
Side by side
What no one can see
Ten minutes to draw
Meeting EDF
After the visit
Q: What was your biggest fear working inside a nuclear power station?A: From a visible perspective there is a vivid awareness from the size and physical/imposing form of the facility and visible security measures and security /police presence that is a nuclear power station. This does not necess
An appropriate image?
The nuclear policeman
Silence speaks volumes. The eyes of lost souls regard you from every wall in this place. A casual reminder that in the inevitable future we will all ultimately become fragments of the past. The ghosts of the clan walk the wings late at night. So it is said. We are strangers to this saga, though.
Living in the shadow
A guided tour
Elements
Precautionary
A gift from God
Side by side
Our industry collaborator on the 2.4km project was the Belgian documentary filmmaker, Alain De Halleaux.
Alain trained as a nuclear engineer, before graduating from the Belgian film school INSAS.
After working as an agency photographer as far afield as Afghanistan, and winning many prizes for his commercials and industrial films, he has devoted himself recently to a series of documentaries that explore the shadow that the nuclear industry casts over our society: RAS (ARTE 2008) on the experience of contract workers in the industry (selected for the festival Visions du Réel), Chernobyl 4ever (ARTE 2011) and Welcome to Fukushima (RTBF 2013). His webdoc, Tales from Fukushima (2012), was produced by ARTE interactive.
He teaches filmmaking at the INRACI film school (Brussels).
You can find out more information about Alain and his films here. And his Chernobyl film can be seen here; Chernobyl 4 ever
