Morning Star 25th July 2017, AN ANTI-NUCLEAR protester being held in a Scottish jail will have her
appeal against special bail conditions heard today. Edinburgh’s Sheriff
Appeal Court will hear the case of Trident Ploughshares founder Angie
Zelter, 66, who was arrested after a blockade of the Coulport nuclear base
on Loch Long earlier this month. Ms Zelter, who was arrested with five
other activists, remains in prison after refusing to undertake not to go
within 100 metres of the Scottish nuclear weapons bases at Coulport and
Faslane. Seventy-nine-year-old retired teacher Brian Quail also refused to
accept the condition and remains in custody. At an initial hearing in
Dumbarton, Ms Zelter argued that, while she has no intention of lying in
the road again, she has every right to protest at the bases. Ms Zelter said
that the Trident nuclear weapons system is illegal as it is an
indiscriminate weapon that, if used, would cause the deaths of millions of
civilians. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-881a-Anti-nuclear-protester-appeals-bail-conditions
July 28, 2017
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Anti-nuclear groups will do ‘everything possible’ to stop government’s plans, https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2017-07-18-anti-nuclear-groups-will-do-8216everything-possible8217-to-stop-government8217s-plans/ 18 JULY 2017 – 17:19 BEKEZELA PHAKATHI Anti-nuclear lobby groups say they will do all that is possible, including turning to the courts and mass protests, to stop the government’s nuclear plans.
On Tuesday, groups belonging to #StopCorruptNuclearSA spent 67 minutes as part of Mandela Day, occupying bridges on highways in Cape Town to protest government’s ongoing pursuit of nuclear power, which they say represents SA’s “most urgent threat”.
Last month, President Jacob Zuma said in Parliament that the government was still intent on pursuing the nuclear new-build programme at a pace and scale the country could afford. He said the nuclear programme remained firmly part of the energy mix SA was pursuing to ensure energy security. The mix includes hydro, solar, coal, wind and gas.
Kate Davies, one of the founding members of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) which forms part of the anti-nuclear lobby, told Business Day that the groups would do everything to stop government from continuing with the nuclear programme. “We firmly believe that it is a great mistake for our country to pursue nuclear. We simply cannot afford it … We are also hearing that Eskom is already bankrupt … hopefully, sense will prevail. We are waiting and watching, and we remind civil society to be vigilant,” said Davies.
She said the secret nature of the programme meant it was open to corruption at a scale worse than the arms deal and that the government should rather focus on renewables, which have been proven to be cheaper and safer than nuclear. Furthermore, she said, demand for electricity was decreasing as consumers find smarter ways to use power and the current consumption patterns meant the country did not need nuclear.
Vainola Makan, from Right2Know Campaign, which is also part of the anti-nuclear lobby, said: “Citizens face a major issue with government at the moment, in that our government continues to purposefully exclude South Africans from important decisions.”
The High Court in Cape Town recently set aside the two determinations issued by former energy minister, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, that laid the basis for the nuclear procurement. It found that the determinations relating to the construction of nuclear plants with a capacity of 9,600MW were unconstitutional and invalid.
The court also declared the nuclear co-operation agreement between the South African and Russian governments to be unconstitutional and unlawful. The case was brought against the government by Earthlife Africa and SAFCEI.
Following the ruling, Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said the government was reviewing its nuclear agreements with many countries.
Last month, Zuma said it was important to note that the High Court found fault with the process followed, especially in tabling the intergovernmental agreements in preparation for the nuclear new-build programme. The judgment, said Zuma, did not deal with substantive matters pertaining to the country’s future energy programmes.
July 18, 2017
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Drilling work for proposed nuclear power plant Chutka stopped after villagers protest, Villagers in tribal dominated Mandla district’s Chutka staged a protest on Saturday, refusing to allow drilling for soil samples for the proposed nuclear power plant in the area BHOPAL Hindustan Times, Jul 16, 2017 17 Villagers in tribal dominated Mandla district’s Chutka staged a protest on Saturday, refusing to allow drilling for soil samples for the proposed nuclear power plant in the area. They said their demands and concerns have not been addressed by the authorities. Mandla is 382 kms from Bhopal.
Union environment ministry’s forest advisory committee (FAC) recommended forest clearance for Chutka nuclear project in Mandla after discussing the diversion of 119.46 hectares of forest land in Mandla in its meeting on May 16 this year. In 2015 the state cabinet had approved allotment of 41 acres of land for the Chutka project.
The 1,400 megawatt project being set up by Nuclear Power Corporation of India in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company will come up at village Chutka in Narayan Ganj tehsil of Mandla district. Over 400 families will be displaced by the project.
People of the four villages in Mandla district, predominantly tribals, have been protesting against the project since it was cleared by Centre in 2009. Most of them were displaced by the Bargi Dam in 1984……
Environmental expert Soumya Dutta who has visited Chutka many times, told HT that there was no rationale for the proposed nuclear power plant as MP was already a power surplus state.
“Given the scenario of power generation and power demand at present, there is no need for nuclear power plant in MP. Besides, if a village Gram Sabha (of Kunda) has not approved the project, the government has to constitutionally accept it…
July 17, 2017
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Saanich to hear request from anti-nuclear group, Victoria News , WOLF DEPNER Jul 16th, 2017 Council Monday will consider a request to re-affirm Saanich’s status as a zone free of nuclear weapons.
The request comes from the Vancouver Island Peace and Disarmament Network, which describes itself as an “open coalition of peace keepers representing diverse views and approaches to peace and disarmament with a focus on on Canada’s role domestically and internationally.”
The group recently participated in last month’s Ban the Bomb rally held out the provincial legislature.
Saanich’s status as a zone free of nuclear weapons dates back to the final years of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union when council passed a motion in 1983 that declared Saanich “a nuclear weapons free zone and that the production, testing, storage, transportation, processing disposal or use of nuclear weapons or their components not to be undertaken in Saanich.”
Saanich passed the request following a request from among others Project Ploughshares, a Canadian non-governmental organization formed in 1976…..https://www.vicnews.com/news/saanich-to-hear-request-from-anti-nuclear-group/
July 17, 2017
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The National 14th July 2017, PROTESTING pensioners Brian Quail and Angela Zelter are languishing in jail
after refusing to accept a court order banning them from campaigning
outside a nuclear arms base.
Quail, a 79-year-old retired Latin teacher is
being kept in HMP Low Moss, while 66-year-old Zelter has been remanded in
Corton Vale. The two were arrested by police after taking part in a
blockade of the nuclear warhead store at Coulport on Loch Long as part of
the Trident Ploughshares campaign.
The veteran campaigners, and three
others who had taken part in the blockade, were offered bail at Dumbarton
Justice of the Peace Court on Wednesday, but only if they agreed to not go
“within 100m of the perimeter fence or shoreline of HMS Naval Base Clyde,
Faslane”.http://www.thenational.scot/news/15412112.Pensioners_face_THREE_WEEKS_of_jail_time_for_peacefully_protesting_nuclear_weapons/
July 17, 2017
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CORE 7th July 2017 CORE’s Janine Allis-Smith and Martin Forwood who have campaigned on Sellafield commercial operations since the 1980’s have been notified that they have won the international Nuclear Free Future Award (NFFA) for 2017
under the Education category.
Cited for their three decades of work ‘unmasking ‘ and disseminating information on operations at the West
Cumbrian site to a world-wide audience – and with CORE described as ‘an indispensable pillar of the British anti-nuclear movement’ – the award which carries a cash endowment of $10,000 will be made in Basel, Switzerland in September.
Commenting on the unexpected award the campaigners said today: ‘We are honoured to have received NFFA’s Education Award for 2017 and humbled to be joining the list of diverse and distinguished winners of the past. Since the 1980’s when Sellafield was preparing to double its commercial reprocessing activities, we have focused not only on acting locally but also being the ‘eyes and ears’ for the many interested parties world-wide on Sellafield and its many detrimentswhich include site accidents, environmental contamination, health risks, plutonium stockpiles and nuclear transports.
http://corecumbria.co.uk/news/anti-nuclear-campaigners-from-local-group-core-win-international-award/
July 10, 2017
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Nevada poised to fight Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump https://lasvegassun.com/news/2017/jul/05/nevada-poised-to-fight-yucca-mountain-nuclear-wast/, By Cy Ryan (contact), July 5, 2017 | CARSON CITY — Nevada is poised to thwart a federally proposed high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, but there could be battles ahead in Congress, a lawyer leading the fight said.
“We are in good shape,” said Marta Adams, a private attorney hired to fight the legal battle, told the state Board of Examiners today. Experts were ready to testify at any hearings by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, she said.
Adams fought against the Yucca Mountain project for 20 years with the Nevada Attorney General’s Office before she retired. She received a $300,000 contract as a private attorney to continue the battle, and that amount was raised to $450,000 a year by the Board of Examiners. This is federal money.
President Donald Trump’s administration has included $120 million in its budget for the Federal Regulatory Commission to restart hearings on licensing Yucca Mountain.
Gov. Brian Sandoval, chairman of the Board of Examiners, said the federal government was trying to do “an end run” around the authority of the state. He said the site sits atop an aquifer, and the stored radioactive material could get into the water.
Adams said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is not as ready as it thinks it is to begin the licensing process, with hearings that could last five years. She said the Nevada Legislature stands behind the state’s opposition.
July 7, 2017
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Nuclear ship proceeds despite protests, Herald Sun ,Wolfgang Jung and Stephen Wolf, Deutsche Presse Agentur June 29, 2017 A transport ship loaded with highly radioactive nuclear waste has continued its journey along a German river after being halted by protesters.
Four activists from the German environmental group Robin Wood abseiled from a bridge over the Neckar river in the town of Bad Wimpfen in southwest Germany, unfurling a banner reading, “Prevent, don’t put off.”
The stunt halted for several hours the first-ever river transport of atomic waste in Germany while specially trained forces attempted to remove them from the bridge…….http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/nuclear-ship-proceeds-despite-protests/news-story/baef982d1bccf91bafd6fe21e909e660
June 30, 2017
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Human chain against aging nuclear plants spans three countries http://www.dw.com/en/human-chain-against-aging-nuclear-plants-spans-three-countries/a-39408428 Thousands have protested to demand the closure of two nuclear reactors in Belgium over safety concerns. Demonstrators formed a human chain that stretched from Germany, through the Netherlands and into Belgium. Organizers claimed that some 50,000 protesters took part in the demonstration on Sunday, forming a human chain that stretched from Aachen, Germany, to Liege, Belgium, and Maastricht, the Netherlands.
The chain also passed close the Tihange nuclear power plant some 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) southwest of Liege. The Tihange 2 and Doel 3 reactors have been the subject of safety concerns about microcracks in their structures.
Doel lies in northern Belgium, close to the port city of Antwerp, about halfway between Brussels and Amsterdam. Numerous safety incidents, mostly low-level, have been reported from the two reactors which have each been in operation for more than 30 years.
Protesters who massed in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium complain they are living with excessive risk
German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks last year urged Belgium to take the two reactors offline until open safety questions were cleared up. However, the request was dismissed by Belgium’s nuclear regulator.
Aachen takes legal action
The city of Aachen and some 100 communities in the border region are currently suing the operators of Tihange 2.
Sunday’s demonstration was organized by numerous environmental organizations in all three countries and spearheaded by Belgian actor and director Bouli Lanners. The mayors of Aachen and Cologne also lent their weight to the protest.
“It is the strongest message the region could send,” said the administrative head of the Aachen city region, Helmut Etschenberg. “We no longer want to live with the element of uncertainty that is Tihange 2 and we will keep on and on.”
As well as demanding the closure of the plant, demonstrators are calling for an end to deliveries of fuel elements to the two power stations from Germany’s Lingen nuclear power plant, in the state of Lower Saxony.Such is the level of concern about Belgium’s aging reactors in Germany that the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has stocked up with iodine tablets in an effort to limit human exposure to radiation.
June 27, 2017
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Environmental groups challenge TVA nuclear reactor plan, Miami Herald, 25 June 17 The Associated Press OAK RIDGE, TENN.
Environmental groups are challenging the Tennessee Valley Authority’s proposal to use a Tennessee nuclear reactor design site abandoned in the 1970s to develop new small modular reactors.
According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press , the Southern Alliance for Clean Power, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League have challenged the Oak Ridge project’s site application. They say the reactors remain untested, unsafe and unneeded.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing the application to determine if the site works for two or more reactors generating up to 800 megawatts of nuclear power.
Sara Barczak, the high risk energy choices program director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, compared the project to the Clinch River Breeder Reactor project that was planned for the site in the 1970s, but was scrapped amid escalating prices for the technology.
“We are very concerned that history is once again repeating itself,” Barczak said. “And we are concerned that billions of dollars could be spent on a technology that is unproven, untested and significantly more expensive than other types of power technology that are available to TVA.”…….. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article158140124.html
June 26, 2017
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Herald 25th June 2017, Nuclear bomb bases on the Clyde are being targeted with blockades,
break-ins and a series of other protests next month. The campaign group,
Trident Ploughshares, is organising a disarmament camp at an ancient oak
woodland it owns near the UK’s nuclear weapons store at Coulport on Loch
Long from 8-16 July. The protest is timed to coincide with the close of
United Nations (UN) negotiations between 130 countries on a treaty banning
nuclear weapons. The UK government, along with other nuclear weapons
states, has boycotted the talks in New York.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15369495.Blockades_to_target_Clyde_nuke_bases/
June 26, 2017
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Youth & Student CND 19th June 2017, On the Saturday just gone, 17th June, while the rest of London sweltered at
the mercy of the hottest weekend so far this year, enthusiasts, activists,
and journalists alike, descended from across the world to Conway Hall,
Holborn,to take part in the first nuclear power conference in 30 years, No
Need for Nuclear: The Renewables are Here hosted by the Campaign for
Nuclear Disarmament. With over 150 attendees of all ages, and 17 speakers
comprised of distinguished academics, MPs and industry representatives, the
conference was deemed a great success. The conference was graced with a
keynote address from Caroline Lucas MP, all the way from New York where the
UN disarmament meetings are taking place. The conference was broken into 4
sections: What’s wrong with Nuclear power? and The Politics of Nuclear
Power followed by UK Energy Demand, Energy Supply, and The Renewables after
lunch. http://www.yscnd.org/uk/what-you-missed-at-the-noneedfornuclear-conference/
June 21, 2017
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A-bomb victims join NYC rally for ban on nuke weapons at U.N. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201706180031.html, By KEITA MANO/ Staff Writer June 18, 2017, NEW YORK–Shouting “No More Hiroshima, No More Nagasaki,” hundreds of demonstrators marched through a downpour in New York City on June 17, calling for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons under negotiations at the United Nations.
Atomic bomb survivors and others took turns giving speeches when they arrived at the square near the United Nations headquarters. The 1.5-kilometer march was organized by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Elayne Whyte, Costa Rica’s ambassador who is chairing the negotiations, pledged to strive toward the establishment of the treaty, while expressing gratitude toward the 3 million signatures collected in a campaign by atomic bomb survivors to highlight the importance of the U.N. talks.
Hibakusha survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki traveled to New York to coincide with the negotiations and handed the signatures to Whyte at the U.N. headquarters the previous day.
Toshiyuki Mimaki, 75, a hibakusha from Hiroshima, said he was touched by the participation of so many people in the march.
“Despite the heavy rain, a large number of people came and shouted Hiroshima and Nagasaki together,” said Mimaki. “I am so happy and grateful.”
Rallies were also held across Japan on June 17 to coincide with the New York City march.
June 19, 2017
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The Canary 14th June 2017, The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has criticised what it calls the
“ill-advised” appointment by Theresa May of Michael Gove as Environment
Secretary. Its condemnation comes ahead of a conference on renewable
energy. And The Canary spoke exclusively to CND General Secretary Kate
Hudson about climate change, renewables and the future under a potential
Conservative-led government.
The CND was formed in 1957, with the specific goal of campaigning for an end to nuclear weapons. But over the years, the
group has broadened its remit, and on Saturday 17 June it will be holding a
conference on renewable energy. Entitled No need for nuclear: the
renewables are here, it will be tackling: What’s wrong with nuclear
power; The politics of nuclear power; Energy demand and energy efficiency;
The scope of renewables in the UK. Hudson told The Canary, tackling nuclear
power is nothing new for the CND. In fact, she says the group has been
addressing renewables for “decades”: CND is best known for being
anti-nuclear weapons but for some decades now we have also had an
anti-nuclear power stance. The technologies are inextricably linked and the
radiation impacts are of shared devastation. Nuclear power is dirty,
dangerous, expensive and absolutely unnecessary. Renewables now demonstrate
that final point beyond all question. The idea that nuclear power is worth
the risk is finished. Many countries already recognise that and it’s time
for the UK to kick its nuclear addiction in the interests of people and
planet. https://www.thecanary.co/2017/06/14/major-campaign-group-slammed-ill-advised-appointment-climate-change-skeptic-government/
June 19, 2017
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In one of its final acts of 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with overwhelming support a landmark resolution to begin negotiations on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. This historic decision heralds an end to two decades of paralysis in multilateral nuclear disarmament efforts.
Throughout June and July of 2017, governments will negotiate a ban on nuclear weapons at the United Nations. WILPF and our coalition are hitting the streets to celebrate and also demand a good treaty that prohibits these weapons of mass destruction once and for all!
The Women’s March to Ban the Bomb is a women-led initiative building on the momentum of movements at the forefront of the resistance, including the Women’s March on Washington. It will bring together people of all genders, sexual orientations, ages, races, abilities, nationalities, cultures, faiths, political affiliations and backgrounds to march and rally at 12 PM – 3PM Saturday, June 17th 2017 in New York City! https://www.womenbanthebomb.org/
June 16, 2017
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