NukeNews No. 10 - ENGLISH

************************************************************ *    NukeNews #10 - Anti-Nuclear Information Service      * ************************************************************ -- 0. Preface -- Welcome to the 10th NukeNews edition! For the last couple of newsletter issues, we have included Lithuanian as an additional language. Unfortunately, we had to "freeze" the French version with the last release because of insufficient translation support into French. We would like to continue this language edition - if you can help with translations, please tell us! This edition includes news from activists in Australia, Belarus, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the UK, covering updates on actions, attempts of the atomic industry to push for nuclear, repression against activists, and a nuclear "near-miss" in the harbour of Hamburg, Germany. You are invited to send us your news for the next newsletter - for more information, see the end of this email. -- Outline of the current NukeNews issue #10 -- 0. Preface 1. Czech caretaker government supports new Temelin reactors 2. "Leningrad NPP-2 IS DANGEROUS" 3. UK: News from the Nuclear Islands 4. International fasting for the abolition of nuclear weapons 5. Petition against Areva's mining project in Nunavut 6. Two uranium facilities blocked by activists in the South of France 7. Finland: Rosatom- Fennovoima deal to continue Pyhäjoki NPP project 8. Canada's legacy of contamination in Saskatchewan's Watersheds 9. Anti-nuclear leafletting continues in London 10. IAEA & WHO: No health impacts because of Fukushima - IPPNW study shows the opposite 11. Another Cameco collaboration agreement to silence indigenous protests on uranium mining 12. Baltic NPP down 13. Almost-disaster with burning nuclear ship in Hamburg/Germany 14. Western Australia's first uranium mine - a bad deal but not a    done deal - emerging trends in environmental assessment 15. Thuggish arrests of activists and journalists at Chernobyl anniversary march in Minsk, Belarus 16. Upcoming events 17. About NukeNews -- 1. Czech caretaker government supports new Temelin reactors -- The new caretaker government - appointed by president Miloš Zeman after the right-wing government of Petr Nečas resigned due to bribery scandals - has declared its support for plans to build two new reactors at the Temelín nuclear power plant. Recent information suggests that the government might make binding decision on the plans if it rules up to regular elections in the spring of 2014. The government reportedly considers Temelin as its priority and wants to push for the construction during its announced talks with the energy monopoly ČEZ. This raises questions about in whose interest the government is acting, considering that construction would be extremely unprofitable for the economy due to fixed in tariffs. (see previous issues of NukeNews). -- 2. "Leningrad NPP-2 IS DANGEROUS" -- - such was the evaluation of members of the press conference which took place July 15 at the Press Club "Green Light" in St. Petersburg. Those who spoke at the press conference were members of the "working group" who analyzed the impact of the "wet" cooling towers of Leningrad NPP-2 (LNPP-2) on the residents, personnel, and the environmental situation on the Southern Shore of the Gulf of Finland (SSGF), 40 km west of St. Petersburg. The Rosatom representatives who were members of the "working group" published a "Conclusion" in assessing the safety of LNPP-2 that was based on the economic interests of Rosatom. It did not take into account the opinion of independent experts and expert-organizations that was based on environmental safety. The participants of the press conference informed journalists about the many errors, breaches of standards, and of Russian legislation, which were identified by the independent experts. They demonstrated those steps of Rosatom designed to simulate public participation in furthering the LNPP-2 project. Read the complete story: http://www.greenworld.org.ru/?q=ang_bv_121 -- 3. UK: News from the Nuclear Islands -- The Coalition government recently announced that they intend to pour 10 billion pounds of public money into the 1st of their planned new reactors - EDF's proposed Hinkley C. Despite the coalition pledge not to subsidise new nukes, they announced that they will be making further cuts to public services to fund the subsidy, that they claim, isn't a subsidy. The British government are completely out of step with the rest of Europe. While countries like Germany embark on a program of improving energy efficiency and reducing demand, it seems the British government are committed to ensuring that UK consumers pay cripplingly high prices for their electricity over the next half a century. They also envision a tripling in energy demand, although to be frank it's hard to see how they could achieve growth in centralised energy consumption at such eye-wateringly high prices. After the unsurprising collapse of the British governments latest scheme to impose radioactive waste on the Cumbrian communities, the government are now trying to decide where they are going to dump, I mean store all of the intermediate level waste that successive governments have made under the noses of a complacent public, some of their proposals would involve creating new Sellafield style dumps at one or several locations around the British Isles. Meanwhile, as negotiations between EDF and the British government continue to falter and the so-called strike price continues to evade agreement, the government have made much of a further £128 million pound bribe to communities that will have to live with the fall-out of new nuclear - unfortunately the bar has been set low and nuclear operators will only have to pay around a fifth of the amount that wind developers have to pay in community benefits. Typical of the anti-renewables policy-making that has characterised the climate-sceptic government now in power in Britain. -- 4. International fasting for the abolition of nuclear weapons -- From the 5th to the 9th August, about hundred people will gather in Paris for an international fasting for the abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide. Many actions will take place in this frame: commemoration of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, training in non-violent action, human chain and die-in under the Eiffel tower... This fasting is organized by La Maison de Vigilance, Armes nucléaires STOP and the French antinuclear network "Sortir du nucléaire". Anyone can take part, for one day or for a week. Beside, some people will also fast for the abolition of nuclear weapons in Burghfield and Aldermaston (UK), as well as in Büchel and Berlin (Germany). Contact and registration: "lamaisondevigilance AT orange.fr" More information: http://www.vigilancehiroshimanagasaki.com -- 5. Petition against Areva's mining project in Nunavut -- Areva wants to build a big uranium mine in Nunavut, the Inuit territory in the north of Canada. Should this project become reality, its consequences would be catastrophic for the environment and local people's way of life: water and soil contamination, unmanageable mining waste, devastated cariboo hunting zones... Areva tries to lure the population into accepting the project by distributing expensive gifts, but it conceals the real impacts of uranium mining. If you want to stop this project, please sign the petition (soon in English) on: http://groupes.sortirdunucleaire.org/Petition-Nunavut -- 6. Two uranium facilities blocked by activists in the South of France -- On June, the 19th, the two collectives "Stop Uranium" and "Stop Tricastin" organized a simultaneous non-violent blockade in front of two uranium facilities in the South of France. They wanted to alert about the dangers of the uranium industry and to demand that it should be stopped. The first facility, the Comurhex Malvési (near Narbonne) is the entrance gate for yellow cake in France. About 1/4 of the nuclear fuel used in the world came through it. The second facility was the Eurodif enrichment plant, on the Tricastin nuclear site, near Avignon. You can find some pictures of the action there: http://groupes.sortirdunucleaire.org/blocage-malvesi-tricastin -- 7. Finland: Rosatom- Fennovoima deal to continue Pyhäjoki NPP project -- In the beginning of July the Finnish "Fennovoima" company announced they are going to sign a contract with Russian "Rosatom" to construct a 1200 MW nuclear plant at Pyhäjoki. This announcement is not welcomed here. Legal experts say there are problems with this deal: permission given by the parliament was based on 2 alternatives: AREVA (EPR) and Toshiba (ABWR), both 1600 MW units. No environmental assessment was done for the Rosatom alternative. A new permission is needed, otherwise the democratic process written in the nuclear energy law has no real value. The Rosatom deal means a delay to the project, at least one more year. Read the complete story: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Finland:_Rosatom-_Fennovoima_deal_to_continue_Pyh%C3%A4joki_NPP_project -- 8. Canada's legacy of contamination in Saskatchewan's Watersheds -- The Canadian government sacrificed four watersheds in northern Saskatchewan to supply the bulk of the uranium for the atomic weapons programs in the United States and other countries. Thirty years have passed since the government abandoned the mess it created and the deadly toxins continue to spread. Now, they want to open more mines without cleaning up their old ones first. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Saskatchewan%20Office/2013/07/SKnotes_Govt_Legacy_Contamination_Watersheds.pdf -- 9. Anti-nuclear leafletting continues in London -- On 15th May a determined posse of London anti-nuke types again leafletted the treasury and the department of energy and climate change with the following leaflet. 400 copies were put into the hands of workers entering each building. A leafletting picket is outside the Japanese embassy in London every Friday from 9 till 13.00 hours. Has been there unbroken for 10 months now. The leaflets: http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net/content/kick-nuclear-activists-return-leaflet-decc-and-treasury http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net/node/567 -- 10. IAEA & WHO: No health impacts because of Fukushima - IPPNW study shows the opposite -- In a May 31st report the United Nations informed that "radiation exposure following the nuclear accident at Fukushima-Daiichi did not cause any immediate health effects", and that it would be "unlikely to be able to attribute any health effects in the future among the general public and the vast majority of workers". Those who wrote this were the UN Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) - the same who claimed after Chernobyl there would have been only a few victims. The opposite was found in a March 2013 report of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW): Based on publications in scientific professional journals on soil contamination with radioactive cesium respectively due to measurements of local dose rates in autumn 2012 the IPPNW came in three alternative assessments to some 20,000 to 40,000 cancer cases caused by the "external radiation exposure" in Japan. These figures referred to the risk factor of 0.1/Sv used by the WHO. However, due to new scientific findings actually a risk at least of the double amount should be considered - up to 80,000 cancer cases due to the external radiation exposure. Learn more: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/PR:Gesundheitliche_Folgen_von_Fukushima -- 11. Another Cameco collaboration agreement to silence indigenous protests on uranium mining -- After the Pinehouse collaboration Agreement with Cameco and Areva in December 2012, with the English First River Nation in May 2013 another indigenous community of Northwest Saskatchewan has - against protests of their community members - signed an agreement with these uranium mining companies to support their business and not to disturb it anymore. The agreement - which members have not been permitted to see - allegedly promises $600 million in business contracts and employee wages to the Dene band, in exchange for supporting Cameco/Areva's existing and proposed projects within ERFN's traditional territory, and with the condition that ERFN discontinue their lawsuit against the Saskatchewan government relating to Treaty Land Entitlement section of lands near Cameco's proposed Millenium mine project. Learn more: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/PR:Signing_of_Cameco/Areva_deal_with_English_River_First_Nations_ignites_strong_opposition_from_members -- 12. Baltic NPP down -- Baltic NPP debacle: Construction reported halted, possibly mothballed. Two subcontractors for Kaliningrad region's Baltic Nuclear Power Plant (Baltic NPP) say works at the site are being stopped and a two-year freeze is expected on the construction. Hitting a wall of uniform rejection after years of courting energy importers and investors in Europe, the project has Moscow attempting a last-ditch look at a limited pool of smaller reactor designs - but reeks. Learn more: http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2013/baltic_npp_debacle -- 13. Almost-disaster with burning nuclear ship in Hamburg/Germany -- Mai 1st, 2013 the combined RoRo/container vessel Atlantic Cartier was on fire at the harbour of Hamburg (Germany). The fire was extinguished by 5 fire-fighting boats and 296 firefighters after about 16 hours. Only 500 meters from the burning ship the opening church service of church days was held with 35,000 people in the heart of the 1,800,000 citizens town. Nobody have been warned or evacuated. Two weeks later an answer from the federal state parliament showed it was loaded with about 8.9 t fissile uraniumhexafluoride and 11.6 t fissile uraniumoxide or fuel rods beside 180 t Ethanol, about 3.8 t cartridges for weapons 2.6 t solid propellant and much more dangerous goods. The fire burned 70 new cars in the body of the ship, so some endangered containers right on the top were cleared in hurry during fire-fighting operations. The UF6 came probably from USA with destination Uranium Enrichment Facility Almelo (Netherlands). The uraniumoxide was supposed to be delivered to France. Learn more: http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Fire_on_vessel_at_Hamburg -- 14. Western Australia's first uranium mine - a bad deal but not a    done deal - emerging trends in environmental assessment -- Only weeks after the Western Australia State election - when a pro nuclear Liberal party was returned to Government, Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke gave conditional approval for WA's first uranium mine - Toro's Wiluna uranium mine proposal. http://ccwa.org.au/blogs/was-first-uranium-mine-bad-deal-not-done-deal-emerging-trends-environmental-assessment#.UX59AILMrWs -- 15. Thuggish arrests of activists and journalists at Chernobyl anniversary march in Minsk, Belarus -- Still bent on plowing ahead with the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant, Minsk remains intolerant of any opposition to the project – even on the day commemorating the Chernobyl disaster, when protesters taking part in a sanctioned rally against the construction ran into often violent scrapes with government security services and blockades and detentions of environmentalists and reporters. The spate of detentions and reports of police brutality signaled another – though unexpected – ratcheting up of official repression after 2,000 people took to the streets in the Belarusian capital on the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe on April 26 in a demonstration called Chernobyl March 2013. See the full story and nice pictures: http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2013/belarus_npp_crackdown -- 16. Upcoming events -- (just an extract, tell us your events for the next newsletter) more events: http://upcoming.nuclear-heritage.net We have a new overview of events on our website. There is now a new category with the nuclear lobby's events. Another category for EU process events on atomic policy is planned, too. Please feel invited to send us your local and international events for this website! 21/07/13-23/08/13: "Reclaim Power Tour – Energiekämpfe in Bewegung                   bringen!" action bike tour starting in Leipzig (D) 31/07/13 10.30 AM: bike tour along the Castor road route from Marktplatz in Lüchow to Gorleben (D) 01/08/13-11/08/13: "Case Pyhäjoki" - artistic reflections on nuclear influence in Pyhäjoki (FIN) 02/08/13-04/08/13: fasten action against nuclear weapons at                   Bundeskanzler*innenamt in Berlin (D) 05/08/13-12/08/13: Anti-nuclear weapons camp next to the roundabout traffic in front of the air base's main gate in                   Büchel (D) 06/08/13-09/08/13: Joint Anglo-French Fast Action Against Nuclear Weapons 2013 at the Burghfield nuclear base (UK) and at the Eiffel Tower in Paris (F) 24/08/13-25/08/13: 24 hours resistance marathon around the atomic complex in Gorleben (D) 25/08/13-31/08/13: direct action training near Vilnius (LT) 26/08/13:         AWE Burghfield Summer Disarmament Camp at Atomic Weapons Establishment in Burghfield (UK) 29/08/13-11/09/13: Energy turn camp in the Basel region (CH) 31/08/13 11 AM:   Nuclear waste conference in Kassel (D) 14/09/13-15/09/13: excursion to the Temelín NPP (CZ) 14/09/13:         rally against conditioning of nuclear waste in                    Duisburg (D) 14/09/13 at 2 PM: Close Cattenom NPP rally at Place de la Réplublique in Metz (F) 26/09/13-29/09/13: uranium film festival in Munich (D) 30/09/13:         Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) meeting on                    SKB's research activities on the final disposal of                    nuclear waste in Stockholm (S) 02/10/13 8 AM:    SKB Stockholm Talks: international conference on                    Swedish, Finnish and French attempts final repositories for high level nuclear waste in                   Stockholm (S) 14/10/13-16/10/13: European Commission EURADWASTE '13 conference in                   Vilnius (LT) 18/10/13-20/10/13: Anti-nuclear autumn conference of the German anti-nuclear movement in Hamburg (D) 11/11/13-13/11/13: InSOTEC second Stakeholder Seminar in Berlin (D) 20/11/13-21/11/13: Nuclear Waste Council: International Symposium on                   the engineered barriers in the repository for spent nuclear fuel in Stockholm (S) 12/12/2013:       Global Action Day Against Nuclear Power 2013 06/02/14-07/02/14: Long-term Performance of Engineered Barrier Systems (PEBS) at BGR in Hannover (D) 2014:             Probably Castor transport of high level radioactive waste from Sellafield (UK) and of intermediate level radioactive waste from La Hague (F) to                   Gorleben (D) and protests 01/01/15-30/04/15: (estimated) main hearing on the Environmental Court on SKB's application to build KBS3 final nuclear waste repository at District Court in Nacka (S) http://castor.de/php/termine/termine.php http://casepyhajoki.info http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Joint_Anglo-French_Fast_Action_Against_Nuclear_Weapons_2013 http://castor.de/php/termine/termine.php http://eyfa.org/network_news/call_for_participants_for_direct_action_training_august_25_31_near_vilnius_lithuania https://www.facebook.com/events/273648866107828/ http://www.energiewendefestival.ch http://www.atommuellkonferenz.de http://www.antiatom-buendnis-niederrhein.de/?page_id=96 http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/index.php/de/programm/muenchen-2013 http://www.nonuclear.se/en/kalender/2013fud http://www.nonuclear.se/en/kalender/stockholm20131002skb http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/euratom-fission/fisa-euradwaste-2013_en.html http://www.nonuclear.se/en/kalender/insotec_sem2_2013 http://www.nonuclear.se/en/kalender/stockholm20131120-21karnavfallsradet http://www.nuclear-heritage.net/index.php/Global_Action_Day_Against_Nuclear_Power_2013 http://www.nonuclear.se/en/kalender/kbshuvudforhandling2012 http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Gorleben_Castor_Resistance_in_Germany_2014 -- 17. About NukeNews -- The NukeNews are a multilingual newsletter system of the Nuclear Heritage Network and are supposed to reflect the activities, topics and struggles of anti-nuclear activists connected through this international community. The messages are written and translated by activists, additionally to their usual anti-nuclear activities. No one is paid for that work, as we want to provide resources like this information system to the anti-nuclear struggle as independent as possible. The newsletter aims to inform and update as well activists as the interested audience. Your contributions to the next issue of the NukeNews are welcome. Send them via email to "news AT NukeNews.nuclear-heritage.net". It should be brief information in English of not more than one paragraph, including a concise headline and an optional link to a webpage providing more information. Deadline for the 11th issue of the NukeNews will be 13th of October, 2013. Spread the word and learn more about the NukeNews: http://NukeNews.Nuclear-Heritage.NET