Local opposition to nuclear waste dumping seems to work, in Canada
environmental groups, including Sierra Club Canada, have raised significant concerns about the transportation of liquid nuclear waste from Chalk River Laboratories near Ottawa to a U.S. government site in South Carolina.
Coincidence or success? Nuclear waste facility drops towns after protest, rabble.ca
On March 3, the towns of Creighton, Saskatchewan and Schreiber, Ontario were dropped from considerationby the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to host a facility for highly radioactive used nuclear fuel.
Since 2010 the NWMO has been actively seeking a location to build what it calls a ‘long-term management site’ for the storage of used nuclear fuel. While there were originally 22 communities on the NWMO’s list of potential hosts, only nine 
remain, all in Ontario, as candidates for a high-level waste site for used nuclear fuel.
While community activists celebrate being dropped from the lists, concerns about nuclear waste transportation remain. Local politicians are also quick to note a potential economic loss for their communities.
‘Geological complexities’ arise when there’s opposition Continue reading
Manti-La Sal National Forest halt uranium expansion of the La Sal Uranium Mines Complex
Expansion of Four Utah Uranium Mines Halted, Center for Biological Diversity, http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2015/uranium-mines-03-26-2015.html 28 Mar 15
MOAB, Utah— In response to formal objections by Uranium Watch and other conservation groups, the Manti-La Sal National Forest on Tuesday halted plans to allow the uranium industry to expand the La Sal Mines Complex — a complex of four old uranium mines located in La Sal, Utah. Continue reading
A win for future generations in Saskatchewan, as nuclear waste dump rejected
The powerful Nuclear Waste Management Organization with all their money and all their experts could not beat back the duty we have to protect our future generations”
there has been strong Indigenous opposition in Ontario for years. Both the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), representing 49 First Nations in northern Ontario, and the Anishinabek Nation, representing 39 member First Nations across Ontario, have formally declared their opposition to nuclear waste in all of their traditional territories……
“This is what happens when people stick together and fight for what they believe in,” said Fred Pederson, a Pinehouse resident and member of the Committee for Future Generations Continue reading
Japan Anti-nuclear activists want formal public hearings on risks of restarting reactors in Fukui Prefecture
Activists seek public hearings in Shiga on Takahama reactor restarts http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/26/national/activists-seek-public-hearings-in-shiga-on-takahama-reactor-restarts/#.VRS6i_yUcnk BY ERIC JOHNSTON STAFF WRITER MAR 26, 2015
Representatives of the Citizens’ Commission on Nuclear Energy, a group of scholars, engineers, lawyers, and activists, met with Gov. Taizo Mikazuki, who was elected on an anti-nuclear platform in July 2014, to discuss concerns over the restart of the No. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama plant and what impact a disaster would have on the prefecture.
“It’s important to have a place where Shiga residents can discuss the technical, economic, and social problems related to the restart of the Takahama reactors and a disaster response system in case of an accident,” said Hitoshi Yoshioka, chairman of the citizens’ commission and a professor at Kyushu University.
Parts of the northern Shiga city of Takashima, which has a population of 52,400, lie within 30 km of the Takahama reactors. The prefecture has long been concerned about the central government’s disaster response plans and wants to be consulted by both Kepco and the central government about the restarts.
In addition, the group called on the governor to seek a wide variety of expert advice about the cost of restarts, and to consult economists who are skeptical of claims by the pro-nuclear camp about the economic and financial benefits of restarts.
Mikazuki, they said, expressed a desire to sponsor a public hearing, probably sometime after local elections in April. Both the governor and his predecessor have long worried about the impact of an accident on Lake Biwa, which provides water to about 14 million Kansai residents.
Anti nuclear rallies in over 200 German towns
By Diet Simon, 17 Mar 15 About 12,000 anti-nuclear activists demonstrated in recent days in more than 200 German towns in commemoration of the Fukushima catastrophe four years ago and against the current nuclear situation in Germany.
There were pickets, and rallies in Neckarwestheim, Düsseldorf, Berlin und Dannenberg. The demos focused on the aging nuclear power station in Germany, waste issues and the evil methods energy companies are employing to dodge their responsibilities.
Obviously not as many people took to the streets as immediately following the Fukushima catastrophe, so the more than 200 events were all the more noteworthy. Countless local newspapers reported on them. It was a successful reminder of the nuclear dangers, pulling the issue back into public focus.
Tenacity is a special strength of the German anti-nuclear movement.
Staring Thursday this week (19 March) many selected German cinemas will show an antinuclear film, „Die Reise zum sichersten Ort der Erde“ (The journey to the safest place on earth) dealing with the unsolved problem of disposing nuclear waste.
Many activists have talked to their local cinemas to run it so as to reach the biggest possible public (schedule of showings). Most found that it needed just a phone call or a face-to-face conversation to persuade cinema operators to show it.
As part of special screenings experts discuss with audiences about the film and its pressing question, where to with our life-threatening waste.
The film will also screen at the Environmental Filmfestival in Washington DC, from 17 to 29 March.
Some media comment: “A film about insanity” (Grit Lemke, DOK Leipzig); “Unideological and with unshakeable belief in a public who can think for themselves” (Saiten Ostschweizer Kulturmagazin); “A magnificent documentary film” (Susan Boos, Die Wochenzeitung); “Most watchable” (Susanna Petrin, Aargauer Zeitung); “Excellent documentation” (Blick);
“Looking away is forbidden” (Hans Nüsseler, Swiss television).
Production: Mira Film GmbH | Weststrasse 182 | CH-8003 Zürich | Tel +41 (0) 43 960 3684 | info@mirafilm.ch| www.mirafilm.ch
World distribution: Autlook Weltvertrieb | Spittelberggasse 3/14 | A-1070 Wien I Tel +43 720 34 69 34 Iwelcome@autlookfilms.com | www.autlookfilms.com
The film’s website: http://www.diereisezumsicherstenortdererde.ch/de/
Anti nuclear protest: 45,000 people march in Taiwan
45,000 people join anti-nuclear rallies in Taiwan, Straits Times, MAR 14, 2015 TAIPEI (AFP) – Thousands of people took to the streets in Taiwan on Saturday to call for the island to scrap its use of nuclear energy and to voice opposition to controversial plans to ship nuclear waste abroad, organisers said.
Protesters in central Taipei waved placards and dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with slogans including “Goodbye to nuclear energy” and “We don’t need nuclear power”, just days after Japan marked the fourth anniversary of an undersea earthquake which triggered a massive tsunami and nuclear disaster.
Taiwan’s government has faced growing public pressure over its unpopular nuclear energy facilities……….
We urge the government to reform its energy policy and focus on green energy and saving energy,” said one of the rally’s organisers Tsui Shu-hsin.
“Politicians should listen to the voices of the people… so Taiwan can become nuclear-free.” The government says that Taiwan will run out of energy if it ditches nuclear power, which currently supplies about 20 per cent of the island’s electricity.
The Taipei rally drew around 30,000 people, while two other rallies held simultaneously across the island had a combined turnout of 15,000, according to estimates by organisers. Police estimates were not immediately available.
Organisers were also collecting signatures in a bid to stop a plan by the state-run Taiwan Power Co to process its nuclear waste abroad, which they said was aimed at extending the operations of two plants which are approaching capacity.
The plants, which currently store the spent fuel rods, were launched in 1978 and 1981 and will each be decommissioned once they have been operational for 40 years.
“Taiwan is earthquake-prone like Japan and it is smaller so nuclear facilities are much closer to our homes,” said Wu Bor-chyun, a banker who was living in Japan at the time of the 2011 nuclear accident.
“Nuclear power is not safe and it is very costly. Taiwan should heed the lessons in Japan.”http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/45000-people-join-anti-nuclear-rallies-taiwan-20150314#sthash.Y0GCWbnB.dpuf
Pro nuclear signs to be removed from deserted town of Futaba
Deserted Fukushima town to remove pro-nuclear signs 7 News, Tokyo (AFP) 10 Mar 15 – A Japanese town that was evacuated after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has decided to remove street signs trumpeting the benefits of atomic power, an official said Tuesday.Deserted Futaba town, which plays host to the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, is set to earmark cash to remove huge signboards erected in 1988 and 1991, a town official told AFP.
“Nuclear power: the energy for a bright future,” says one sign written in the style of a haiku poem at the entrance to the town. “Nuclear power: for development of our homeland, a prosperous future,” reads the other.
Futaba’s 6,300 residents were ordered to flee their homes in the days after reactors began melting down at Fukushima when an enormous tsunami swamped their cooling systems.
They are still unable to return because of fears over elevated levels of radiation that leaked from the plant, and many remain in poorly-constructed temporary homes…….
0,000 people remain displaced because of the no-go zone around the plant.
Scientists warn that it may be many years until it is safe to return and say that some areas may have to be abandoned forever.
Campaign groups say unemployment is high and levels of depression and other illness are far above normal in displaced communities. https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/26585240/deserted-fukushima-town-to-remove-pro-nuclear-signs/
Nobel-winner Kenzaburo Oe urges Japan to quit nuclear power
Nobel-winner Oe: Japan should follow Germany, quit nuclear, Yahoo News By MARI YAMAGUCHI 10 Mar 15 TOKYO (AP) — Nobel-winning author Kenzaburo Oe said Tuesday that Japan’s push to restart some nuclear reactors following the Fukushima disaster could lead to another crisis, and urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to follow Germany’s example and phase out atomic energy.
Oe’s remarks to reporters came a day after visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had decided to end her country’s use of nuclear energy by 2022 because the Fukushima crisis convinced her of its risks…….
Oe, 80, said his life’s final work is to strive for a nuclear-free world.
“We must not leave the problem of nuclear plants for the younger generation,” he said.
The winner of the Nobel literature prize in 1994, Oe has campaigned for peace and anti-nuclear causes, particularly since the Fukushima crisis, and has often appeared in rallies. http://news.yahoo.com/nobel-winner-oe-japan-germany-quit-nuclear-111137853.html
Thousands of Germans rally in anti-nuclear protest, remembering Fukushima
VIDEO: German protesters call for end to nuclear power as they remember Fukushima http://www.euronews.com/2015/03/08/german-protesters-call-for-end-to-nuclear-power-as-they-remember-fukushima/Thousands of demonstrators have called for an end to nuclear energy during a rally in Neckarwestheim, in southern Germany.
They gathered in the town, home to a nuclear plant, to remember Japan’s Fukushima disaster four years ago.
Protesters chanted “switch off,” while holding banners reading “Fukushima out of control” and carrying mock coffins.
An earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 220 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, in March 2011. It sparked nuclear meltdowns, forcing more than 160-thousand residents to flee from nearby towns and contaminating water, food and air.
Stop nuclear wastes coming to Idaho – former governors to take legal action
Former Idaho Governors Aim to Stop Nuclear Waste Shipments MagicValley.com KEITH RIDLER Associated Press OISE (AP) 5 Mar 15 | Former Idaho Govs. Phil Batt and Cecil Andrus have filed a notice of their
intent to sue the federal government over proposed shipments of spent commercial nuclear fuel rods to Idaho.
The former governors sent the notice Thursday to the U.S. Department of Energy seeking to halt the shipments scheduled to arrive in June and December at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho.
Batt, a Republican, and Andrus, a Democrat, both fought commercial nuclear waste shipments during their terms that spanned portions of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, culminating with a 1995 agreement, often called the Batt Agreement. That agreement bans commercial nuclear waste shipments and requires cleanup of nuclear waste stored at the Idaho National Laboratory.
Specifically, the governors contend in the possible lawsuit that the Department of Energy will be violating federal environmental laws by shipping the waste to Idaho………http://magicvalley.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/update-former-idaho-governors-aim-to-stop-nuclear-waste-shipments/article_433b083e-c369-11e4-926a-83ba5c8b914a.html
March 14 in Taiwan – anti nuclear marches in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Tainan
Anti-nuclear protest march scheduled for March 14 Central News Agency By Zoe Wei and Evelyn Kao2015-03-01 Taipei, A national anti-nuclear alliance calling for energy reforms is set to hold a protest march around Taiwan on March 14 to mark the fourth anniversary of Japan‘s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Stop Nukes Now , formed by 126 anti-nuclear organizations, announced that the march will take place simultaneously in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Tainan to convey people’s hope for the government to abolish nuclear power and reform Taiwan’s energy network.
Abandoning plans for nuclear power – the “only safe option” – Naoto Kan tells Wales
Former Japanese PM warns against Welsh nuclear site renewal By Daily Wales correspondent, 25 Feb 15
The former Prime Minister of Japan has used a visit to Wales to urge the UK Government to scrap its commitment to nuclear energy. He is using the tour to send out a message to the UK Government that the safety risks posed by nuclear energy are simply not worth taking.
He said:
“What occurred in Fukushima in 2011 was caused by humans, not a natural disaster. It is clear to me that what caused this catastrophe was our commitment to an unsafe and expensive technology that is not compatible with life on this planet.
“The only safe option when it comes to nuclear power is to abandon your plans for nuclear power. It simply is not worth the risk………
Mr Kan’s visit to Wales has been supported by Welsh anti-nuclear campaign group, People Against Wylfa B (PAWB), Friends of the Earth Cymru, CND Cymru and Welsh language campaign group, Cymdeithas yr Iaith.
http://dailywales.net/2015/02/25/former-japanese-pm-warns-against-welsh-nuclear-site-renewal/
Taiwanese petition against nuclear-waste reprocessing
Activists petition against nuclear-waste reprocessing http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/02/25/2003612205 By Tang Chia-ling Anti-nuclear group Mom Loves Taiwan has launched a petition against state-run Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) call for bids to reprocess about 1,200 bundles of spent fuel rods from the Jinshan and Guosheng nuclear power plants, which Taipower announced on Tuesday last week, one day before Lunar New Year’s Eve.
Taipower has obtained a budget of NT$11.25 billion (US$353 million) to deliver 480 and 720 bundles of spent fuel rods from the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant, in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門), and the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant, in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里), respectively overseas for reprocessing. The reprocessing is to be implemented over four years, with the first batch scheduled to be shipped by the end of this year.
The campaign, dubbed “Help Taiwan & Save The World!! Stop Taipower’s Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Project,” had gathered about 270 signatures as of press time last night. Many signatories are from Japan, where the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant disaster took place in 2011.
The organization hopes to obtain 500,000 signatures and present them to Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) in the hope that the government will block the project.
Mom Loves Taiwan chief executive Yang Shun-mei (楊順美) said shipping highly radioactive nuclear waste overseas to be reprocessed only means that the waste will be shipped back to Taiwan 20 years later.
She said that nuclear waste reprocessing is a dying industry and that the French-based firm Areva, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, is a case in point.
She said that Avera is reportedly the company to which Taipower plans to send its fuel rods for reprocessing. She said the move would salvage the company from insolvency at the cost of polluting the environment, while bolstering nuclear arms production, and above all, no one would responsible for overseeing the reprocessing operations.
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union member Gloria Hsu (徐光蓉) said that Taipower did not inform the public of the actual cost of nuclear-waste reprocessing and that time and again it has requested more funds from the legislature shortly after its budget has been passed.She added that it did this while constructing the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Kan to join anti-Wylfa nuclear campaign
Naoto Kan was at the helm of his country’s Government at the time of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, the largest incident of its kind since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Mr Kan stepped down from office in the wake of the meltdown and has become a staunch anti-nuclear campaigner.
Mr Kan will arrive in Wales from Paris next Wednesday, where he will visit the Senedd and meet in the Pierhead Building with National Assembly Members and other invited guests.
He will then travel north to Anglesey on Thursday, where he will give a talk at the gates of Wylfa nuclear station at 8.45am to urge the public to oppose the development plant.
Mr Kan will then head to the Anglesey Council offices in Llangefni at 11am to address councillors in private, before concluding his trip at 1pm, where he will hold a public meeting at Carreg Brân Hotel, Llanfairpwll.
An Isle of Anglesey County Council spokesperson said: “Following a request on behalf of the Green Cross, Mr Kan will be addressing members of the Council.
“During the meeting we will also be informing him about our Energy Island Programme and its aims.”
14 organisations urge against building a new nuclear reactor in Virginia
No to nuclear nonsense: Groups call on Dominion to abandon plans for North Anna 3 reactorhttp://www.foe.org/news/archives/2015-02-groups-call-on-dominion-to-abandon-plans-for-north-anna-3-reactor Feb. 16, 2015 / Kate Colwell
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Friends of the Earth, with 13 other organizations, submitted a letter to Governor Terry McAuliffe, Members of the Virginia General Assembly, Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners and energy company Dominion Resources urging against building a third nuclear reactor at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Virginia. This proposed reactor would sit on an active earthquake fault and lacks a reliable water supply for cooling three reactors. The letter also emphasized the project’s high cost, a lack of any safe waste disposal solution and other inherent safety concerns related to nuclear reactors.
Friends of the Earth’s former president Brent Blackwelder issued the following statement:
The nuclear tragedy at Fukushima should have made it clear that the risks of nuclear reactors are too great. Yet Dominion Virginia Power and the state of Virginia continue to flirt with disaster. It is unconscionable to spend a single cent on an energy source that carries the inherent risks of nuclear reactors. These risks are exacerbated at North Anna because the reactor sits on a known fault line. This is the same fault that just shook Washington, D.C. in 2011, damaging the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral. Safe, renewable and distributed energy alternatives already exist; and it is time that we stopped investing in false solutions.
Expert contact: Brent Blackwelder, (202) 422-7753, brentblackwelder@yahoo.com
Communications contact: Kate Colwell, (202) 222-0744, kcolwell@foe.org – See more at:http://www.foe.org/news/archives/2015-02-groups-call-on-dominion-to-abandon-plans-for-north-anna-3-reactor#sthash.hQ9lDM55.dpuf
1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- April 2026 (152)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
- May 2025 (261)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 