When the Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change drops by you don’t need a second invitation to come along and film the event for leading energy generator EDF.
It was like the old days yesterday, taking me back to my time as a broadcast journalist at BBC News West (now BBC Points West). Familiar faces gathered in the press room at Hinkley B power station in Somerset to wait for MP Chris Huhne’s break-neck visit to the site.
We galloped after the Minister, through turbine halls & viewing platforms, until he finally emerged blinking into a chilly West Country morning wondering what all the fuss was about.
It didn’t take much to remind him that EDF want to build one of the most exciting developments in nuclear power generation in years on this wild sea coast. The scale of the plans and the implications for job creation in the area are mind boggling.
And, of course, it’s hoped that when it comes to support for this important project, the Secretary of State will remember his pit stop at Hinkley Point.
The video we filmed for EDF’s website should be a pertinent reminder of just how much is resting on getting the planning permission for two state-of-the-art nuclear reactors sorted.