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Welcome on the website of the "Nuclear Heritage Network"!

We want to connect anti-nuclear activists worldwide, provide information regarding nuclear issues and anti-nuclear activities in many countries and develop projects and campaigns. This website offers you background information, images, press releases, material and much more. Take some time to explore the Nuclear Heritage Network!

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The Nuclear Heritage Network is more than this website. Twice a year we organize international network meetings, there are several mailing lists for communication and several international cooperation projects. We are also developing informational material on local topics in different languages for international use.

Nuclear Disaster in Japan

As a result of a 14 meter tsunami wave^[6][7] and a 9.0-magnitudes earthquake the Fukushima I Daiichi^[8] atomic power plant in Japan experienced a nuclear catastrophe of a level higher than the 1979 Harrisburg accident, maybe turning out to become even worse than the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]} including several explosions, fires, failing cooling systems,^[17] meltdown of fuel elements and uncontrolled releases of high amounts of radioactivity^[14] since March 11, 2011. Unit 1 exploded on March 12, 2011 at 6.36 AM UTC^[18][19], unit 3 exploded two days later on March 14 at 2.01 AM UTC^[20][21][22] and eventually also unit 2 blasted in the following night (14/3/11 9.10 PM UTC) damaging the reactor core and as officially confirmed releasing serious amounts of radiation^[23][24]. Also unit 4 which had all nuclear fool in the reactors spent fuel pool exploded March 14 at approximately 9 PM UTC^[25].

Another 6.5 earthquake occured on March 28 160 kilometers from Fukushima I Daiichi^[26]. An even stronger quake at 7.1 having its epicenter in distance of 120 kilometers to the Fukushima NPP took place April 7 causing the emergency workers at Fukushima I Daiichi again to be evacuated from the site, while two of three emergency power systems failed due to the aftershock at the Onagawa NPP^[27][28]. A nuclear meltdown occured in unit 2^[29], the Japanese government ended up to admit on March 28^[30] - "The battle to save the four crippled reactors is lost", Japanese officials conceded March 31^[29]. Operator TEPCO informed not to be able to guarantee preventing another meltdown^[26]. The IAEA informed on March 31 about a possibility of a "recriticality" at the Fukushima plant, which means a nuclear chain reaction would resume leading to more radiation releases, although the reactors were automatically shut down on March 11 due to the quake^[17]. April 12 NISA classified the Fukushima disaster to INES level 7^[10][9].

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• Gorleben 365 - one year of blockades starting on August 14, 2011, of the proposed Gorleben final disposal site (D)
• Nuclear Waste Transport to Ahaus announced to take place in the beginning of 2012 - current status: "postponed" (D)
• International Bike Action "nuclear weapon free now" on May 17 - June 4, 2012 from Stuttgart (D) to Brussels (B)
• International Uranium Film Festival 2012 on June 28 - July 14, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro (BR)
• International Anti-nuclear Network Meeting in Döbeln probably on July 30 - August 3, 2012 (D)
• Olkiluoto Blockade on August 11, 2012, protest camp on August 6-13, 2012 (FIN)
• Anti-nuclear Sailing Trip across the Baltic Sea on August 26 - September 9, 2012 (S, D)
• International Action Day to shut down nuclear industry on September 29, 2012
• Walk For A Nuclear Free Future 2011-2015 in Australia, Canada, USA and Japan
  • Walk from Saskatchewan to Montreal 2012 (CA)
  • Walk from Minnesota to Buffalo 2013 (USA)
  • Walk from Miami, FL to the Y-12 Nuclear Facility Oakridge, TN 2014 (USA)
  • Walk from the Nuclear Facility Oakridge, TN to Hiroshima 2015 (USA & J)
• Gorleben Castor Resistance in Germany 2014 - probably 2014 in the UK, France, Germany and particularly in the Wendland region (D)

• Three Mile Island accident
• Books about nuclear issues
• Concerns about nuclear power
• Anti-nuclear movement
• Amory Lovins
• Mycle Schneider
• Uranium Mining
• Anti-nuclear movement in Australia
• Anti-nuclear Movement in Germany
• Anti-nuclear Movement in Russia
• Nuclear Controversy in Finland
• Ranua Uranium Exploration Action
• The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2009
• Nuclear 9/11
• Nuclear disasters
• List of all articles

Pack ice and bad engineering

The Fennovoima company was founded by E.On (Germany) and stainless steel producer Outokumpu (Finland) to become the third nuclear energy company in Finland. Outokumpu is a very power-hungry company, using about 300 megawatts of electricity 24/7. E.On has problems with it’s own nuclear reactors reaching end of life in Germany. Other members of this company are small industries and utility companies in Finland. The company business idea is called “Mankala-principle”, which allows the company to avoid all taxes when selling power to its shareholders. This kind of operation was twice questioned in Finland during the 1960’s, and is currently under examination of the EU commission as a violation to the directives.

Being a new player in the field, Fennovoima started its first reactor project with no engineering staff. There are no experienced reactor design engineers in Europe, as the last reactor by E.On started production in the 1980’s. Finland’s current reactors are 1970’s design, from USSR and Sweden. Because of Chernobyl accident, no new NPP projects were started in Europe until the troublesome Olkiluoto and Flamanville projets, both seriously behind their schedules and over budget.

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Talvivaara: Uranium Extraction Permission for Europe's Largest Nickel Mine?

Talvivaara is Europe's largest opencast nickel mine. Started in 2008, the mine operates 24 hours a day, everyday, in the Kainuu region of Finland, 550 km NNE from Helsinki. Mining, crushing, chemical bio-heap-leaching, and extraction facilities cover and area of 60 sq km, slightly larger than Manhattan Island, NY. Over 30 million tons was mined in 2010 and operations are expected to continue for 45 years, not including cleanup / restoration of the area. Talvivaara also extracts zinc, copper, cobalt, and uranium.

Russian based Norilsk Nickel has a 10 year contract with Talvivaara for nickel and cobalt which is smelted at their plant in Harjavalta. It is documented that heavy metals pollution in the land around Norilsk Nickel's original factory are at such high levels that it would be economically feasible to mine the soil of the area^[31].

Numerous problems at Talvivaara include chemical spills, widespread regional air and water contamination and chemical fires at the processing facility. The Economic crimes division of the Oulu Police are now conducting two investigations. Meanwhile, local people have been advised not to use well water for drinking, washing or sauna and complain of skin rashes and other symptoms they believe are due to Talvivaara^[32]. The Kainuu Regional Environment Centre has discovered four badly contaminated lakes and three others 'less badly' contaminated^[33].

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Radiation levels at the Gorleben atomic waste repository too high

The legal annual radiation limit for the Gorleben interim repository for high level radioactive waste is 0.3 mSv/a^[34]. The Lower Saxony authority NLWKN on the basis of their measurements of the first half year of 2011 calculated an annual dose of 0.32 mSv^[34]. Thus, no additional Castor containers with high level atomic waste could be brought to the repository. The proposed 2011 Castor transport would have to be canceled.

But, as this result doesn't suit the nuclear industry, new measurements were commissioned. The PTB, a federal authority well-known for their pro-nuclear studies in the past, published their results: 0.212 mSv/a^[34][35][36]. An additional expertise by the TÜV (another expert organization supporting the nuclear industry) supported the PTB interpretation of the measurements^[37]. A Greenpeace expertise calculated an accumulated annual dose of 0.305 mSv in case the proposed eleven Castor containers would be brought to the Gorleben repository in November and blamed the Lower Saxony Ministry of Environment for miscalculations in their data due to a wrong mixture of different measuremnts^[38].

Besides that, the detected neutron radiation in Gorleben, situated 1.9 km from the repository, has been doubled since the beginning of the storage of atomic waste in the facility^[39].

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Polish Atomic Energy Policy to be commented

The Polish government has sent its plans for a future nuclear power strategy to the German Ministry of Environment. As part of a so-called strategic environmental assessment citizens of certain neighbour countries will have the possibility to submit between October 5, 2011 and January 4, 2012 their objections to the Polish Ministry of Economy.

• information on the website of the German Ministry of Ecology German
• Polish Energy Plan documents
  • abstract of the environmental report: German | English
  • draft of the Polish Nuclear Energy Programm: German | Polish
  • long version of the environmental report: Polish
  • site analysis for the nuclear strategy: Polish
  • nuclear strategy chart: Polish
• objection campaign | sign-up list German

Explosion in nuclear waste treatment facility near Avignon

As reported on September 12, 2011, there has been an explosion at 9.45 AM GMT in an oven to burn low level atomic waste in the nuclear facility Marcoule 30 km north of Avignon (F). One worker died, four workers have been injured, one of them seriously. The authorities established a security cordon outside the facility as radioation releases are possible. So far, a speaker for the safety authorities said in an interview for Tagesschau (German broadcasting), no radiation has been released yet. On the site also some small decommissioned nuclear reactors a decommissioned fast breeder reactor is situated. The facility, that is owned by a daughter company of the atomic company EDF, is partially used by Areva for producing the highly dangerous MOX fuel, a mixture of uranium and plutonium. The same day the French authorities declared the accident to have been finished. While the official version says that no radiation had been released, and the operator insists claiming it to be an industrial, not a nuclear accident, it came to public that the killed workers body was irradiated and had to be burried in a specially shielded coffin^[1].

Learn more:

• BBC English
• Störfall Atomkraft German
• Tagesschau | Stern | Welt | Süddeutsche | Focus | Spiegel German
  
  

Finnish Olkiluoto NPP blockaded by international activists

A blockade of about 100 activists from Finland, Sweden, Germany, Russia, France, United Kingdom|UK and Belarus several times stopped the traffic on the access roads to the disputed Olkiluoto nuclear power plant in Finland. Police had announced to prevent the blockade of roads that were supposed to take place for the second time. They forced protesters from the streets again and again towards a bus stop nearby. Nevertheless, the activists succeeded several times to blockade the main access road to the NPP for some minutes, while an additional access street had been closed for some two hours by a wooden tripod construction with an activist on the top.

Olkiluoto is a peninsula at the western coast of Finland and one of two atomic power plant sites of the country. Currently the trouble reactor Olkiluoto 3 is under construction there. It was supposed to come into operation already in 2009, but so far hasn't been finished yet. Instead, the costs climbed nearly to the double of the projected number, and hundreds of construction failure have been critized by the authorities so far. Partial interruptions of the construction were also caused by these faults. The french company Areva with participation of the atomic branch of the German Siemens company is the leading constructor of the prototype of the EPR, the so-called "European pressurized water reactor".

Summer last year the Finnish government and the Finnish parliament decided in contrary to the for Finnish conditions strong protests to support the construction of some two or three additional nuclear reactors. No one in Finland needs there energy. Instead, the nuclear lobby hopes for profitable export earnings. Strangely enough, basically all new NPP projects around the Baltic Sea calculate with exporting their atomic electricity, although there is already an excessive supply of energy. Germany for instance, the country that closed seven nuclear reactors in consequence of the Fukushima disaster and that is seen internationally as "the" nuclear phaseout state, is still exporting electricity to the European market. However, in Finland the construction of Olkiluoto 3 is mostly a strategic project of the French-German nuclear industry that urgently needs a model NPP to be able to sell the EPR internationally. Costs obviously don't lay a major role.

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Extension of Kola NPP: А dangerous and unnecessary experiment

At the public hearings on June 9, 2011 in Polarnye Zory ecologists stated of the low quality of the EIA document preparation, the risks and uselessness of the project itself and demanded to carry out stress-tests adopted by the EU methodology.

On June 9, 2011 in Polarnye Zory public hearings on the preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment materials (EIA) of operating unit No. 4 of Kola NPP at 107% of nominal power were held. The hearing was attended by over 500 people, mostly employees of the nuclear station. There were 25 speeches, mostly containing gratitude to “Rosenergoatom” for support of sports, health and pensioners. Also 13 questions were announced from environmental organizations, mostly critical to the disputed project.

read the whole article
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First NukeNews issue released

The NukeNews are a new newsletter system of the Nuclear Heritage Network provided in several languages. The NukeNews will provide anti-nuclear activists with information about atomic policy in several countries, anti-nuclear campaigns and actions as well as other messages believed by activists of the Nuclear Heritage Network to be important for other concerned people. The idea was created already in October 2008 during the international NUCLEAR weekEND. But it took several years to produce the very first issue of the NukeNews due to many activists being overloaded already by the pile of anti-nuclear tasks. Now it is accomplished - you can receive the first issue of the NukeNews in English, Finnish, German and Russian - it is supposed to finish the French version as soon as possible, too. Subscribe the language version of your choice on our "mailing lists" page!

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The so-called German nuclear phase-out is a fraud

While the German government and some conservative media celebrate the recent strategy decision of Germany's leaders to be a consequent reaction to the atomic disaster in Fukushima and call it an advance, it is the opposite. With the latest (May/June, 2011) decisions of the ruling parties of Germany a partly extension of the remaining lifetime of the nuclear reactors is supposed to be set by law. The atomic industry receives an other guarantee for the continuation of nine reactors. And legalizes new Fukushimas and Chernobyls for at least eleven more years.

Yet not all details of the new policy are public, but by now it seems to become a gift to the nuclear industry, who already feared to lose now all of their NPPs. There is no indication that the closure of the reactors will be irreversible. In contrast, one reactor is supposed to be kept on stand-by to be possibly reactivated again. In a couple of years the nuclear industry could start to negotiate again claiming it would not be possible to close their NPPs - as they did before, too. As the experience with the so-called German phase-out teached us the last ten years, only those reactors being closed down provide a chance not to be reactivated again - although Greens and Social Democrats in their federal government even found possibilities to reactivate them virtually by admitting the industry to add the theoretically remaining lifetime of an already closed reactor to other NPP's lifetimes. The new "plan" says the remaining nine reactors are supposed to be closed 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 - enough time for the nuclear lobby to try to phase-out the phase-out again, as they did already a couple of months before the Fukushima disaster occured.

It seems that the arithmetically remaining lifetime of the oldest nuclear reactors is supposed to be added to the legal lifetime of the newer ones (which are all very old, too). Even the legal lifetime capacities of those NPPs which are offline or closed due to accidents or court decisions will be added to the remaining reactors. As accidents and incidents are usual in the nuclear industry, the final year of closure of the last reactor could be even much later than 2022 due to the rule that the interruption time doesn't count on their legal lifetimes.

According to the available information about the results of the negotiations of the ruling parties, those seven nuclear reactors that have been offline as a consequence of the catastrophe in Fukushima as well as the Krümmel NPP that has been offline for many years due to a series of accidents will not be restarted again. This is probably the only good news, that the government doesn't dare to restart them - mass blockades of these reactors have been announced for the point of time when the moratorium would end.

The anti-nuclear movement in Germany, environemntal NGOs, oppositional parties on federal level as well as the big number of federal states' governments not ruled by the parties of the federal government, are currently putting much pressure on Angela Merkel and her cabinet to improve the nuclear phase-out ruling the governmental parties had decided on May 30, 2011. Some details were already changed due to the negotiations, like the gradually closure of nuclear power plants instead of leaving all of them in operation until 2022. And it also seems that the proposed and by the former red-green government in the old phase-out law legally fixed possibility of transfer of remaining reactor lifetime rights will be eliminated. These are successes not of the conservative government or the anti-nuclear pretending green party being responsible for having created the framework for the extension of the NPP lifetimes, but of the anti-nuclear movement.

original source

NUCLEAR SAFETY OF THE BALTIC & BARENTS REGIONS

Over the past forty years, 32 nuclear power plants (NPP) have been constructed and operated in the Baltic and Barents regions. Taking into account their operating experience, all countries of the Baltic region have got divided into two groups: nuclear optimists and nuclear pessimists. Thus for safety reasons, the countries located in the west of the Baltic region either refused construction of the new nuclear power plants (Denmark) or started decommission process of the existing power units (Germany, Sweden, Lithuania). At the same time, the countries in the east of the region either extend the service life of their old NPPs (Russia) or build the new nuclear plants (Finland and Russia). The new NPP construction projects are being most actively promoted exactly along the border of division between the nuclear optimists and the nuclear pessimists.

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Biketour headed from Turku to Mariehamn for the start of the Baltic Sea Info Tour

On Tuesday June 22 the Nuclear Baltic Sea Info Tour starts in Mariehamn in Finland. On Saturday June 19 an anti-nuclear bike tour started from Turku (Finland) biking through the archipelago heading to Mariehamn. The purpose was to slowly start the bigger Baltic Sea Info Tour that will travel around the sea for two month until middle of August. The bike activists also wanted to tell locals on their way about the harms of nuclear power which directly affect the area where they were biking. They also wanted to show that traveling can be fueled by our own power.

The biketour started on Saturday 19th of June from the Turku market square, a central place with a lot of commerce, where there was a short info happening. People were handing out flyers and there was a banner announcing the purpose of the bikers gathering there: Stop Nuclear Power! - bike tour. In general people showed interest and several people stopped to talk longer. The basic feeling was nice and exciting, even though there had been rain promised for the whole weekend. There were 12 people taking part between ages 3 to 53. The people taking part were coming from different parts of Finland and there was also a Belgian activist.

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Accidents in Nuclear Power Plants - Increasing Number With Raising Age

A recently published statistical report of the German radiation protection authority BfS showed an increasing amount of accidents and incidents in German nuclear reactors: In certain Pressurized Water Reactors the number of those incidents is raising since 1994. This tendency is connected to the age of the reactors and shows the necessity to close down these risky facilities immediately. The upgrading measures aiming to improve the safety have even worsened the risk as the statistics show. At the same time when more incidents happen, the probability of a serious nuclear accident is increasing.

Another publication of the Austrian environmental NGO Global 2000 shows the operating and decommissioned European nuclear power plants and makes some of their accidents examplarily visible. A map of Europe shows these nuclear facilities. In Germany on average every three days an incidents occurs and in French NPPs there another incident takes place on average every two days.

sources:

• Global 2000: Atomkraft in Europa German
• sonnenseite.com: GLOBAL 2000 veröffentlicht AKW-Störfall-Karte German
• SpiegelOnline: Pannenstatistik. Alt-AKWs plagen besonders viele Technikprobleme German

148,000 Protested Against Nuclear Power in Germany

On Saturday 24 April, a few days before Chernobyl Day, some 120,000 demonstrators formed a 120 kilometer human chain between the Northern German NPPs Brunsbüttel and Krümmel - both reactors have been offline for years due to accidents. A convoy of tractors and other vehicles traveled from the Gorleben region for several days and joint the activists at the NPP Krümmel. Some additional 10,000 to 20,000 protesters encricled the NPP Biblis in the federal state of Hesse, which is the oldest German NPP in operation and which already accumulated about 800 accidents and incidents since its operation start. At the waste repository for spent fuel elements in Ahaus some 6,000 to 8,000 people protested against the planned waste transports to Ahaus and against the governments plans to extend the lifetimes of the German reactors.

Finnish Governments Proposal for Two New Reactors: Crazy and Irresponsible

On Wednesday the Finnish government announced that they will put a proposal to build two new nuclear reactors in Finland to the Finnish parliament: an additional plant at Olkiluoto in the Eurajoki region and a NPP for "Fennovoima", the German joint venture with several Finnish companies to establish a third nuclear site in Finland in addition to Olkiluoto and Loviisa. No-one but the nuclear industry needs more nuclear power plants in Finland. It's a shame that the Finnish authorities seem to be in bed with the nuclear companies.

The Finnish government's incomprehensible decision to support further new reactors has met with harsh criticism from anti-nuclear activists across Europe and beyond. The government is obviously willing to sacrifice people's health and the environment to the nuclear industry's profits. Anti-nuclear groups around the Baltic Sea plan an information tour in the summer, to educate about the impacts of nuclear facilities on the environment and people living in the region and to raise the awareness of the dangers associated with nuclear power.

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No uranium mining in Alentejo - Portugal's radioactive legacy

Sheep and goats graze under the cork trees, the sun glitters silver on the leaves in the olive groves; gardens full of orange and mandarin trees; the streams gurgle sweetly as they flow; the aroma of ham, smoked sausage and the famous Nisa cheese is in the air: all around the little mediaeval city of Nisa, in Portugal, there is a wealth of tradition and good flavours. And that' s something that the people there, in the northern part of the Alentejo, don't want to give up for anything - least of all for uranium mining.

Portugal has been exploiting its uranium reserves as long as anywhere. The first license for mining this yellow, radioactive heavy-metal was issued a hundred years ago in 1909. After the Second World War Portuguese uranium oxide was used by both the Americans and the British for their nuclear industry and atomic bombs. By 1991, 62 mines, most of them in the central region orf Portugal, were already producing the mineral, but since then production has slowed, mainly because the price of uranium on world markets collapsed. Now, however, demand for this nuclear fuel has risen again, and since 1998, with higher prices, the prospect of mining has hung over the 3,600 residents of Nisa like a radioactive sword of Damocles as in 1959, about two kilometers from the edge of town, they discovered the biggest unexploited reserves of uranium anywhere in Portugal. Sixty percent of all uranium ore in the Alto Alentejo lies here, more than six million tonnes, of which about 650 tonnes of uranium oxide can be extracted.

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More Wind Power in Germany

Munich (dpa) - The consolidation of German wind power has reached a new record according to information of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". After two years of stagnation the number of new wind power stations that started operation rose again in 2009, the newspaper reported on Wednesday (January 27th, 2010). According to a study of the "Deutsches Windenergie-Institut (DEWI)" the major renewable power generation branch has been clearly growing faster than expected. Therefore during the last year, nearly 950 wind power stations have been connected to the grid with a total capacity of 1917 megawatt - an increase of 15 percent compared with the previous year. This corresponds to the capacity of two nuclear power plants. Worldwide only the USA has a larger number of wind power stations. According to the report Germany reached a total capacity of 25,800 megawatt. The latest surge was surprising. At the beginning of the year, the branch had expected a deficit because of the worst economic crisis since decades.

Source: Greenpeace Magazin (German)

Almost 50% of Albertans 'conflicted' about nuclear power, report says

More than a quarter of Albertans oppose allowing nuclear power plants to be built in the province, while almost half remain "conflicted" about the energy source, according to a new government report released Monday (Dec 14, 2009).

And people north of Edmonton - were several nuclear plants have been proposed - were more likely to oppose building the plants, by around 32 per cent, compared to the Calgary region, at 24 per cent, was the least opposed.

"Only those Albertans who hold consistently positive views of science and the nuclear industry - and are less concerned by the potential for negative consequences - actually want to see the government encourage nuclear proposals," said the report by Alberta Energy.

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German Energy Giant RWE Withdraws from Bulgarian Nuclear Power Plant

In a letter to the Bulgarian Energy holding, the German company RWE announced on October 28th its withdrawal from the controversial Belene nuclear power plant (NPP) in northern Bulgaria. RWE cites doubts about the project´s profitability as the major reason for the company´s retreat.

"For the past 18 months, we´ve been pointing out to RWE that Belene is a high-risk project in terms of safety, economics, environment and corruption," says Heffa Schücking from the German environment NGO Urgewald. "It sure took the company a long time to face up to the facts," she comments.

RWE´s decision comes in the wake of a broad grass-roots campaign of German environment organizations against RWE´s investment plans in Belene. Some 30,000 German citizens sent letters and petitions to RWE´s CEO asking him to withdraw from the project. Several of the company´s major investors also spoke out against the plan to invest into a NPP in an area of high seismicity in a country with low nuclear standards and high corruption.

"This is the beginning of the end of Belene," says Petko Kovachev from the Bulgarian Green Policy Institute. "After 12 international banks decided to decline financing for the project in 2006 and 2007, RWE was Belene´s last hope," explains Kovachev. RWE was slated to provide 49% of the project´s equity and its decision to withdraw sends out a clear signal to investors and banks regarding the project´s questionable economics.

read the whole article

Belarus: Hearings on Environmental Impact Assessment falsified

Today, on the 9th of October, public hearings took place on the question of construction of a nuclear power plant. All the entrances to the cinema where the hearings were held got blocked by riot police and streets were filled with cops in civil. Documents and leaflets containing criticism of the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) were illegally confiscated because of their 'doubtful' contents. Employees of state institutions were brought to the hearings by buses. The forcedly assembled audience was registered in advance, in violation of regulations. Many registered participants were not let inside.

Advocating was allowed only to the state employees in favour of nuclear power plant construction, others were denied to speak. The denial was justified by the fact that they supposedly had registered late. Thus, the procedure of hearings didn't meet the standards and the results can't be recognized as independent.

The Russian expert in nuclear physics Andrey Ozharovskiy was arrested in the morning on a charge of disorderly conduct. At the moment he is facing the court. Only 4 people were let into the courtroom, 2 of which are the witnesses. Anonymous men in civil are blocking the entrance to the court-house and refuse to identify themselves.

Thus, the authorities showed their true face again - they are not going to let the dissidents speak openly on the important matters to those in power.

more info:

• https://belarus.indymedia.org/18507 Russian
• https://belarus.indymedia.org/18493 Russian

contact:
Belarus Anti-Nuclear Resistance

• http://belarusantiatom.info/
• http://anr.noblogs.org/
• email: antiatombel AT riseup.net^[40]

Anti-nuclear demonstration & conference in Colmar

On October, 3rd about 7,000 people took part in a demonstration in the French border town of Colmar (sited in Alsace, near the German-Swiss border) against the nuclear plant of Fessenheim. Speakers from France, Switzerland and Germany criticised the ongoing operation of the oldest nuclear reactor of France in Fessenheim and the expected decision to extend the reactor license for another 10 years. A minute's silence and wailing sirens illustrated a nuclear accident. Different music bands, street actions, a huge banner action and many yellow T-Shirts were just a few aspects of a peaceful and powerful demonstration against nuclear energy.

The prefect of Upper Rhine and the mayor of Colmar denied the demonstration to take place inside the town center of Colmar and moved it to a place in front of the city's train station. Authorities deployed about 3,000 police officers, dozens of anti-riot police vehicles and trucks with water cannons all over Colmar.

On Saturday evening and on Sunday different conferences and concerts took place on locations in and around Colmar. Different activists from around the world refered about uranium mining, actions of civil disobedience, the plans about new nuclear power plants in Switzerland and many other topics.

Polish Community Gives Up NPP Plans

The Polish border town Gryfino has given up its plans to build a nuclear power plant. "In view of the vehement protests in Germany it makes no sense to think about it anymore", mayor Henryk Pilat told the "Märkische Oderzeitung".

Especially the big demonstration of anti-nuclear activists in Berlin last weekend impressed him, Pilat continued. The local politician made clear that the town is most interested in the modernization of the old coal fired station "Dolna Odra". Some 2,200 employers are currently working for the power station.

(translated excerpt of an article in Märkische Oderzeitung from September 10th, 2009)

Camp in Ranua Set Up to Monitor Areva's Mining Activities

On August 26, a basecamp has been established for the Ranua Rescue Areva Mining Monitors. During the Lapland Nuclear Climate Camp in July, we learned from locals that Areva has already begun their uranium prospecting in Ranua, Lapland. We have come here to monitor Areva's activities and help support the resistance to uranium mining here, and everywhere.

We have found a beautiful location for the camp, near a lake, within an old forest, on the edge of Areva's massive prospecting claim area. We need thoughtful, respectful people, skills, supplies, support, laughter, and dedication!

You can check the site http://www.nuclearfreefinland.org, and the blog on http://www.ranuarescue.blogspot.com. Soon we will be sending photos and directions to get here, we will also set up a schedule for when people are most needed, what is needed, and what events will be happening.

When you want to come to the camp, contact in advance (camp (at) nuclearfreefinland.org) and tell us your arrival time in Ranua. From there you can phone the camp work phone number +358 40 365 2041.^[2]

We can't trust Areva or the authorities. All their information is really contradictional. First both Areva and the environmental authorities said clearly: Areva doesn't and can't start the deep drilling before they get the claim. Areva has announced several times that they stop working because there is nothing they could legally do before the ministry's permission-claim.

BUT: there are at least two holes, and an expert said after seeing a foto that those look like drilling holes. No one knows how deep those are, as Kaipainen from Areva says they haven't drilled anything. The chief of the environment protection from "Lapplands enviroment center" didn't know anything about the holes (with white, sweating face), but wanted to have the fotos and after all said that AREVA IS ALLOWED TO DO DEEP DRILLING BY THE PERMISSION OF THE LAND OWNER, and there is nothing they can do unless they could proof that it would harm the environment seriously, the mere possibility is not enough. The boss of Areva says they are not doing anything, because they can't. But at the same time, they said on their website that they can start drilling by the land owners permission.

So we see that there is a need for observers. Ready to film whatever happens there, and call more people if they try to start drilling. Hopefully they won't, if they know it wouldn't stay hidden. But if they would be that stupid, we would be ready to act and the show would really start.

The idea is that the camp will stay there as long as needed, meaning also over the winter. Some people may visit one night, some longer. There are already tents with "fireplace", and the idea is to build the camp so that it will be possible, even nice, to be there during winter time as well (personally waiting for the northern lights...)

One point is, that Ranua council will, after all, vote on their opinion about the mining soon. Starting the camp just when they vote can be the best timing ever! Even if their "no" wouldn't save the situation, just make it a little bit better.

Study shows: Nuclear energy on downward trend worldwide

Source: Federal Environment Ministry of Germany English | German
The share of nuclear energy in worldwide energy consumption is marginal and has been declining for several years. This is revealed in a study by independent experts of the energy and nuclear sector which was published by the Federal Environment Ministry today. As Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said: "The renaissance of nuclear energy, much trumpeted by its supporters, is not taking place. The only thing frequently revived is the announcement. The study shows: the number of old nuclear power plants which are decommissioned worldwide is greater than the number of new ones taking up operation. Available resources, engineering performance and funds are not even enough to stop the downward trend, let alone increase the number of reactors. All the facts are in favour of phasing out this technology while at the same time expanding the use of renewable energies and energy efficiency, as this is a promising option for the future."

The authors of the study, headed by Mycle Schneider, Paris, collected crucial quantitative and qualitative facts on nuclear power plants which are in operation, being built or planned today and assess the economic viability of old and new nuclear power plants.

At the time of going to press, 1 August 2009, there were only 435 reactors in operation worldwide, which is nine less than in 2002. Nuclear energy accounts for only about 5.5 % of worldwide commercial primary energy consumption and only around 2 % of worldwide final energy consumption - and consumption has been steadily declining for years.

The authors also found out that the number of nuclear power plants will decrease worldwide over the next decades. Between 2015 and 2025 the capacity of nuclear power plants is expected to sink compared to today's output.

Even with the support of countries seeking to use nuclear energy in future, this downward trend will not be reversed. It is unlikely that these states will be able to set up the necessary technological, political and economic framework conditions for a civil nuclear energy programme in the near future. Most of this states also lack electricity grids which would be capable of holding or distributing the output of a larger reactor.

Furthermore, the authors are concerned that there will be a considerable shortness of qualified experts in almost all countries. Even in France, which probably has the largest pool of nuclear energy experts, the lack is worrying. Currently, there are only 300 graduates of nuclear technology study programmes compared to a demand of 1,200 to 1,500.

In addition to staffing problems, industrial capacities are not sufficient either. For example, Japan Steel Works is the only company in the world able to manufacture the cast steel parts for the pressure vessels of the European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR).

Current and planned building projects of the nuclear industry are becoming increasingly expensive. The EPR, for example, the flagship of the world's largest manufacturer of reactors, AREVA NP, which is currently in construction in Olkiluoto in Finland, has so far exceeded planned costs by at least 55 %.

• Read the underlying Study: English | German

New attention to Church Rock uranium spill comes 30 years later

Thirty years ago today, an earthen tailings dam near the United Nuclear Corp. Church Rock Uranium mine collapsed, spilling ninety million gallons of liquid radioactive waste and eleven hundred tons of solid mill wastes into the Rio Puerco.

The spill contaminated water, land and air at least 50 miles downstream on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico and Arizona.

It is believed that more radiation was released in the spill than in the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania, making the Church Rock spill the largest release of radioactive waste ever in the U.S. — and second only to the Chernobyl meltdown globally. The privately-owned site of the Church Rock spill is a Superfund site — and it is still leaking radioactive waste throughout Indian lands to this day.

The New Mexico Independent, By Tracy Dingmann 7/16/09 9:35 AM

• Read the whole story: http://newmexicoindependent.com/31989/31989

Plans for new NPPs in Ontario/Canada seem to fail

In July 2009, the nuclear power provider Bruce Power informed that the company has decided to withdraw their applications for new Nuclear Power Plants in Ontario. The demands for electricity in the province don't provide a reason for these investments. Instead of constructing new NPPs Bruce Power now wants to concentrate on the refurbishment of their old reactors.^[3] Just some time ago the administration of Ontario had suspended the plans to construct new reactors in Darlington because of the high costs^[4]

Bruce Power emphasized that this decision doesn't mean that they would also cancel their NPP plans in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In these provinces, that don't have nuclear power plants yet, the company waits for the government's general decisions concerning nuclear power.^[5]

NPP Krümmel Blockaded Using Concrete And Tripods / Krümmel Offline After Third Accident Within 14 Days

In 2007, the German NPP Krümmel had been shut down after several accidents happened. The main accident was a fire and an explosion in the nuclear power station damaging one of two main transformers. After two years, on June 19, 2008, the NPP was restarted. Only a few days later, on June 23, another "incident" occurred: an electronic device failed. On July 1, the second accident happened and caused a shutdown of the power station - another transformer problem was the reason. For the next two days it was operated with reduced power to be back at 100% on July 4.

To protest against the restart of the NPP, some 200 activists blockaded the gate of the power station on July 3 walling up the entrance and using tripods to block it. They were supported by farmers of the Gorleben region with their tractors.

Only one day later, on July 4, the NPP was again shut down due to new transformer problems. This series of accidents and "incidents" reveals the threats coming from the Krümmel NPP.

• Read more about the blockade action in Krümmel (German)
• Information about the Krümmel NPP (German)

NO to Uranium Power - Antinuclear Climate Camp

Tervola, Lapland, Finland 20 – 26 of July 2009

Welcome to join our protest camp in finnish Lapland next summer! We won't allow this corner of the world to become a paradise of the nuclear industry!

Olkiluoto 3, The fifth reactor in the country is now under construction in Western Finland. Over a thousand mistakes have already been documented in the construction work. The cost of the construction is now twice the original budget, and the project is already three years behind schedule.

However, the Finnish government seems so excited about this success, that they are happy to let nuclear industry take care of the economy of the country in the future as well. The recent dramatic decrease in energy consumption has not affected the plans for possibly even three more reactors.

The problem with final storage for nuclear waste is said to be solved here, for the first time in the world. A huge grave has already been dug for high level radioactive waste, despite that the project is seen as absurd in expert circles.

As Finland has a reputation of having an exceptionally positive attitude toward the nuclear industry, it's not surprising that companies interested in uranium mining come here as well. There are almost 20 applications for uranium mining under way at the moment, in various places in Eastern and Northern Finland.

This year we´ll have a protest camp in Tervola, Lapland, near the Simo municipality, where the company Fennovoima (owned by German energy giant Eon) has bought land for building a new nuclear plant, close to one of the last open salmon rivers on the European continent. Small communities with economical problems are easy to buy, when the local politicians are more interested in the money than in the well-being of nature and the community in the long term. We´ll also pay a visit to areas of uranium prospecting.

The aim is to make the camp a space, where local movements against uranium prospecting and nuclear projects, NGOs that fight against the Finnish government's ridiculous energy policy, radical ecological groups, international anti-nuclear activists, and of course anyone else interested in the issues, can gather together, unite, and build a stronger movement. The program will provide information, skill sharing and action. Also, the aim is for the camp to be a space for sharing our visions about a safer and nicer future, and for learning to live respecting both the nature and the people around us!

More info:
http://www.nuclearfreefinland.org

email: youth(at)nuclearfreefinland.org^[40]

Uranium protest above the railway: French activist in German court on 4th of June

The pictures were meaningful. On 16th and 17th of Januray 2008 the French climbing activist Cécile Lecomte protested in Germany close to Steinfurt near Munster by abseiling above the railway against the export of radioactive uranium waste from the German enrichment plant Gronau to Russia. The action was very successful, the train had to stopp for about 7 hours. After the action, Urenco, the responsible company managing the Gronau enrichment plant told the public, that the company would stop these transports at the end of the year 2009.

After more than a year of dispute between court and prosecutor who didn't agree about the question whether the protest above the railway is punishable or not, the trial will take place at the court in Steinfurt on the 4th of June 2009. The prosecutor accuses Cécile Lecomte of coercion. The court already told it disapproves with this and doesn't see any coercion in the act of hanging above the railway. But the activist may receive a fine because the reglementation about railway traffic states that it is forbidden to go on/above the railway.

A lot of activists and anti-nuclear organisations are supporting Cécile Lecomte

Read more about this action German

Illegal German Final Disposal Site Occupied

On Friday, May 29, 2009, between several hundred and up to 1,000 activists (the numbers are differing depending on the source of information) spontaneously occupied the site of the planned Final Disposal Site in Gorleben, Germany. People cut the fences and entered the high-security areal of the Gorleben salt mine. The day before secret documents had been published proving that the operator of the facility was illegally building a Final Disposal Site for high level radioactive waste.

It has never been a secret, that Gorleben should become the Final Repository for high level radioactive in Germany. However, official authorities and the nuclear lobby always claimed that it would be "only" a research mine. For this reason there has never been an application for constructing a nuclear facility in this mine - that would require a nuclear administration procedure with the public's right to discuss those plans. Therefore, the Gorleben mine was constructed based on mining laws that don't intend to involve the public as much as nuclear laws would.

Activists reported that police wasn't able to prevent the action, although it was announced one day in advance. At least 200 activists entered the area of the Final Disposal Site aiming to level off the illegal buildings, supported by at least 20 tractors of local farmers. Before police was able to bring reinforcement, the tractors and most of the activists could leave the site announcing to return.

Read more about this action German

In Finland, Nuclear Renaissance Runs Into Trouble

By JAMES KANTER, May 28, 2009

In Finland, Nuclear Renaissance Runs Into Trouble

By JAMES KANTER

OLKILUOTO, Finland — As the Obama administration tries to steer America toward cleaner sources of energy, it would do well to consider the cautionary tale of this new-generation nuclear reactor site.

The massive power plant under construction on muddy terrain on this Finnish island was supposed to be the showpiece of a nuclear renaissance. The most powerful reactor ever built, its modular design was supposed to make it faster and cheaper to build. And it was supposed to be safer, too.

But things have not gone as planned.

After four years of construction and thousands of defects and deficiencies, the reactor’s 3 billion euro price tag, about $4.2 billion, has climbed at least 50 percent. And while the reactor was originally meant to be completed this summer, Areva, the French company building it, and the utility that ordered it, are no longer willing to make certain predictions on when it will go online.

While the American nuclear industry has predicted clear sailing after its first plants are built, the problems in Europe suggest these obstacles may be hard to avoid.

A new fleet of reactors would be standardized down to “the carpeting and wallpaper,” as Michael J. Wallace, the chairman of UniStar Nuclear Energy — a joint venture between EDF Group and Constellation Energy, the Maryland-based utility — has said repeatedly.

In the end, he says, that standardization will lead to significant savings.

But early experience suggests these new reactors will be no easier or cheaper to build than the ones of a generation ago, when cost overruns — and then accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl — ended the last nuclear construction boom.

In Flamanville, France, a clone of the Finnish reactor now under construction is also behind schedule and overbudget.

Read the whole story

source: New York Times

OL3 NPP- Building in Serious Safety Problems in Finland

The Finnish Nuclear and Radiation Safety Authority STUK says that the construction of the commercial nuclear reactor in Olkiluoto, which is to be the world’s largest, has not proceeded according to official requirements. STUK has demanded that the builder of the installation, the French company Areva correct faults with the automation that guides the plant.

A current affairs programme on YLE TV 2, the authority acquired a letter in which STUK warns Areva that the building site could be shut down if the automation is not fixed and approved.

According to STUK, the design of the automation does not meet the basic principles required for nuclear safety, and on this basis STUK does not see any possibilities to approve the automation for installation at Olkiluoto.

“Areva NP SAS was to have designed very important systems for safety, but unfortunately, the attitude or lack of professional knowledge of certain individuals who represented the organisation in question at meetings of experts prevent progress in solving the concerns”, states a letter addressed to the director-general of Areva.

There was no immediate comment from Areva.

Source: YLE

You can contact us via e-mail europas-atomerbe ÄTT greenkids.de^[40] or telephone ( +49 391-72 72 657). A wiki-homepage is being built at http://greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe.

On the longer run, this website and the communication in general are supposed to be at least bi-lingual (German/English) and if possible realised in even more languages.

Kontakt kann zu uns per Mail an europas-atomerbe ÄTT greenkids.de^[41] oder telefonisch unter +49 391-72 72 657 aufgenommen werden. Eine Wiki-Internetseite für das Projekt entsteht unter http://greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe.

Langfristig soll diese Internetseite und die Kommunikation mindestens zweisprachig (deutsch/englisch), nach Möglichkeit auch darüber hinaus gestaltet werden.

"Europe's Nuclear Heritage" is a (research) project that is concerned with the usage of nuclear power and especially the debates on final repositories in Europe. Regarding these topics it works on networking between groups in different countries. Within this framework or associated to it the following activities took place:

"Europas Atomerbe" ist ein (Forschungs)-Projekt, das sich mit der Atomenergienutzung und speziell den Endlagerdebatten in Europa beschäftigt und hierzu auch eine Vernetzung verschiedener Gruppen in verschiedenen Ländern anstrebt. In diesem oder assoziertem Rahmen gab es bisher folgende Aktivitäten:

The current idea for the next possible project would be to visit the French exploration site in Bure combined with a meeting of local activists to also get a critical viewpoint.


Die derzeitige Idee für das nächste mögliche Projekt wäre eine Besichtigung des französischen 'Felslabors' in Bure (Wikipedia Artikel, Französischer Wikipedia Artikel) kombiniert mit einem Treffen mit dortigen Aktivisten um auch einen kritischen Standpunkt mitzubekommen.

An excursion during February 2007 to visit the finnish nuclear power plant in Olkiluoto at whose site the final repository for highly radioactive waste is being planned.


Bei einer Exkursion im Februar 2007 ging es zur Besichtigung des finnischen Atomkraftwerks (AKW) Olkiluoto, an dessen Standort das dortige Endlager für hochradioaktiven Atommüll geplant ist. Beteiligt euch unter den untenstehenden Punkten an der Auswertung der Fahrt!

In November 2006 a visit of the mine for final repository exploration at Gorleben was organised by the project. This included a visit of the underground facilities.

After this visit of the underground facilities and a lecture from the operating enterprise of the plant, we met Lilo Wollny, an old lady from the Gorleben resistance. She talked about the beginning of the protests and gave an overview of the security problems at the Gorleben nuclear waste disposal site.

Im November 2006 wurde im Rahmen des Projektes eine Besichtigung des Endlager-"Erkundungsbergwerks" im Gorlebener Salzstock organisiert. Diese enthielt auch eine Besichtigung unter Tage.

Nach der Führung durch den Gorlebener Salzstock und einem Vortrag der Betreiberfirma DBE trafen wir uns mit Lilo Wollny, einer alten Dame aus dem Gorlebener Widerstand. Sie erzählte uns von den Anfängen der Proteste und gab einen kleinen Einblick in die Sicherheitsbedenken gegen den Gorlebener Endlagerstandort.

An exhibition on the history of Germany's final repository for low and medium level radioactive waste at Morsleben, which is also available in english, is en route in different towns.

Eine Ausstellung zur Geschichte des deutschen Endlagers für niedrig- und mittelradioaktiven Atommüll Morsleben, die auch auf Englisch verfügbar ist, ist unterwegs in verschiedenen Städten.

In the past, a visit of the underground repository in Morsleben has also taken place.

There were several lobby meetings with different politicians to sensitize them for the problems of the Morsleben final repository and to exert pressure on the Federal Office for Radiation Protection to end their reluctance to give out information. These meetings are being continued throughout the year. Additionally, different actions and workshops took place on several occasions, including congresses and other events.


Auch in Morsleben wurde in der Vergangenheit eine Besichtigung im Endlager unter Tage organisiert.

Mit verschiedenen Politikern gab es 2006 Lobbygespräche, um für die Problematik um das Endlager Morsleben zu sensibilieren und um Druck auszuüben, damit die Informationsverweigerung des Bundesamtes für Strahlenschutzes ein Ende hat. Auch in diesem Jahr werden diese Gespräche fortgesetzt. Darüberhinaus fanden immer wieder Informationsveranstaltungen und Workshops in verschiedenen Orten und bei Kongressen und anderen Veranstaltungen statt.

You can spread the internet addresses http://nuclear-heritage.de.vu and http://nuclear-heritage.net to popularize this website.

Du kannst die Internetadressen http://nuclear-heritage.de.vu und http://nuclear-heritage.net verwenden, um diese Internetseite bekannter zu machen.