NukeNews No. 4 - ENGLISH

************************************************************ *     NukeNews #4 - Anti-Nuclear Information Service      * ************************************************************ - 0. Preface - Excuse the delay of the 4th issue of the NukeNews! We are obviously still a too small group of active people editing and contributing to the newsletter. In future we hope to receive more contributions from our readers, you. Please send us short articles to news AT NukeNews.nuclear-heritage.net - and write us also if you want to help to produce this international information system. In a couple of days, the beginning of the Fukushima disaster has its first anniversary. After the Global Fukushima Action Day on February 11, big demonstrations and a number of information events have been announced for March 11, the day of the beginning of the catastrophe. Until today the atomic site is leaking radioactivity and pollutes oceans, air and food supplies. Fukushima has become the biggest atomic disaster in history. Several international events and campaigns are supposed to take place this summer. We will inform you about some of them within this newsletter. You are welcome to send us more contributions about further actions and activities for the next NukeNews to be released in the end of May. - Outline of the current NukeNews issue #4 - 0. Preface 1. Injunction against demonstrations at Hinkley refused 2. Current situation over nuclear power in Japan 3. French leukemia clusters found 4. Anti-nuclear action summer 5. Talvivaara: Uranium Extraction Permission for Europe's Largest Nickel Mine? 6. Anti-nuclear Sailing Trip across the Baltic Sea 7. Online campaign against Kola NPP. Join please! 8. British more pro-nuclear since Fukushima! 9. N-safety: Russian green group backs NGOs 10. Visaginas: large infrastructure investments boost construction costs 11. Netherlands: Borssele-2 postponed 12. Russia ignoring case for beefing up nuclear disaster plans 13. Human Chain for A Nuclear Phase-Out 14. Finnish Uranium Industry map update 15. Austria: Network "Austria - nuclear free" established 16. Czech Republic: Nuclear plans massively doubted 17. Rosatom-owned company accused of selling shoddy equipment 18. Pack ice and bad engineering 19. Volunteers needed for the International Network Office 20. Upper-Austria 21. New outreach material printed 22. Rosatom scraps ancient Chernobyl reactor project at Kursk: Right decision, wrong message 23. Nuclear on the move in Slovenia 24. Book on Atomic Threats Around the Baltic Sea 25. International anti-nuclear camp and network gathering in Saxony 26. Upcoming events 27. About NukeNews - 1. Injunction against demonstrations at Hinkley refused - Early on 12th February the site of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset was occupied by protestors, including music group Seize the Day, squatting derelict Langborough Farm on the site, against plans to clear the sight even before permission to build the new power station has been given. The next day a Somerset Council Officer called to distribute anti-radiation potassium iodide tablets. On Feb. 18th, EDF served papers applying for possession of the premises and an injunction against all future protests at the site on the occupiers and various anti-nuclear groups. The case was heard in the UK High Court on 27th February and though the possession order was granted, the injunction against demonstrations at the site was refused. - 2. Current situation over nuclear power in Japan - As of 27 January, just three reactors were in operation out of 54: 34 remain shut for inspection while the remaining 17 units are shutdown either a result of the tsunami or at the request of the government. According to a Japanese survey published in the newspaper Yomiyuri, 573 deaths have been certified as « disaster-related » by 13 municipalities affected by the Fukushima disaster. See: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120204003191.htm - 3. French leukemia clusters found - A study by the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire looked into the incidence of child leukaemia cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2007 within five kms around 19 nuclear power plants. It found an average doubling of the incidence of leukaemia among under-fives in these areas compared with the average elsewhere. This study confirms an earlier German study, known as the KiKK, which also found a doubling of the incidence of child leukaemia near nuclear power plants, and an increased risk of 60 per cent for all childhood cancers. http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1235795/new_study_links_childhood_leukaemia_to_nuclear_power_plant_radiation.html - 4. Anti-nuclear action summer - Organizers of three different anti-nuclear actions and activities in central and northern Europe invite you to an "anti-nuclear action summer". For those of you who think one action is not enough to stop nuclear power and the powers behind it, we suggest you to join a couple of events: From July 30 to August 3, an international anti-nuclear camp and network gathering will take place in Döbeln (D). An activists bus is going to be organized to ship people from there - possibly with additional stops in Germany - to Olkiluoto, Finland. There an anti-nuclear protest and blockade camp will be held from August 6-13, with its highlight, the third publicly announced "Olkiluoto Blockade", on August 11. Afterwards join us with the anti-nuclear sailing trip and bike tour from Stockholm (SE) to Greifswald (D) starting on August 26 to be finished on September 9. You are also welcome to take part in only two of these three activities, or even shorter. However, we are also open for additional suggestions to fill the anti-nuclear summer. Contact us at summeraction AT nuclear-heritage.net. - 5. Talvivaara: Uranium Extraction Permission for Europe's Largest Nickel Mine? - Talvivaara, Europe's largest open cast nickel mine wants permission to extract uranium in cooperation with Canada's Cameco. Located in the Kainuu region of Finland, the mine has already had chemical spills, widespread regional air and water contamination and chemical fires at the processing facility. The Kainuu Regional Environment Centre has discovered four badly contaminated lakes and three others 'less badly' contaminated. Despite these and other problems Euratom and the European Commission have already granted their approval for a uranium processing facility. Decisions by the Finnish national government and the regional state provincial office are expected to be made this spring. Local and regional opposition has been growing, more is needed. For full article: http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Talvivaara:_Uranium_Extraction_Permission_for_Europe%27s_Largest_Nickel_Mine%3F - 6. Anti-nuclear Sailing Trip across the Baltic Sea - We invite you to join an anti-nuclear action sailing trip starting in Stockholm (SE) on August 26, stopping at several harbours for doing action, meeting local activists and holding information events, to end at the harbour of Greifswald (D) on September 9. It will be an international action initiated by the AntiNuclearNetwork NorthEast Germany. Please announce your interest to join the sailing trip as soon as possible as the "seats" on boat are limited. Along with the sailing trip comes a bike tour giving people the chance to switch between boat and bike. It will also be a chance to involve more people and reach more publicity. Find out more: http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Anti-nuclear_Sailing_Trip_across_the_Baltic_Sea - 7. Online campaign against Kola NPP. Join please! - The Kola nuclear power plant poses a safety hazard for people and the environment in Murmansk and neighboring countries, reads the letter young ecologists asks you to sign online and send to President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The letter argues that both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russian experts at a State Council session claim the reactors have inadequate safety levels. The campaign is organized by Nature and Youth in Norway and Priroda i Molodezh in Russia. Other environmental groups and political youth parties are supporting the campaign. Read more: http://barentsobserver.com/online-campaign-against-kola-npp.5021192-16149.html Sign here: http://stopkolanpp.com - 8. British more pro-nuclear since Fukushima! - According to a series of poll figures from Ipsos Mori, after a short dip after Fukushima, nuclear power is more popular in the UK than before the Fukushima disaster. A poll on December 11th found 50% in favour of nuclear power against 20% opposed. This must be put down to the success of relentless government and industry propaganda in the UK in favour of nuclear. - 9. N-safety: Russian green group backs NGOs - Indian NGOs opposing the proposed nuclear power plant in Kudankulam have got covering fire from Moscow. A Russia-based environmental group, EcoDefence, on February 27th backed the Indian non-profit groups, saying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remark on foreign funded NGOs thwarting nuclear enterprises was incorrect. http://business-standard.com/india/news/n-safety-russian-green-group-backs-ngos/466103/ - 10. Visaginas: large infrastructure investments boost construction costs - Another recent hit for Lithuania's new NPP plans: the transport of the suggested ABWR reactor parts of 25 m length and 8 m width to the Visaginas NPP site will need to significantly upgrade many roads, brigdes and viaducts. The expected route from Klaipeda port to the Visaginas NPP construction site is some 550 km. Huge investments are needed to strengthen the roads, bridges and to build few new road sections just for this single transportation. - 11. Netherlands: Borssele-2 postponed - Not completely surprising came the announcement of Dutch utility Delta about postponing plans to build a second nuclear power plant in the Netherlands because of the poor investment climate and low electricity prices. Although Delta states it remains committed to the project, not many believe in its resurrection. Delta had plans to build a nuclear power plant with a maximum capacity of 2,500 megawatts in the Zeeland province in the southwest of the country, next to an existing plant near the town of Borssele, but said on January 23, 2012 it was delaying these for two to three years. "The last half-year the investment climate has worsened due to the financial crisis. In addition, overcapacity of electricity production has increased further due to the recession," Delta said in a statement. Read the whole story: http://www.laka.org/english.html - 12. Russia ignoring case for beefing up nuclear disaster plans - All nuclear power plants are dangerous. Each and every one of the world’s reactors in operation is inherently susceptible to an accident – something even the nuclear industry would acknowledge is true. But where countries like Japan strive to learn the tragic lessons of nuclear disasters such as the recent catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi, Russia, which remains a staunch proponent of nuclear energy, fails to take the potential threat seriously and prepare adequate population protection measures. http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2012/Russia_disaster_prepare - 13. Human Chain for A Nuclear Phase-Out - With 58 nuclear reactors and many nuclear fuel facilities, France is the country in Europe whith the highest nuclear risk. In case of an accident happening here, large areas in Europe would also be contaminated. We don't want to wait until an accident happens to see the French NPP closed! Since the 28th of March 2011, a small group of citizens of the Rhône Valley has been preparing a 235-km-long human chain between Lyon and Avignon. With the help of the French anti-nuclear network "Sortir du nucléaire", they decided to let a chain reaction off, that should work as a symbol in France and Europe. On Sunday, the 11th March 2012, we will organize this big Franco-European human chain against nuclear power on the Route Nationale 7! We're looking forward to see as many people as possible, and most particularly our European neighbours! More information on http://www.chainehumaine.org - 14. Finnish Uranium Industry map update - A map of Finland’s uranium projects has been published. There are several mining projects in Finland that have uranium in their orebodies. The government has granted permission to the Talvivaara mining company to start producing uranium at its quarry in Sotkamo on the 1st of March. This is the first permission process concerning uranium extraction in Finland. The map of uranium mining and nuclear energy projects offers a view on the situation in Finland. The map is made by Mika Huhtanen, an activist in Lappilaiset Uraanivoimaa Vastaan (Lapland's People Against Uranium Power Movement). The map is available here (FI & UK version): http://www.uraanivoima.com/?p=raportteja - 15. Austria: Network "Austria - nuclear free" established - Two nationwide meetings and an informal cooperation of around 20 NGOs took place in Linz, Upper Austria, already with a third meeting planned for June 2012 in Salzburg. Coordinated by NGOs, which started the debate on a possible end of Austria´s membership in EURATOM as a logical consequence of the country´s anti-nuclear stance, the new network among others pushes politicians to legally stop the import of electricity from NPP. There exists also a close cooperation with anti-nuclear NGOs in the Czech Republic with good contacts to Slowakia, having the NPPs Temelin, Dukovany and Mochovce in their special focus. see more hier: http://www.atomkraftfrei-leben.at and http://www.plage.cc - 16. Czech Republic: Nuclear plans massively doubted - A few months ago it looked as if the Czech Republic would plan to built up to 18 new NPP-units, at least some politicians seem to have dreamed of that. The combination of falling electricity prices and the disaster in Fukushima seems however, had some impact. Latest news speak of only up to three or so new blockes and the same number of potential companies, wanting to have this business: Areva, Westinghouse and Rosatom. Their bids are expected for later this year. In the end the share-holders of mainly state-owned utility CEZ might prefer higher dividends to a risky longterm investemt. see also: http://candole.com/files/Temelinomics_20120126.pdf (economic study of the Temelín expansion project) and www.temelin.cz (homepage of czech anti-nuke-NGOs) - 17. Rosatom-owned company accused of selling shoddy equipment - Russian Federal prosecutors have accused a company owned by the country’s nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, with massive corruption and manufacturing substandard equipment for nuclear reactors under construction both at home and abroad. http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2012/podolsk_corruption - 18. Pack ice and bad engineering - The proposed Fennovoima NPP at Pyhäjoki, Finland will be the first ever nuclear plant located on the shore of an arctic sea. The movement of ice is well-known to sailors on the sea, and must not be ignored by the novice power company. If pack-ice blocks the cooling water intake, there is no method to keep the reactor core cool and prevent a disaster similar to Fukushima. Read more: http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Pack_ice_and_bad_engineering - 19. Volunteers needed for the International Network Office - We are in the process of establishing an International Network Office focusing on nuclear issues, but also being open for networking in other political fields. After discussions and preparations for some years, we have now the rooms for this project in the project house in Döbeln (Saxony - Germany). Greenkids e.V., the grassroots organization which once founded the "Nuclear Heritage Network", provides the space and equipment for this networking project. Now we are looking for people to volunteer with the network office. Activities are the communication with anti-nuclear groups, activists and interested people internationally to connect them with each other, to help them to find speakers for events or experts on certain topics. It's also about coordinating and helping with the production of multilingual outreach material to promote local anti- nuclear topics. Another field is the coordination or preparation of gatherings for networking personally and to stay in touch and exchange with each other. If you are interested to contribute to this project with your knowledge, experiences, donations or by volunteering, please write to contact AT nuclear-heritage.net. We aim to have always at least two or three volunteers from different countries in the office. Own networking ideas and activities like traveling to other places and joining projects there would be fitting quite well to this project. Find out more: http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/International_Network_Office - 20. Upper-Austria - Since a specific political agreement with greens in the regional government of the province of Upper-Austria in 1997 there has been developed a tradition of coordinating and financing anti-nuclear work. The new responsible manager of the programme is with Ing. Dalibor Stráský a Czech-born technician, who had studied nuclear-physics and even started to work in the nuke-business, until he soon changed sides and has now a long history of anti-nuclear work. For 2012 there are around 320.000 € to be used by mainly Austrian and Czech-NGOs working closely together. The existing ties with nuclear critical tendences also in Slovakia will be for the first time extended a bit to Slovenia too. One of the big tasks for 2012 is the international cooperation. So there will be a bigger meeting in Linz in autumn, as has been already in 2009 with the so called Anti-Nuclear European Forum. see more: http://www.anef.info/?q=taxonomy/term/3 - 21. New outreach material printed - We printed flyers for the Olkiluoto Blockade (English, German - for download also in Finnish and Swedish), the Anti-nuclear Sailing Trip (English, German - for download also in Polish), posters with the "Nuclear Scream", and several new language versions of atomic sites (La Hague, Gorleben, Morsleben, Asse II, Schacht Konrad) as well as background information on the search for a final repository in Switzerland and a paper on uranium mining. Besides that, we provide anti-nuclear stickers ("Nuclear Scream") and a "Network DVD" with photos, documentaries and digital versions of the materials mentioned above. You can order these outreach materials having been produced for your anti-nuclear work from the International Network Office, Am Bärental 6, D-04720 Ebersbach, Germany. Usually, we will ask for covering the shipment costs and for a donation for the material, if possible. http://material.nuclear-heritage.net - 22. Rosatom scraps ancient Chernobyl reactor project at Kursk: Right decision, wrong message - On the eve of the first anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, the Russian State Nuclear Corporation Rosatom finally acknowledged Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors are dangerous and no longer plans to complete a decades-old reactor construction project at Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). But when will this new, safety-minded Rosatom turn its attention to the eleven aged RBMKs still in operation in Russia? http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2012/rip_kursk_reactor - 23. Nuclear on the move in Slovenia - In the field of nuclear power, there are two new developments in Slovenia. One is the prolonging of the life-time of the existing reactor from 2023 to 2043. The NPP operator awaits for the approval of prolonging the life-time from the Authority for Nuclear Safety and is highly likely to get it soon, as there seem to be no legal or safety obstacles for not allowing the prolonging of the life-time of the plant by 50 %. The next new development is that with the new government, the Krško NPP is pressing hard to obtain energy permit for the second block, which is to be sited in Krško too. - 24. Book on Atomic Threats Around the Baltic Sea - As a result of the 2010 info tour around the Baltic Sea a group of people is now preparing and investigating to create a new book on atomic threats around the Baltic Sea. It is supposed to become a kind of reference book particularly on nuclear companies and facilities providing a brief overview of the plant and technical data, offering contacts to active anti-nuclear groups and providing links to the websites of critics and the operators. We need contributions from activists and experts from Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Most of the information available in the internet is provided in the native languages, and it is easier for local people to investigate in their mother tongue. The book will cover all nuclear facilities and companies situated within the water shed of the Baltic Sea. You find a map with the water shed on our project webpage. A collection of all facilities we found so far is listed there, too. Your contributions to the book, and also your participation in the process of creating it, will be very welcome! Write to contact AT nuclear-heritage.net. http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Atomic_Threats_Around_the_Baltic_Sea_book_project http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Preliminary_Nuclear_Baltic_Map http://baltic-tour.nuclear-heritage.net - 25. International anti-nuclear camp and network gathering in Saxony - From July 30 to August 3, 2012, an international anti-nuclear camp and network gathering will take place in Döbeln (middle Saxony, Germany). We invite you and your anti-nuclear friends to join us, get to know each other, inform about atomic developments and anti-nuclear activities in your region, for skill sharing and for networking. We want to start new campaigns and actions as well as to strengthen the international cooperation in already existing projects. From the camp there will be a possibility to travel to the international blockade and protest camp in Olkiluoto, Finland. If you can help to prepare the programme, local arrangements or with the construction of the camp during the months before the gathering starts, you are very welcome. Please write us if you can contribute or if you want to participate to contact AT nuclear-heritage.net. http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/International_Anti-nuclear_Network_Meeting_in_D%C3%B6beln - 26. Upcoming events - (just an extract, tell us your events for the next newsletter) 14/08/11-13/08/12: Gorleben 365 blockade campaign (D) 08/03/12-09/03/12: Global Conference: Nuclear Power For Africa? 10/03/12-11/03/12: Surround Hinkley Point NPP action (UK) 11/03/12:         Global Fukushima Action Day 12/03/12:         Demonstration against the Talvivaara uranium mine in Helsinki (FIN) 16/03/12-18/03/12: Uranium, Health and Environment Conference in                   Bamako (RMM) Early 2012:       Protests against the CASTOR transports from Jülich to Ahaus (D) 13/04/12-15/04/12: Spring conference of the German anti-nuclear movement in Ahaus (D) 26/04/12:         Commemoration of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster 26/04/12:         Demonstration against the Talvivaara uranium mine in Sotkamo (FIN) 05/05/12-06/05/12: Hanhikivi Days against EON's NPP plans (FIN) 17/05/12-04/06/12: International Bike Action "nuclear weapon free now" from Stuttgart (D) to Brussels (B) 22/05/12-25/05/12: Annual conference of the German atomic lobby in                   Stuttgart (D) 28/06/12-14/07/12: 2nd International Uranium Film Festival for a                   global Nuclear-Free Future in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Summer 2012:      Walk for a Nuclear Free Future from Minnesota to                    Buffalo (USA) 30/07/12-03/08/12: International Anti-nuclear Camp and Network Gathering in Döbeln (D) 04/08/12:         Activists bus from Germany to the Olkiluoto Blockade in Finland 06/08/12-13/08/12: Olkiluoto protest camp and blockade (FIN) 12/08/12-19/08/12: Lausitz Climate and Energy Camp in Jänschwalde (D) 26/08/12-09/09/12: Anti-nuclear Sailing Tour from Stockholm (SE) to                   Greifswald (D) 29/09/12:         International Action Day to shut down nuclear industry 09/12/12-12/12/12: European Nuclear Conference of the nuclear industry in Manchester (UK) http://www.gorleben365.de http://koebergalert.org/npfree http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Surround_Hinkley_Point_NPP_action http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Global_Fukushima_Action_Day_2012 http://www.nonuclear.se/files/20120316-18uranium_bamako.pdf http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Nuclear_Waste_Transport_to_Ahaus http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Hanhikivi_Days http://www.atomwaffenfrei.de/die-kampagne/fahrradaktion/artikel/internationale-fahrradaktion-atomw-1.html http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org http://footprints.footprintsforpeace.net/nffcampaign/NFF2011.htm http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/International_Anti-nuclear_Network_Meeting_in_D%C3%B6beln http://olkiluotoblockade.info http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Anti-nuclear_Sailing_Trip_across_the_Baltic_Sea http://www.euronuclear.org/events/enc/enc2012/index.htm - 27. 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 5th issue of the NukeNews will be 20th of May, 2012. Spread the word and learn more about the NukeNews: http://NukeNews.Nuclear-Heritage.NET