Hinkley Point Lampshades

While walking the West Somerset Coast Path several years ago we came across poles in the fields near Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station bearing lampshades and wondered what they were.  They are still there and I took a couple of photos of this pair of lampshades in April 2015 just outside the south west boundary of Hinkley Point near to Pixies' Mound.  We didn't spot any of the resident pixies - perhaps they have already upped and left, as it has become too noisy for them around their mound in recent months, due to all the preparatory work for the building of Hinkley C Power Station.   We did however have occasion to marvel at the wonderful camouflage of the male brimstone butterfly.  We watched one land on the leaves of a hawthorn bush but once it had closed its wings and stopped moving it was almost impossible to see it against the bright green leaves, as it was an almost perfect colour match.  

Back to the lampshades, the only information I can see online about them says that they are there for radiation monitoring purposes, which seems plausible given their location.  However it also seems a very primitive way of monitoring radiation in the 21st century! Still, sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective.

Lampshades near Pixies' Mound