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Support for India’s Kudankulam anti nuclear protestors

Kudankulam anti-nuclear team hopeful of support of local bodies, Economic Times, 28 OCT, 2011,  JOE A SCARIA,   CHENNAI: The anti-nuclear protests at Kudankulam entered the tenth day on Thursday, with leaders of the rainbow organisations demanding scrapping of the nuclear plant in the village hopeful that the newly-elected local body representatives will support their cause.

AIADMK had scored an emphatic win last week in the local body elections in Tamil Nadu. The nuclear plant at Kudankulam was an election issue across Kanyakumari, Nagercoil and Tirunelveli districts. The polls have also thrown up a number of independent candidates in panchayats like Idinthakarai, where the protests are being staged, and at Kudankulam. “We are speaking to the newly-elected local body representatives and they are in support of our demand,” convenor of the Coastal People’s Federation M Pushparayan, one of the organisations fighting for closure of the Indo-Russian joint ventureKudankulam Nuclear Power Project, told ET.
The Centre had set up a 15-member expert committee to study the issue, but protest leaders say they want a halt to the work at the plant before they can hold discussions with the expert committee.

Roughly 500 people are taking turns each day for the relay fast at Idinthikarai village, close to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Pushparayan said villagers from Koottapanai and Kuttuthalai were on fast on Thursday. Among the prominent persons visiting the site on Thursday was the Church of South India’s bishop for Tuticorin, JAD Jebachandran.

Protestors have also expressed disappointment over the composition of the expert committee. “We are not against the committee, but the fact is that the committee was set up without our knowledge and also without taking the state government into confidence,” Pushparayan said.

The Tamil Nadu Cabinet had passed a resolution demanding halt to work at the project, and J Jayalalithaa had assured her support to the local people during the local body poll campaign. .. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/kudankulam-anti-nuclear-team-hopeful-of-support-of-local-bodies/articleshow/10514024.cms

October 28, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | 2 Comments

Work halted at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project as protest hunger strike continues

Anti-nuclear protesters’ relay fast enters day 6 at Kudankulam, Net Indian, United News of India, Tirunelveli, October 23, 2011 The third phase of relay hunger strike being observed by protesters against the Kudankulam Nuclear PowerProject (KKNPP) at Idinthakarai coastal hamlet in this district of Tamil Nadu entered the sixth day today.

Hundreds of people, including women, are observing the relay hunger strike in front of St Lourdes Church, demanding that the Centre scrap the project, fearing possible nuclear radiation leakage once the plant begins power production and their displacement from their native villages.

Due to the peoples’ stir, work on the Indo-Russianproject was affected for the 11th consecutive day as scientists and technocrats were not able to reach the site. http://netindian.in/news/2011/10/23/00016703/anti-nuclear-protesters-relay-fast-enters-day-6-kudankulam

October 24, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

India’s Koodankulam anti nuclear protestors resume their campaign

Protest against nuclear power plant to resume on October 18 India Today Online Tirunelveli (TN), October 17, 2011 The protest against theKoodankulam Nuclear Power Plant would resume on Tuesday after the two-day suspension in view of the civic polls, one of the movements spearheading the stir demanding scrapping of the project on Monday said. The People’s Rights Protection Movement Coordinator Sivasubramanian said they would resume the indefinite fast by 106 people on Tuesday at Indinthakarai Village in the district.

The second phase of the protest which began on October 9 was suspended on Sunday for two days to enable the residents of villages in and around Koodankulamto exercise their franchise in the local body polls held on Monday…..

“If 1,500 women are sitting round-the-clock in dharna in a remote area… one should understand their strong feeling against the project,” he said The People’s Rights Protection Movement Coordinator Sivasubramanian said….  http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/protest-against-koodankulam-nuclear-power-plant-resume-october-18/1/155296.html

October 18, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Movement against India’s nuclear power program goes national

The writ petition mentions, “How under the pressure of foreign countries and the multi-billion dollar nuclear industry, the government has been pushing forward an expensive, unviable and dangerous nuclear power programme without proper safety assessment and without a thorough comparative cost-benefit analysis vis-a-vis other sources of energy, especially renewable sources.”

Country-wide protests against nuclear plants have escalated following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Humongous nuclear costs at the expense of exchequer  

Activists nationwide unite to battle UPA’s nuclear dreams,  Rediff, October 14, 2011, Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi Activists, experts and scientists across the country have come together to challenge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s dream project to double the nuclear energy-based power generation in the country,    A writ petition filed by eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan under Article 32 seeks appropriate writ for declaring Nuclear Liability Act, 2010, unconstitutional and to call for safety re-assessment and cost-benefit analysis of all nuclear facilities in India. The petitioners want the overhaul of the ‘dysfunctional’ regulatory system.

The petitioners comprise of distinguished personalities or organisations who have first time come together to challenge one of the biggest policy decisions of the United Progressive Alliance government. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear, politics international | Leave a comment

Chief Minister backs protest, as 10,000 activists block nuclear project site

Jayalalithaa plays safe as nuclear protesters pitch up   Oct 14, 2011,   By DNA Correspondent : Chennai   The agitation against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KNPP) near Tirunelveli reached a feverish pitch on Thursday with over 10,000 activists laying siege to all the entry points to the project site. Over 700 scientists and technicians who reached KNPP for their morning shift could not enter the reactor premises, which brought the routine work to a grinding halt.

“The maintenance work was carried out by the staff on overnight duty who could not come out of the plant because of the road blockade,” a senior executive of KNPP told DNA.

This is for the first time in the country that work in a nuclear reactor was hit due to agitation by local residents.

The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) intensified its agitation within 12 hours of the prime minister’s letter to chief minister J Jayalalithaa asking her to help the Centre to implement the project as scheduled. However, Jayalalithaa on Thursday said her government would respect the sentiments of locals on the project. “I will be one among you in the issue,” she told a rally in Tuticorin for the civic polls.

Pushparayan, the second-in-command to Udaya Kumar, who heads PMANE, said the agitation would continue in a peaceful manner till the reactor was shut down. “Today (Thursday) morning’s road block is an indication that our agitation has entered a critical phase. We will not allow anyone to enter the KNPP premises,” Pushparayan said.

The road block which began at 8 am on the East Coast Road was shifted to vantage points near KNPP. “Ours is a Gandhian style agitation and we do not want to create any inconvenience to the people. But this will continue till the government orders closure of the plant. We do not want the nuclear reactors,” he added.

Even NK Balaji, project director, KNPP, could not enter the plant. “I was asked by the district administration to stay put in my house since the roads have been blocked,” he said. Both the Tirunelveli collector and superintendent of police were unavailable for comment. ..   http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_jayalalithaa-plays-safe-as-nuclear-protestors-pitch-up_1598475

October 14, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Mayor of Japanese town calls for closure of nuclear reactor

Japan Mayor Wants Reactor Near Tokyo Decommissioned, Planet Ark,  13-Oct-11 Risa Maeda A Japanese mayor has called on the government to decommission the nuclear reactor in his village, 110 km northeast of Tokyo, the first local leader to urge scrapping a reactor as Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda tries to rehabilitate the tarnished nuclear sector to help meet the nation’s power needs. Continue reading →

October 14, 2011 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Environmentalists from several European countries against Belarus – Russia nuclear power deal

Belarus and Russia sign off on Ostrovets nuclear plant in dubious contract Bellona Charles Digges, 13/10-2011 Russian and Belarusian environmentalists are concerned over a contract agreement signed by the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, for construction of the first two nuclear reactors in the Stalinist country, which was signed earlier this week.

Belarus’s state-owned Directorate for Construction of Nuclear Power Plants signed the contract with Atomstoriexport, the foreign construction wing of the Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, for the construction of a 2400 megawatt plant of the untested AES 2006 (NPP -2006) design.

The site for the plant is in Ostrovets in the Grodno region, close to Lithuania – which has vociferously protested the building of the nuclear power plan. Continue reading →

October 14, 2011 Posted by | Belarus, opposition to nuclear, politics international | Leave a comment

Keep moratorium on uranium mining at Virginia Beach, say officials

Virginia Beach officials want uranium mine ban extended, By Julian Walker The Virginian-Pilot, October 13, 2011 VIRGINIA BEACH Concerned that a proposed uranium mining operation could taint the city’s water supply, Virginia Beach officials want the state to maintain an existing moratorium on that activity for at least another year.

In a letter this week, the city’s water task force asked Mayor Will Sessoms and the City Council to urge the General Assembly to keep Virginia’s long-standing mining ban in place until at least 2013 and to delay related regulatory action. City officials are already on record opposing mining until they’re satisfied it won’t threaten Lake Gaston, a key drinking water source.

Some studies have said flooding near the mine could wash radioactive contaminants into tributaries that feed Lake Gaston, though a pro-mining analysis concluded that is highly unlikely. Forces for and against lifting the nearly three decade-old ban are bracing for a battle on the subject as early at the 2012 state legislative session. A National Academy of Sciences study on mining should be publicly released by then.

Virginia Uranium, the company that wants to extract ore from a Pittsylvania County uranium deposit, has actively lobbied officials as it pursues permission to mine, sending some to foreign countries to observe mines there. http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/virginia-beach-officials-want-uranium-mine-ban-extended

October 13, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

The The Kudankulam anti nuclear protest is spreading through the region


Protests in Kerala against Kudankulam N-plant     THE PIONEER , 09 OCTOBER 2011  The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is not an issue confined to the Tamil Nadu boundaries anymore. Protests are fuming in Kerala also against the Central decision to go ahead with the project. Scientists and environmentalists are pointing out that Kerala is bound to suffer tragedies if any eventuality occurs at the nuclear plant.  Continue reading →

October 10, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Koodankulam anti nuclear protest – 7.000 people fasting

the fast was only “a beginning of their long struggle” against nuclear power and it would be intensified if the KNPP was not scrapped. 

Over 7,000 people observe fast against nuclear project Economic Times, 9 Oct 11, TIRUNELVELI (TN): Breaking the brief truce, more than 7,000 people today observed a token fast against the Koodankulam nuclear power plant(KNPP) and vowed to intensify the struggle if the government did not scrap it.  The renewed protest comes two days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured a multi-party delegation including the anti-KNPP activists that an expert group would be set up to allay their safety concerns.

Slamming Singh’s letter to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa seeking her support to ensure timely implementation of the Indo-Russian project, protesters said it only showed the Centre was not concerned about the safety of people.  The fast at Idinthakarai near Koodankulam in the district was led by Co-ordinator of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy S P Udhayakumar, a member of the delegation that had met Singh.

Udhayakumar told reporters the fast was only “a beginning of their long struggle” against nuclear power and it would be intensified if the KNPP was not scrapped.
After meeting the Prime Minister, the activists had claimed it was their first victory. But now they are irked by Singh’s letter to Jayalalithaa seeking her help to complete KNPP.  Udhayakumar said the contents of the letter, dashed off on the same day when they met Singh, only showed that the “Centre is not concerned about the safety and security of the Tamils.”
Despite the state cabinet’s resolution for halting work on the project, the Centre had chosen to go ahead with it. “This is painful,” he said.  People, including fishermen, from 13 villages participated in the fast today. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/over-7000-people-observe-fast-against-nuclear-project/articleshow/10289655.cms

October 10, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Renewed protest against Koodankulam and Kalpakkam nuclear facilities

Anti-nuke activists protest against power plants in TN Indian Express 8 Oct 11, Over 300 anti-nuclear activists today staged a protest here against the Koodamkulam atomic power plant in Koodankulam even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a state delegation that he would depute a panel to address the safety concerns of local population.

The protestors, under the banner of People’s Coalition Against Nuclear Power Plants, also demanded that the Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam near here be gradually phased out.

“We want the Koodankulam project to be scrapped and the Kalpakkam plant to be gradually phased out. When the whole world is going for solar driven energy, why are we going behind nuclear which is not safe?” asked Convenor of the coalition S D Rajendran, who led the protest.

He wanted the government to make public how Kalpakkam nuclear plant was handling it effluents. “There are people including children who suffer from cancer in areas around Kalpakkam and the fish catch in the sea near the plant is dwindling,” Rajendran alleged. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/antinuke-activists-protest-against-power-plants-in-tn/857031/

October 8, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

8,ooo petitioners call for closure of USA’s Fukushima style nuclear plants

Petitioners Fight for Suspension of Fukushima-Style Nuclear Plants, Barnegat Ocean Acres Patch  Oyster Creek Generating Station is among the 21 reactors that more than 8,000 petitioners are asking the NRC to shutdown By Elaine Piniat, 7 Oct 11,  Petitioners urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to immediately suspend all U.S. nuclear plants with the same type of reactor as the plant in Fukushima, Japan during a public hearing today.

“This appeal is for human sensibility, moral responsibility and due process,” said Paul Gunter, Director of the Reactor Oversight Project for Beyond Nuclear. “Fukushima tragically demonstrates that the Mark 1 containment liability is a deceptive falsehood, a breach of contract to both the NRC and public health and safety.” Continue reading →

October 8, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

Koodankulam anti nuclear struggle will spread beyond the region

The significance of the struggle waged by villagers in the south of Tamil Nadu stretches well
beyond the Koodankulam nuclear project itself.

because the Koodankulam project is closely intertwined with plans for expansion of the Kalpakkam complex, the struggle is bound to reverberate throughout the state of Tamil Nadu and beyond…

Anti-Nuclear Struggle Has Large Fallout, International News magazine, Peter Custers LEIDEN, the Netherlands, Oct 5  (IPS)  – The anti-nuclear struggle in India did not gain the same national prominence as the hunger strike waged by Anna Hazare against rampant corruption among India’s top politicians. Yet a landmark it surely was in the history of India’s nuclear programme. Continue reading →

October 6, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Opposition to nuclear plants in Finland

Nuclear power opponents joining forces, YLE.fi 5 Oct 11, Finland. Opponents of nuclear power are continuing efforts to reverse decisions on the construction of new facilities, despite Wednesday’s announcement of plans to build a nuclear power plant at Pyhäjoki on the northwest coast. Environmentalists say that now that plans are settled, local opponents can better focus their campaign.

The chairman of the Kemi regional chapter of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, Aimo Tervahauta, points out that construction of the plant is not yet a complete certainty since it will still require a number of different permits from various authorities.

He pointed out that Wednesday’s announcement was merely publication of the decision by Fennovoima. “This announcement by Fennovoima, or actually by the German energy giant E.ON, was about where it wants to construct a new plant. It is their idea and their announcement. Before that plant goes up, it will need numerous permits, such as environmental impact and construction permits,” noted Tervahauta.

According to Tervahauta, there is plenty to be criticized in the environmental impact study commissioned by Fennovoima. “Both alternative sites were the basis for the Fennovoima environmental impact study. Both Pyhäjoki [authorities] and we viewed it as being superficial and lax. Now that more specific permits will be under consideration, there can be more action taken in greater detail.” http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/10/nuclear_power_opponents_joining_forces_2926766.html

October 6, 2011 Posted by | Finland, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Vermont anti nuclear protestors in court on charges

the protesters — all white-haired and in their 60s or 70s 

Anti-nuclear protesters appear before judge, Rutland Herald,By Susan Smallheer, October 5, 2011 BRATTLEBORO — Anti-nuclear protesters were back in court Tuesday in a sharp departure from policy by the Windham County State’s Attorney’s office not to bring charges against protesters in court. 

Four women, all members of the Shut It Down Affinity Group, pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges of unlawful trespass; two other members of the group were arraigned last month on similar charges. Continue reading →

October 6, 2011 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, USA | Leave a comment

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