Antinuke protests everywhere

Source : NHK 

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20130310_08.html

Anti-nuclear power protests staged in Europe 

People opposed to nuclear energy are staging demonstrations in Europe ahead of March 11th, the 2nd anniversary of the nuclear accident in Japan.

In Germany, protesters rallied at 4 locations on Saturday. They demanded an immediate halt to the country's 9 nuclear reactors that are still operational. The government plans to close all nuclear plants by 2022.

Organizers say a total of 28,000 people took part in the demonstrations.

In the northern city of Hildesheim, protesters formed a human chain and demanded a halt to the operation of a nuclear plant near the city.

A letter sent from a group of Japanese mothers living in Fukushima was read to demonstrators attending a rally.
The mothers expressed concern about their children and the possible health effects from the nuclear accident.

Participants shouted anti-nuclear slogans in Japanese.

One participant said that the accident in Fukushima was a warning to Germany. He said that nuclear power puts future generations at constant risk.

Anti-nuclear demonstrations are planned in Berlin and elsewhere on Monday.

In Paris, about 20,000 demonstrators formed a human chain.

The event was jointly organized by 26 anti-nuclear groups in France.

Participants gathered at 18 locations in the city and began to march hand in hand at the same time.

Near an office of the French nuclear energy giant Areva, protesters shouted anti-nuclear slogans such as "no more nuclear plants" and "no more Fukushimas".

France has 58 nuclear reactors which generate nearly 80 percent of the country's electricity.

President Francois Hollande says the government will decrease the rate to 50 percent by 2025.

A recent poll suggests that French people supporting nuclear power outnumber opponents by a large margin.

Mar. 10, 2013 - Updated 00:03 UTC (09:03 JST)

Source :

http://nuclear-news.net/2013/03/09/video-200000-protest-nuclear-power-taiwan/

200,000 protest nuclear power – Taiwan

http://enenews.com/video-200000-protest-nuclear-power

Published: March 9th, 2013 at 11:33 am ET
By ENENews

CNA ENGLISH NEWS, March 9, 2013: 200,000 take part in Taiwan’s anti-nuclear protest [...] In what organizers called the largest anti-nuclear protest in Taiwan, an estimated 200,000 people took to the streets in several parts of the island on Saturday to call for the scrapping of nuclear power plants. The protest was held simultaneously in northern, central, southern and eastern Taiwan just two days before the second anniversary of the meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in the wake of the big earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. [...] Later Saturday, a spokeswoman for the Presidential Office said President Ma Ying-jeou was willing to have dialogues with anti-nuclear groups and listen to their suggestions on how Taiwan can find alternatives for nuclear power. [...]

The China Post, March 10, 2013: [...] Over 100 civic groups joined the nationwide event, including the I am Human group and Victims of Nuclear Power, from Northern Taiwan. Despite the unseasonably hot and humid weather, people flooded into the street in front of the Presidential Office, with some even decked out in heavy costumes. Police estimates put attendance in Taipei at over 50,000, with some 8,000 each in Taichung and Kaohsiung. The event’s main organizers, however, estimated that 120,000 protesters turned out in Taipei and 200,000 nationwide. [...]

 Source : Deutsche Welle

http://www.dw.de/thousands-protest-in-japan-on-eve-of-fukushima-nuclear-disaster-anniversary/a-16661934

Thousands protest in Japan on eve of Fukushima nuclear disaster anniversary

Thousands of anti-nuclear protesters have gathered across Japan. The rallies come on the eve of the two-year anniversary of an earthquake and tsunami that caused the Fukushima disaster.

Tens of thousands of people converged on central Tokyo's Hibiya Park Sunday in opposition to nuclear power. Activists and scholars gave talks and musicians performed before sign-carrying crowds that marched through the government district of Kasumigaseki to parliament.

"I think it is adults' responsibility to achieve zero nuclear power, before we die," said one of the banners held by protesters.

Anti-nuclear protests held across Japan

"Sayonara, nuclear power," read another sign.

Other similar events were held around the country and local media are reporting that as many as 150 anti-nuclear events are planned for the weekend and on Monday.

Worst nuclear disaster in a generation

On March 11, 2011 an earthquake and tsunami killed more than 15,000 people in Japan, with several thousand still unaccounted for. The incident caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which severely contaminated the vast farming region and forced more than 160,000 people to leave their homes.

It was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, and sparked widespread anti-nuclear sentiment. A recent poll found that around 70 percent of Japanese want to eventually phase out atomic energy all together.

Since the disaster, Japan has turned off all 50 of its nuclear reactors, but restarted two of them citing possible summertime power shortages.

The country's nuclear future could be set to change, however, after the December election of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who - along with his Liberal Democratic Party - has long been supportive of atomic energy. Abe has said he wants to restart offline reactors if they meet new safety standards.

dr/slk (AFP, Reuters)