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200 arrested as India tries to crush anti nuclear movement

Thousands of Anti-Nuclear Protesters Face Police in India, 200 Arrested Green signal for nuclear power ‘is a red signal for our lives’ Common Dreams , 21 March 12, 

After thousands gathered in Idinthikarai, Tamil Nadu, India on Monday to protest the vastly contested Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant there, police forces came out en masse to repress demonstrations. Over 200 protesters have been arrested including key anti-nuclear organizers.

Thousands of Koodankulam protesters have gathered in front of St Lourdes church (Photo: TEHELKA)Police initiated “operation Koodankulam” arresting protesters and blocking all entry points to the coastal villages surrounding the nuclear power plant….

Since the arrests, thousands have gathered on the grounds of St Lourdes Church in the area as several have begun a hunger strike. “We will continue our protest till we die,” said one protestor. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/03/20-4

March 21, 2012 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

As Tamil Nadu govt turns against them, Koodankulam anti nuclear protestors plan fast till death

  PMANE leaders start fast Tamil Nadu IBN Live Mar 20, 2012 M Abdul Rabi  TIRUNELVELI: Seeking release of the nine arrested anti-Koodankulam plant protesters and revocation of the Cabinet resolution favouring the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), PMANE (People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy) leaders S P Udayakumar and M Pushparayan began a fast-unto-death at Idinthakarai on Monday.

Speaking to Express, Udayakumar said: “It is very unfortunate that the
state government has changed its decision….. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kpalnt-pmane-leaders-start-fast/240828-60-118.html

March 21, 2012 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Democracy and nuclear power just don’t go together

 The end of the nuclear illusion,   The Daily Star, Praful Bidwai, 20 March 12,  “…….Nuclear power is now on the run globally. The number of reactors operating worldwide has fallen from the historic peak of 444 (2002) to 429. Their share in global electricity supply has shrunk from 17% to 13%. And it’s likely to fall further as some 180-plus 30 years-old or older reactors are retired. Just about 60 new ones are planned.

Post-Fukushima, nobody will build reactors without big subsidies or high state-guaranteed returns –or unless they are China or India. China’s rulers don’t have to bother about democracy, public opinion or safety standards.

Nor are India’s rulers moved by these. They are desperate to award the reactor contracts promised to the US, France and Russia for lobbying for the US-India nuclear deal in the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Dr. Manmohan Singh has even stooped to maligning Indian anti-nuclear protesters as foreign-funded, as if they had no minds of their own, and as if the government’s priority wasn’t to import reactors.

Nuclear power is bound up with secrecy, deception and opacity, which clash with democracy. It evokes fear and loathing and can only be promoted by force while violating civil liberties.

A recent BBC-GlobeScan poll shows that 69% of people in 23 countries oppose building new reactors, including 90% in Germany, 84% in Japan, 80% in Russia and 83% in France. This proportion has sharply risen since 2005. Only 22% of people in the 12 countries which operate nuclear plants favour building new ones.

The world has witnessed five core meltdowns in 15,000 reactor-years. At this rate, we can expect one core meltdown every eight years in the world’s 400-odd reactors. This is simply unacceptable. Yet, the nuclear industry behaves as if this couldn’t happen. It has a collusive relationship with regulators, Continue reading →

March 20, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Anti nuclear movement encouraged by Swiss court ruling to close Mühleberg nuclear power station

Mühleberg decision heartens foreign activists by Peter Siegenthaler and Samuel Jaberg, swissinfo.ch Mar 19, 2012  A ruling by the Swiss Administrative Court ordering the closure of the Mühleberg nuclear power station has galvanised anti-nuclear campaigners elsewhere in Europe too. If the plant, just outside Bern, really is closed down, this would step up pressure on old nuclear stations at home and abroad. Continue reading →

March 20, 2012 Posted by | EUROPE, opposition to nuclear, Switzerland | Leave a comment

Malaysians not impressed by Australian rare earths company Lynas

Four government ministries have been roped in to help Lynas find a suitable storage site in the country is not only amusing but downright deploring. The statement by the international trade and industry minister that the radio active wastes will be disposed of overseas, even though it may break international laws is really not very assuring.

Lynas cannot continue to hide behind the Malaysian government’s skirt in its operations

Lynas Corp’s absurd publicity stunts — The Malaysian Insider, Iskandar Dzulkarnain March 14, 2012 ”….what can the Penang CM do to alleviate the current controversy surrounding the Lynas rare earth plant? Would his personal opinion or intervention buy over the thousands of critics who are against the existence of the Rare Earth Plant in Pahang State?

Isn’t it more appropriate to meet with Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of Pakatan Rakyat who is against the controversial project based on allegations that the Australian miner has not given enough assurances on how it will handle the low-level radioactive waste that will be produced at the refinery? Continue reading →

March 16, 2012 Posted by | Malaysia, opposition to nuclear, Uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry frantically lobbying, as world turns against it

rejection of nuclear energy is growing among people the world over — and building new reactors makes no sense in economic terms…..

Nuclear lobby’s frantic attempts to downplay the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, with
the aim of nipping the debate about nuclear safety in the bud

Undeterred by Fukushima, Nuclear Lobby Pushes Ahead with New Reactors, Spiegel Online, 13 March 12,  One year after the reactor accident in Fukushima, resistance to nuclear energy is growing around the world.

But the atomic industry continues to push for the construction of new reactors, primarily in
emerging economies……  Continue reading →

March 14, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Across Japan thousands protest against nuclear power

Antinuclear protests held across Japan on anniversary of disaster, Mainichi Daily News,   http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120312p2g00m0dm069000c.html 12 March 12, TOKYO (Kyodo) — Antinuclear protesters took to the streets in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan on Sunday, the one-year anniversary of the massive earthquake and tsunami which triggered the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Near the head office of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the crippled Fukushima complex, demonstrators called for the country to abandon nuclear power generation and restore Fukushima Prefecture, where more than 100,000 residents were forced to relocate.

Some 16,000 people attended an antinuclear gathering in the city of Koriyama in Fukushima and rallied in the city, calling for scrapping all nuclear reactors in Japan. The country has 54 commercial nuclear reactors, which provided a third of Japan’s electric power prior to the Fukushima plant disaster.

In Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan, about 1,100 people gathered to call for scrapping Chubu Electric Power Co.’s nuclear reactors at its Hamaoka power plant. Those reactors were halted last May after then prime minister Naoto Kan asked the utility to suspend their operation due to concern about a powerful quake in that area of Shizuoka Prefecture.

About 1,200 people including members of antinuclear citizens’ groups marched in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, which hosts the prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju and Kansai Electric Power Co.’s nuclear reactors.

They voiced objection to restarting two of the reactors at Kansai Electric’s Oi power plant in the prefecture after the country’s nuclear safety agency approved results of safety tests conducted on the reactors idled for a regular checkup and left a final decision on whether to restart them to the government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

“What we need to do, after witnessing how tragic Tokyo Electric’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident is, is to build a society which does not rely on nuclear plants,” said Fujio Yamamoto, who leads a group which organized the protest.

Similar protests were also held in other prefectures which host nuclear power plants or related facilities, including Saga and Aomori.

In the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, atomic bomb survivors took part in antinuclear protests and urged the country to stop relying on nuclear power.

March 12, 2012 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Anti nuclear rallies around the world

Protesters link arms around the world to decry nuclear power, Google News, France 24, 11 March 12,   AFP – Tens of thousands of anti-nuclear protesters across the globe called for an end to nuclear power as they marked the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami at Japan’s Fukushima power plant. Continue reading →

March 12, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Big turnout of protestors blockading UK’s Hinkley nuclear site

Activists blockade nuclear plant, Google News, (UKPA) 12 Mar 12, Anti-nuclear protesters have completed a 24-hour blockade of the entrance to Hinkley Point nuclear power station, marking the first anniversary of the disaster at the Fukushima power station in Japan. The Stop New Nuclear alliance hailed the rally as the “largest anti-nuclear protest in three decades” with up to 1,000 demonstrators surrounding the site on Saturday.

Protesters were also demonstrating over plans to build the first new nuclear reactors in Britain on the site. A number of protesters stayed overnight with over 100 people blocking the main entrance, stopping all traffic from entering or leaving the site, which is about 10 miles from Bridgwater, in Somerset…..
Hinkley Point is seen by protesters as the new “front line” in the fight against the use of nuclear power. Nancy Birch, spokeswoman for the alliance said: “We’ve successfully concluded the first ever 24-hour blockade of a UK nuclear power station.
“This is a major victory for the anti-nuclear movement and a sign that the tide is turning against the government’s nuclear renaissance. “A mini tent city emerged as over 100 people remained outside the main gate at Hinkley overnight – camping on the tarmac in makeshift tents.”
The blockade formally ended when Japanese Buddhist monks performed a prayer for the victims of the tsunami that precipitated the Fukushima disaster. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jjnCvxI8QTlU3mTeTo-q0bR3PaFw?docId=N1027381331401975467A

March 12, 2012 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Protest rally for a nuclear free Taiwan

About 2,000 Taiwanese stage anti-nuclear protest, Mainichi Daily News, TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) 12 March 12, — About 2,000 people have staged an anti-nuclear protest in Taiwan’s capital as they observed a moment of silence to mourn the victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan one year ago.

The protesters paraded in Taipei on Sunday to renew calls for a nuclear-free island by taking lessons from Japan’s disaster on March 11, 2011, which triggered meltdowns at three nuclear reactors.

They want the government to scrap a plan to operate a newly constructed nuclear power plant — the fourth in densely populated Taiwan.

Scores of aboriginal protesters demanded the removal of 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste stored on their Orchid Island, off southeastern Taiwan. Authorities have failed to find a substitute storage site amid increased awareness of nuclear danger over the past decade. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/international/news/20120311p2g00m0in035000c.html

March 12, 2012 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, Taiwan | Leave a comment

Nobel Laureate urges India to abandon harmful nuclear energy

Nobel laureate says nuclear energy can harm Times of India, TNN | Mar 10, 2012,  “… a specialist in the field, Hans-Peter Durr, director emeritus at the Max-Planck Institute in Munich, Germany, says nuclear energy poses serious threat to public health and encourages a major financial drain on national economies. Durr won the Nobel peace prize in 1995.

He delivered the TAG-VHS diabetes research speech on ‘nuclear power and energy hunger’ in the city on Friday in the presence of Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany Stefan Weckbach and an auditorium filled with scientists, doctors, businessmen and retired government officials. …  Durr said we would be able to produce adequate energy from soft sources like the sun. “No one in the world knows what they should be doing with the waste generated from the nuclear waste, except for bombs. Even hiding the waste under the sea won’t help as its half life is several hundred years,” he said.

Earlier at a press conference on Thursday, Durr said government of India and Tamil Nadu should look at alternative sources to tap energy instead of opening a nuclear power plant inKudankulam. …. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Nobel-laureate-says-nuclear-energy-can-harm/articleshow/12203134.cms

March 10, 2012 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Patrick Moore praises nuclear power, but the world does not believe him!

Dramatic fall in new nuclear power stations after Fukushima,   in Brussels,  and n. guardian.co.uk,  8 March 2012 The drop in construction work on new reactors may reflect waning interest in nuclear after the shutdown of the Japan reactor a year ago

The number of new nuclear power stations entering the construction phase fell dramatically last year compared with previous years, in the aftermath of the incident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan last March.

From 2008 to 2010, construction work began on 38 reactors around the world, but in 2011-12, there were only two construction starts, according to Steve Thomas, professor of energy studies at the University of Greenwich. Continue reading →

March 9, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

77% of Americans want government loans for renewable energy, not nuclear

More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) would support “a shift of federal loan-guarantee support for energy away from nuclear reactors” in favor of wind and solar power.

Survey: Americans Not Warming Up to Nuclear Power One Year After Fukushima, Market Watch, WASHINGTON, March 7, 2012  Contrary to Industry Predictions, Reactor Disaster Seen As Having a”Lasting Chill” on Perceptions;

It’s Not All Fukushima: 3 in 5 Americans Less Supportive Due to Woes of U.S. Nuclear Industry in Last Year. Continue reading →

March 8, 2012 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

Quebec rejects uranium mining

Quebec Says No to Uranium World Business Report, 4 Mar 12, In 2009, on the North-Shore of Quebec, the population of Sept-ÃŽles, with the help of “Sept-ÃŽles sans uranium”, had expressed its opposition against Terre Venture. The population won, and the company abandoned its project. Continue reading →

March 6, 2012 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear, Uranium | Leave a comment

Forceful opposition to renewing license for Pilgrim nuclear power plant

Pilgrim is one of the 23 reactors in the United States that is of the exact same design of the Fukushima reactors

Ms. Lampert also accused the federal government of bowing to corporate interests by disregarding the NRC’s own cautionary findings that these types of reactors should not be allowed to operate. 

 a 1990 Massachusetts Department of Health study  pointed out elevated levels of leukemia among residents living in the region around Pilgrim Power

Opponents To Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant Turn Out In Force For Panel Discussion, Cape News.net, 24 Feb 12  “……The panel they came to hear from included Carolyn O’Connor, director of external affairs for ISO New England, the entity that oversees the power grid in the region, state Senator Daniel A. Wolf, and Mary E. Lampert, founder and director of Pilgrim Watch and a longtime health and safety advocate.

Entergy Nuclear, the owner of the Pilgrim plant, declined an invitation to have a representative speak at the forum. Continue reading →

February 25, 2012 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

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