Strong resistance to new French nuke
A new atomic power station being built in Flamanville, northwest France (more or less straight opposite the Channel island Guernsey)is meeting strong resistance on a broad front. Tens of thousands have been taking to the streets and power pylons have been occupied.
But it’s no use. The government is determined to have this reactor built in Lower Normandy on the Cotentin Peninsula at a site that already holds two pressurized water reactors that have been operating since 1986 and 1987. Construction work started on 4 December and is to continue for 54 months, with commissioning planned for 2012.
Many activists are calling for resistance with imaginative, direct actions.
A successful action in April 2007 that attracted much support, solidarity and very good media coverage was the occupation of high-voltage power line occupations (see pictures at
http://de.indymedia.org/2007/12/203503.shtml) opposite the two nukes.
But it is having legal consequences. The four male and female occupiers will face court.
The pylon occupation, immediately after approval was given for the new type of European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), was to show the determination and creativity of the French anti-atomic movement.
An occupation of the building site appears too difficult an undertaking because the grounds are fenced and guarded. But resistance against construction of a high-voltage power line needed to move the electricity produced by the EPR looks quite promising. It offers room for a lot of action.
The French government and the RTE, the enterprise responsible for the power grid, were quick to grasp that. They responded fast.
RTE has filed charges against the four occupiers. In November and this month they had to testify to an examining judge in Cherbourg.
The accusation of endangering human lives was not confirmed: the occupiers did not endanger RTE employees by their action. The RTE workers ascended the neighbouring pylon to make a connection to earth after switching off the high voltage line. This is part of their everyday work and represents no endangerment through the activists. Moreover, one of the climbers was a former French women’s sport climbing champion. The climbers were professionals.
But the activists left the office of the judge charged with disturbing the operation of public facilities. The judge will pass his investigation findings to the state prosecutors. A criminal court (Tribunal Correctionnel) will hear the case in the coming months.
The accused are laid back about it. It will be a political trial and yet another megaphone loudhailer for the struggle against the new nuclear power station. In nuclearised France atomic power is hardly ever discussed. It’s either a military secret or taboo.
Someone writing under the pseudonym “Besetzer” (Occupier) at http://de.indymedia.org/2007/12/203503.shtml reports that there was a second, three-day occupation in June, near Fougères (about 70 km as the crow flies southeast of the Channel tourist resort Saint Malo). The activists had to come down because RTE had a bailiff serve them with a restraining order. Had they stayed up, they’d have had to pay 15,000 euros per day penalty. It’s thought the complaint filed against them and the resultant charge are meant as a deterrent.
France doesn’t need a new reactor because already the power produced by 12 nuclear power stations is exported abroad.
That fact alone shows the international dimension of the issue. One of the importers is neighbouring Germany, although the waste stays in France.
The EPR is a Franco-German project, a third of which belongs to the Siemens mega-corporation. The other two thirds are owned by the multi-nuclear French government-owned Areva NP.
Areva NP touts the new reactor type as “more efficient” and “safer”. The advertising of the state-owned electricity corporation EDF calls it a “third generation” reactor, but it is by and large a classic pressurised water reactor. It is claimed to produce 15% less waste, but the waste disposal problem remains unsolved anyway.
Whether it is safer is questionable. A study by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) has shown that because of its enormous capacity a nuclear meltdown cannot be ruled out for an EPR.
But careful! Information concerning safety is subject to military secrecy. The location was chosen purely by political criteria. There are the two reactors already working in Flamanville. The EDF already owns the land. The site is just 15 kilometres from the plutonium factory at La Hague and Cherbourg with its military port (nuclear submarines, 2,500 jobs) is about 30 km to the northeast.
The local parliament, where Social Democrats and Greens have a majority, favours the new nuke.
The national government in Paris gave final approval in mid-April. In the middle of the election campaign the decision surprised no one. The entire approval process was nothing but a democratic farce. No one believed this pseudo-democracy, in which under the pretext of military secrecy all criticism was censored.
Resistance against the EPR is visible and broad. The alliance Stop-EPR has run many successful demonstrations. In 2006 30,000 took part in Cherbourg, whose main livelihood is nuclear power. On 13 March this year 60,000 took to the streets in five cities. The anti-nuclear activists deliberately shunned the so-called “public debate” because their input was censored due to military secrecy.
In France it is not allowed to prove that the reactor would not withstand an aircraft crash! For this reason a Paris anti-terrorism judge is investigating the spokesman of the anti-nuclear movement, Sortir du nucléaire.
But taking to the streets is not enough, especially not in France, where demonstrations by thousands of people are practically the everyday norm. Only continuous demonstrations with direct actions have a chance of success.
The two-day occupation of the pylon at Flamanville caused quite some excitement. It took place a week before the presidential election and got a lot of attention in various media. Presidentyial candidates commented on the action, a famous farmer called for the pylons to be knocked down once they’re built – there was even live coverage of the occupation.
But TF1 (Channel 1 TV in France) refused to report on it. The main shareholder of TF1 is Bouygues, the firm building the concrete foundations of the reactor.
These were the kinds of successes the sortir du nucléaire activists had hoped for. A bonus was that the high-voltage line was out of action for nearly two days, so that the output of the two reactors had to be reduced.
The struggle will certainly continue. Multi-faceted resistance is more necessary than ever, especially with view to the policy of the new government. It will be determined to implement its atomic plans no matter what.
But it is not too late. The resistance will focus mainly on the construction of the high-voltage line. Resistance needs hands-on!
The French anti-nuclear group: http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/
The way EDF, the state-owned power company sees it:
http://www.edf.fr/122321i/Accueil-fr/EDF-and-power-generation/nuclear-power/the-future-of-nuclear-power/EPR-Y-Flamanville-3/the-Flamanville-3-project.html
The German source for this posting: http://de.indymedia.org/2007/12/203503.shtml
Many activists are calling for resistance with imaginative, direct actions.
A successful action in April 2007 that attracted much support, solidarity and very good media coverage was the occupation of high-voltage power line occupations (see pictures at
http://de.indymedia.org/2007/12/203503.shtml) opposite the two nukes. But it is having legal consequences. The four male and female occupiers will face court.
The pylon occupation, immediately after approval was given for the new type of European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), was to show the determination and creativity of the French anti-atomic movement.
An occupation of the building site appears too difficult an undertaking because the grounds are fenced and guarded. But resistance against construction of a high-voltage power line needed to move the electricity produced by the EPR looks quite promising. It offers room for a lot of action.
The French government and the RTE, the enterprise responsible for the power grid, were quick to grasp that. They responded fast.
RTE has filed charges against the four occupiers. In November and this month they had to testify to an examining judge in Cherbourg.
The accusation of endangering human lives was not confirmed: the occupiers did not endanger RTE employees by their action. The RTE workers ascended the neighbouring pylon to make a connection to earth after switching off the high voltage line. This is part of their everyday work and represents no endangerment through the activists. Moreover, one of the climbers was a former French women’s sport climbing champion. The climbers were professionals.
But the activists left the office of the judge charged with disturbing the operation of public facilities. The judge will pass his investigation findings to the state prosecutors. A criminal court (Tribunal Correctionnel) will hear the case in the coming months.
The accused are laid back about it. It will be a political trial and yet another megaphone loudhailer for the struggle against the new nuclear power station. In nuclearised France atomic power is hardly ever discussed. It’s either a military secret or taboo.
Someone writing under the pseudonym “Besetzer” (Occupier) at
http://de.indymedia.org/2007/12/203503.shtml reports that there was a second, three-day occupation in June, near Fougères (about 70 km as the crow flies southeast of the Channel tourist resort Saint Malo). The activists had to come down because RTE had a bailiff serve them with a restraining order. Had they stayed up, they’d have had to pay 15,000 euros per day penalty. It’s thought the complaint filed against them and the resultant charge are meant as a deterrent. France doesn’t need a new reactor because already the power produced by 12 nuclear power stations is exported abroad.
That fact alone shows the international dimension of the issue. One of the importers is neighbouring Germany, although the waste stays in France.
The EPR is a Franco-German project, a third of which belongs to the Siemens mega-corporation. The other two thirds are owned by the multi-nuclear French government-owned Areva NP.
Areva NP touts the new reactor type as “more efficient” and “safer”. The advertising of the state-owned electricity corporation EDF calls it a “third generation” reactor, but it is by and large a classic pressurised water reactor. It is claimed to produce 15% less waste, but the waste disposal problem remains unsolved anyway.
Whether it is safer is questionable. A study by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) has shown that because of its enormous capacity a nuclear meltdown cannot be ruled out for an EPR.
But careful! Information concerning safety is subject to military secrecy. The location was chosen purely by political criteria. There are the two reactors already working in Flamanville. The EDF already owns the land. The site is just 15 kilometres from the plutonium factory at La Hague and Cherbourg with its military port (nuclear submarines, 2,500 jobs) is about 30 km to the northeast.
The local parliament, where Social Democrats and Greens have a majority, favours the new nuke.
The national government in Paris gave final approval in mid-April. In the middle of the election campaign the decision surprised no one. The entire approval process was nothing but a democratic farce. No one believed this pseudo-democracy, in which under the pretext of military secrecy all criticism was censored.
Resistance against the EPR is visible and broad. The alliance Stop-EPR has run many successful demonstrations. In 2006 30,000 took part in Cherbourg, whose main livelihood is nuclear power. On 13 March this year 60,000 took to the streets in five cities. The anti-nuclear activists deliberately shunned the so-called “public debate” because their input was censored due to military secrecy.
In France it is not allowed to prove that the reactor would not withstand an aircraft crash! For this reason a Paris anti-terrorism judge is investigating the spokesman of the anti-nuclear movement, Sortir du nucléaire.
But taking to the streets is not enough, especially not in France, where demonstrations by thousands of people are practically the everyday norm. Only continuous demonstrations with direct actions have a chance of success.
The two-day occupation of the pylon at Flamanville caused quite some excitement. It took place a week before the presidential election and got a lot of attention in various media. Presidentyial candidates commented on the action, a famous farmer called for the pylons to be knocked down once they’re built – there was even live coverage of the occupation.
But TF1 (Channel 1 TV in France) refused to report on it. The main shareholder of TF1 is Bouygues, the firm building the concrete foundations of the reactor.
These were the kinds of successes the sortir du nucléaire activists had hoped for. A bonus was that the high-voltage line was out of action for nearly two days, so that the output of the two reactors had to be reduced.
The struggle will certainly continue. Multi-faceted resistance is more necessary than ever, especially with view to the policy of the new government. It will be determined to implement its atomic plans no matter what.
But it is not too late. The resistance will focus mainly on the construction of the high-voltage line. Resistance needs hands-on!
The French anti-nuclear group:
http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/ The way EDF, the state-owned power company sees it:
http://www.edf.fr/122321i/Accueil-fr/EDF-and-power-generation/nuclear-power/the-future-of-nuclear-power/EPR-Y-Flamanville-3/the-Flamanville-3-project.html The German source for this posting:
http://de.indymedia.org/2007/12/203503.shtml
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Ergänzungen
Cattenom:Frankreich erwägt Studie zu Leukämie
Zunächst solle eine Bestandsaufnahme gemacht werden. Dabei gehe es darum, Erkenntnisse über das Risiko einer Leukämieerkrankung von Kindern in der Nähe von Atomkraftwerken zu gewinnen.
Das Institut für Volksgesundheit und das Strahlenschutzamt sollen außerdem eine Stellungnahme zur deutschen Studie abgeben. Die ASN hat auch eine europaweite Erhebung vorgeschlagen.