Difference between revisions of "NukeNews No. 3 - ENGLISH"

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  the idea of a phase-out in this country dependent on the atomic
 
  the idea of a phase-out in this country dependent on the atomic
 
  threat spreads. However, despite the Fukushima catastrophe the
 
  threat spreads. However, despite the Fukushima catastrophe the
  country still considers the continuation of their nuclear programme.
+
  coun
 
 
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0. Outline of the current NukeNews issue #3
 
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0.  Preface
 
1.  No uranium mining in Kuusamo!
 
2.  Explosion at French atomic site
 
3.  Siemens to quit the atomic business
 
4.  Corruption: A new Russian Fukushima in the making?
 
5.  French Nuclear Authority points to "weaknesses" of the EPR
 
6.  Gorleben: Radiation measurements forged - legal limits exceeded
 
7.  E.on decided to construct new reactor in Pyhäjoki
 
8.  Week of actions in Russia
 
9.  Thousands made the 13th Castor transport the longest in history
 
10. I-131 spread over Europe
 
11. Radwaste storage at Russian NPPs
 
12. Olkiluoto protest camp and blockade 2012
 
13. New Castor transport to Ahaus expected
 
14. International Network Gathering in Kuusamo
 
15. EDF fined £1.3M for spying on Greenpeace
 
16. Hinkley out ahead
 
17. Upcoming events
 
18. About NukeNews
 
 
 
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1.  No uranium mining in Kuusamo!
 
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There are plans to build several uranium-gold-mines in Kuusamo,
 
southeast of Finnish Lapland. Uranium mining causes radioactive
 
contamination of air, water and soil. The rivers, which have flown
 
thousands of years with potable water, are in danger of getting
 
poisoned by radioactive mining waste.
 
 
A petition aims to put pressure to stop the uranium project in
 
Kuusamo to show that people are not willing to agree to any kind of
 
mining or building that directly or indirectly are involved in
 
uranium production within and in the surroundings of Kuusamo.
 
Such activities are critized to be destructive to Kuusamo people
 
livelihood, polluting the land and causing health hazards.
 
Find out more and sign the petion against uranium mining in Kuusamo:
 
http://www.petitions24.com/no_uranium_mining_in_kuusamo
 
 
 
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2.  Explosion at French atomic site
 
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An explosion at the Marcoule site some 30 kilometers north of
 
Avignon (F) killed one worker and injured four other workers. The
 
explosion and a following fire occured around 9.45 AM GMT in an oven
 
of an EDF subsidiary's facility where they burned low level
 
radioactive waste. While the authorities established a security
 
cordon outside the facility due to the danger of radiation releases,
 
officials declared on the very same day the accident to have
 
been finished and claimed no radiation to be released at all. On the
 
same site several decommissioned atomic reactors are situated, too,
 
as well as a factory partially used by the nuclear company Areva for
 
producing the highly dangerous MOX fuel, a mixture of uranium and
 
plutonium.
 
 
 
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3.  Siemens to quit the atomic business
 
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In the middle of September, the German company Siemens announced
 
their phase-out of the atomic business. Siemens was the constructor
 
of all German commercial nuclear reactors and was involved in
 
building atomic facilities worldwide. In 2009 they decided to leave
 
an atomic joint venture with the French nuclear giant Areva in favor
 
of starting a new cooperation with the Russian atomic company Rosatom.
 
This attempt was breaking a contract with Areva leading to a judge's
 
decision forbidding Siemens challenging the former French partner on
 
the nuclear field until 2013. Thus, Siemens' decision to skip the
 
atomic business is actually just accepting the reality. Although they
 
say they would not approaching anymore to construct nuclear power
 
plants anymore, Siemens will probably continue producing relevant
 
pieces of these facilities.
 
 
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4.  Corruption: A new Russian Fukushima in the making?
 
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Corruption in the Russian State Nuclear Corporation Rosatom may cause
 
new nuclear accidents in Russia, experts say. The ecological group
 
Ecodefense! believes the risks are high enough to result in another
 
Fukushima, while the National Anti-Corruption Committee (NAC) has
 
urged Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Prosecutor General Yury Chaika
 
to initiate investigations into the broadly reported violations and
 
abuses in the nuclear industry, including at new nuclear power plant
 
(NPP) construction sites.
 
 
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2011/corruption_rosatom
 
 
 
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5.  French Nuclear Authority points to "weaknesses" of the EPR
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The construction of the EPR nuclear reactor being built in
 
Flamanville, has many "weaknesses" that put the "final quality" into
 
doubt. This is the conclusion drawn after a thorough  inspection
 
conducted on site in May by the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN). The
 
report of this "inspection review", highlighted by Le Canard Enchaine
 
on August 24, is posted on the site of the ASN. It is a 20 page
 
letter sent by the ASN on June  24 to EDF, the prime contractor for
 
the 1600 megawatt reactor designed by Areva. The inspection has was
 
carried out by fifteen experts, including an observer from the
 
British regulator. The team found deviations from the construction
 
requirements on essential parts of the reactor: the feed of the steam
 
generators, water injection filters, the RIS batteries of the cooling
 
system. "EDF has to make great efforts to show the final quality of
 
the construction of Flamanville 3", judges the ASN, which points out:
 
"inconsistencies between the requirements specified in
 
sub-contracting and the demands mentioned in the preliminary safety
 
report" - that is to say a non-compliance with initial prescriptions.
 
Concerning an essential feature of the steam generators, experts
 
estimate that "the quality of materials taking into account their
 
importance for safety has not been demonstrated and their use in FLA3
 
is not possible". In two cases, they demand from EDF to "not engage
 
in actions that are difficult to reverse before demonstrating"
 
compliance.     
 
 
source: le Monde, 24 August 2011
 
 
 
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6.  Gorleben: Radiation measurements forged - legal limits exceeded
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
The radiation measurements at the Gorleben interim repository for
 
high level radioactive waste have been forged for many years, a study
 
of a local citizen's initiative found out. The Lower Saxony Ministry
 
of Environment had alarmed the public after detecting the radiation
 
levels. An expert group of the local initiative analysed the data of
 
the measurements of different institutions. They concludede that the
 
operator and the pro-nuclear experts had falsely calculated the
 
radiation limits subtracting a wrong value for the so-called "natural
 
background radiation".
 
 
Instead of using the values of the point of time before atomic waste
 
was brought to Gorleben, the operator used the much higher radiation
 
levels measured when there were already dozens of high level
 
radioactive Castor containers in the repository. Using the real
 
values of the originally detected background radiation shows that the
 
legal radiation limits were exceeded since many years. The initiative
 
now submitted a complaint against the operator to the Prosecutor.
 
 
http://www.bi-luechow-dannenberg.de/chronologisch/aktuell/grenzwertu%CC%88berschreitungen-am-zwischenlager-gorleben
 
 
 
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7.  E.on decided to construct new reactor in Pyhäjoki
 
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The German atomic power giant e.on is the main stakeholder of the
 
company Fennovoima in Finland. E.on founded this company after they
 
failed with their attempt to build a new NPP close to the Loviisa
 
atomic power station. Using the label "Fennovoima" (Scandinavian
 
power) they applied for a license to construct a reactor in northern
 
Finland. In July 2010 the Finnish parliament voted in a "decision in
 
principle" for 2-3 new reactors including the Fennovoima plant. On
 
October 5, 2011 the company announced their site selection for
 
Pyhäjoki, a municipalty on the coast of the Bothnian Bay in northern
 
Finland. It would be the sixth atomic reactor in Finland after
 
Loviisa 1 and 2 and Olkiluoto 1-3.
 
 
 
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8.  Week of actions in Russia
 
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In Russia a week of actions passed against the expensive and dangerous
 
nuclear power plants - for energy efficiency. It was organized by
 
representatives of the anti-nuclear organizations and movements from
 
different parts of the country, who are strongly opposing the funding of
 
the building of the extremely expensive new nuclear power plants by the
 
taxpayers.
 
 
From 21 to 25 November various actions were carried out by activists in
 
Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Murmansk, Murom, Yekaterinburg,
 
Balakovo, Kaliningrad, etc. Within one week of common actions
 
environmentalists organized pickets and rallies, work with the deputies in
 
the regions, round tables and so on.
 
 
More information - http://anti-atom.ru
 
 
 
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9.  Thousands made the 13th Castor transport the longest in history
 
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Originally supposed to start November 24th in Valognes, France, the
 
13th Castor transport to Gorleben in Lower Saxony, Germany, had been
 
pushed up by one day as hundreds of anti-nuclear activists were going
 
to gather near the French loading station. However, hundreds of
 
people were blockading the shipment already in Valognes when it was
 
supposed to start, and actions followed on the route through France
 
and Germany.
 
 
In the Wendland region around Gorleben, up to 25,500 people protested
 
the atomic transport and the German nuclear policy not willing to
 
accept the continuation of operation of nine atomic reactors. Up to
 
5,000 blockaded the tracks by Harlingen, some 1,800 blockaded the
 
road by Gorleben, and several thousands joined actions along the
 
railway and road routes. Almost 30 protest camps and info points had
 
been created, about 150 events spread the word about the atomic
 
shipment and prepared for actions in Germany and France. A concrete
 
pyramid closed the railway route and could not be removed by police
 
themselves. A number of additional lock-on actions took place between
 
Lüneburg and Gorleben delaying the shipment to a total transport time
 
of almost 126 hours - it never took this much time.
 
 
http://castor2011.nuclear-heritage.net
 
 
 
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10. I-131 spread over Europe
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
News about iodine-131 (I-131) detection in many European countries shocked
 
the public for several days in November. Eventually, the IAEA stated that
 
the source of the I-131 detected in Europe most probably was released from
 
the Institute of Isotopes Ltd., Budapest, that produces radioisotopes.
 
According to the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, the release occurred
 
from September 8 to November 16, 2011. The cause of the release is under
 
investigation.
 
 
 
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11. Radwaste storage at Russian NPPs
 
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ANALYSIS: Mountain of waste: New temporary radwaste storage site at
 
Russia’s Novovoronezh NPP threatens to multiply, grow into long-term
 
problem across country.
 
 
The facility proposed for construction at Novovoronezh NPP is a
 
warehouse where 200-litre barrels holding radioactive waste are to be
 
stacked in tiers, ten tiers in all. The apocalyptic picture painted by
 
ecologists – dozens of thousands of barrels with deadly wastes inside,
 
an unwieldy menace left for future generations to inherit – now seems
 
more real than some would like to believe.
 
 
Read more:
 
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2011/novovoronezh_waste
 
 
 
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12. Olkiluoto protest camp and blockade 2012
 
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For the first time a protest and blockade camp will take place in
 
Finland to challenge the nuclear industry in Finland and globally
 
with direct actions against their EPR model project "Olkiluoto-3".
 
The camp is supposed to start August 6, and aims to prepare the
 
actions as well as to network for strengthening the anti-nuclear
 
struggle in Finland. On August 11, the Olkiluoto Blockade takes place
 
for the third time, while the camp will end on August 13.
 
 
You can order flyers to promote the protest camp an actions in
 
several languages. Spread the word using the text provided on our
 
website!
 
 
http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Olkiluoto_Blockade_2012
 
 
 
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13. New Castor transport to Ahaus expected
 
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Several shipments of a total amount of 152 Castor casks are supposed
 
to start in early 2012 from the former Very High Temperature Reactor
 
(VHTR) AVR Jülich to the interim repository Ahaus (D). 288,161
 
spherical fuel elements, called pebbles, will be brought to the
 
storage site in Nordrhein-Westfalen. The resistance in Ahaus was
 
never as big as in the Gorleben area, but since a couple of years it
 
is growing.
 
 
German anti-nuclear groups are calling out for protests and
 
blockades. A first start-up rally will take place on December 18th in
 
Ahaus.
 
 
http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Nuclear_Waste_Transport_to_Ahaus
 
 
 
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14. International Network Gathering in Kuusamo
 
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The next chance for campaigning, discussing strategies, preparing
 
projects and networking will take place in Kuusamo, Finland, from
 
January 11-15, 2012. An additional focus will be on the struggles
 
against uranium mining in Finland and other countries as the local
 
organizers are working hard on this field. You are invited to join
 
this next Network Gathering of the Nuclear Heritage Network.
 
 
And we would be happy to invite campaigners or activists dealing with
 
uranium issues to contribute to this section of the conference.
 
 
http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/International_Anti-nuclear_Network_Meeting_in_Kuusamo
 
 
 
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15. EDF fined £1.3M for spying on Greenpeace
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Électricité de France was convicted in a court at Nanterre on
 
November 11th on charges of spying on Greenpeace France.  The company
 
was fined 1.5M Euros and two of its executives were given gaol
 
sentences.  Its head of nuclear safety, Pascal Durieux, was sentenced
 
to three years' gaol, with 2 years suspended,  and a 10,000 Euro fine
 
for commissioning the spying operation.  His second-in-command,
 
Pierre-Paul François, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment with
 
30 months suspended.  The company has also been ordered to pay
 
500,000 Euros in damages to Greenpeace France.  The head of Kargus
 
Consultants, a company that EDF hired to hack into Greenpeace
 
computers was gaoled for three years, two suspended, and a 4,000 Euro
 
fine.
 
 
The company was charged with complicity in concealing stolen
 
documents and hacking into a computer network.
 
 
 
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16. Hinkley out ahead
 
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On 11th November, the new "Infrastructure Planning Commission" that
 
has been given the job of "commissioning" (examining and approving or
 
not) major infrastructure projects in the UK (replacing the old
 
system of holding public enquiries) issued a list of such projects
 
for which commissioning had been applied for and of others for which
 
such an application was "anticipated".  For the latter list an
 
anticipated date of application was also given.
 
 
Hinkley C was the only newbuild nuclear power station which appears
 
in the list of projects for which commissioning had already been
 
applied - it was listed as having applied in October 2011. Three
 
other newbuild nuclear power stations were on the list as ones for
 
which such an application was anticipated. The anticipated dates for
 
all these are some way in the future: Wylfa B's date is the second
 
half of 2013, Oldbury's the 2nd quarter of 2014, and for Sizewell C
 
no date is specified.
 
 
 
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17. Upcoming events
 
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(just an extract, tell us your events for the next newsletter)
 
 
14/08/11-13/08/12: Gorleben 365 blockade campaign (D)
 
06/12/11-08/12/11: Nuclear Waste and Pollution Conference in Vilnius
 
                    (LT)
 
Early 2012:        Protests against the CASTOR transports from Jülich
 
                    to Ahaus (D)
 
11/01/12-15/01/12: International Anti-nuclear Network Gathering in
 
                    Kuusamo (FIN)
 
14/01/12-15/01/12: Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World
 
                    in Yokohama (JP)
 
04/02/12:          International Uranium Conference in Münster (D)
 
11/03/12:          Global Fukushima Action Day
 
30/03/12-01/04/12: Spring conference of the German anti-nuclear
 
                    movement in Frankfurt/Main (D)
 
26/04/12:          Commemoration of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
 
May/June 2012:    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 Network Gathering in
 
                    Döbeln (D)
 
06/08/12-13/08/12: Olkiluoto protest camp and blockade (FIN)
 
 
 
http://www.gorleben365.de/
 
http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Nuclear_Waste_and_Pollution_Conference_in_Vilnius_2011
 
http://www.kein-castor-nach-ahaus.de/
 
http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/International_Anti-nuclear_Network_Meeting_in_Kuusamo
 
http://www.nonuclear.se/en/kalender/NuclearFreeWorld_Yokohama20120114-15
 
http://www.nonuclear.se/en/kalender/2nd_Intl_Uranium_Film_Festival_2012
 
http://footprints.footprintsforpeace.net/nffcampaign/NFF2011.htm
 
http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/International_Anti-nuclear_Network_Meeting_in_Mannsdorf
 
http://olkiluotoblockade2011.wordpress.com/
 
 
 
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18. About NukeNews
 
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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@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 4th issue of the
 
NukeNews will be 19th of February, 2012.
 
 
Spread the word and learn more about the NukeNews:
 
http://NukeNews.Nuclear-Heritage.NET
 
 
 
[[Category: NukeNews]]
 
[[Category: Materials]]
 
[[Category: Events]]
 
[[Category: Action]]
 
[[Category: France]]
 
[[Category: Russia]]
 
[[Category: Finland]]
 
[[Category: Germany]]
 
[[Category: Russia]]
 
[[Category: Castor]]
 
[[Category: Olkiluoto]]
 
[[Category: Nuclear Waste]]
 

Revision as of 14:03, 7 December 2011


NukeNews: Czech | English | Finnish | French | German | Polish | Russian | Slovenian


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*      NukeNews #3 - Anti-Nuclear Information Service      *
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0. Preface
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This issue of the NukeNews is one week delayed. The reason is the
successful protest activities against the high level radioactive
waste "Castor" transport from La Hague (F) to Gorleben (D) several of
our editors participated in. This seems to be a good reason not to be
on time with this newsletter.

Besides this huge and creative anti-nuclear resistance happening,
many other amazing developments in the atomic sector took place: in
several countries the authorities or companies decided in respect to
the Fukushima disaster to postpone or stop their nuclear programmes
while some countries like Switzerland made decisions for a long-term
nuclear phase-out. Unfortunately at the same time the governments in
Poland and the Czech Republic pushed their atomic developments
forwards aiming to build up a complex nuclear infrastructure in their
countries.

The Japanese anti-nuclear movement is continuing their protests, and
the idea of a phase-out in this country dependent on the atomic
threat spreads. However, despite the Fukushima catastrophe the
coun