Anti-Coal "Zorro" Manages Solo Shutdown of UK Power Plant
by David Sassoon - Dec 11th, 2008
The only things missing were a cape and a sword, but otherwise the unknown person who singlehandedly shut down a UK coal plant last month bears an uncanny resemblance to the pulp fiction hero Zorro. He's now even a wanted man.
The £12m defences of the most heavily guarded power station in Britain have been breached by a single person who, under the eyes of CCTV cameras, climbed two three-metre (10ft) razor-wired, electrified security fences, walked into the station and crashed a giant 500MW turbine before leaving a calling card reading "no new coal". He walked out the same way and hopped back over the fence.
All power from the coal and oil-powered Kingsnorth station in Kent was halted for four hours, in which time it is thought the mystery saboteur's actions reduced UK climate change emissions by 2%.
Whoever s/he was s/he knew what s/he was doing. After scaling a double fence and crossing a car park, s/he walked through an unlocked doorand into the main turbine hall. Within minutes, after tampering with a computer control panel, s/he shut down Unit 2, one of the station's 500 Megawatt turbines.
A spokesperson for E.ON, the owner of the facility said:
It was running at full 500MW load and the noise it would have made as it shut itself down is just incredible. CCTV shows that he then just walked out, and went back over the fence. It could be that no one has taken responsibility because they were so frightened by the noise it would have made. It's probably taken them a week just to get over the shock.
Zorro never took responsibility. People just knew.
But who knew how easy it is to shut down a coal plant? A few keystrokes is all it takes.
Emily Highmore, the company spokesperson, was full of tut-tuts.
You have to be trained to work here. People do not just wander about on their own. He could have killed himself. We do not have a problem with public protest but this was reckless. Whoever it was has crossed a line they should not have gone over. Power stations are dangerous places.
It's just not done!
This anti-coal Zorro left his mark about what should not be done: his card which said "no new coal." E.ON wants to demolish the power station and build a new one -- the first in the UK in 34 years.
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