Mass protests against nuclear power expected

Environmental groups, nature groups and anti-nuclear groups plan mass protests against the use of nuclear power

14/03/2011

Environmental organizations, anti-nuclear initiatives and other associations call for numerous protests against the continued operation of nuclear power plants in Germany. Over the next few days and weeks there will be "a change of regional and national demonstrations and actions," as the anti-globalization group Attac reports.

Already on Monday, protests were announced at 400 cities and towns. Thousands of participants are expected to attend the protests. On Saturday, March 26, there will be large demonstrations in three to five major cities in all parts of the Republic, including Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne. For Saturday, April 9, another decentralized action day is planned. And finally, on Easter Monday, April 25, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, there will be mass demonstrations at 13 nuclear power plants and nuclear waste sites. In between there will probably be many more local and regional protests.

In view of the nuclear disaster in Japan, the anti-globalization network Attac and the environmental organization Urgewald have sharply criticized the role of banks in financing insecure nuclear power plants. "Where big profits wave, information about massive security issues and incidents does not matter," said Jutta Sundermann of the Attac Coordination Circle. "Banks are putting millions of lives at risk in pursuit of the highest return possible." According to Attac, Deutsche Bank and WestLB issued bonds amounting to twice around EUR 30 million to Tepco, the operator of the Japanese disaster reactor; ING DiBa bought Tepco bonds for around 15 million euros. "The banks were not interested in either the well-known cover-up of defects and incidents by Tepco, nor the already obvious years ago consequences of smaller earthquakes in the Japanese nuclear power plant," said Heffa Schücking of Urgewald.

For the protest actions, an alliance of "broadcast - Together against nuclear energy", BUND, Campact, "ContrAtom", "Nature Friends Germany", "Robin Wood", "AG Schacht Konrad" and Attac Germany formed. Together they wanted to plan and carry out the protests. A spokesman for the Alliance said: "It is not enough to suspend the term extensions until after the state elections." We call for the permanent decommissioning of the nuclear power plants.The weaknesses are well known to the authorities.There is nothing to be tested, but shut down .We call the population to take to the streets now and to make sure that the federal government can no longer lavieren, but finally said goodbye to the adventure of nuclear power.

Due to the upcoming state elections, unconfirmed information is currently being discussed in the Federal Chancellery in order to "suspend" the planned extension of nuclear power plants. At the weekend, Chancellor Merkel had announced that all nuclear facilities in Germany again to check for safety deficiencies. According to the "current state of knowledge", however, all investments are secure, according to the Chancellor in an ARD interview. While the SPD and the Greens argue that the term extension should be reversed, the federal executive of the left declared that the federal government should arrange for the immediate shutdown of all nuclear power plants. (Sb)

Also read:
Doctors demand shutdown of all nuclear power plants
Radioactive Radiation: Health Effects
Nationwide actions planned for the nuclear phase-out

Image: Michael Grabscheit