Kazaguruma-Demo for the 12th Anniversary of FUKUSHIMA: No more radiating danger – neither from nuclear power plants nor from nuclear bombs
Start at 12pm on Saturday, 11th March 2023
Meeting point: Brandenburger Tor (Parizer Platz), Berlin
Who would have thought that the German nuclear phase-out would be postponed shortly before the complete shutdown of the remaining reactors, of all things by the government in which the Greens are involved! Suddenly, the mood is being created everywhere as if the continued operation of nuclear power plants were the solution to the energy crisis. Yet nuclear power France in particular – where more than half of the nuclear power plants recently shut down – clearly shows that nuclear energy cannot be relied upon. Strangely enough, the debate tends to forget the safety risks posed by nuclear power plants and why the decision was made to phase out nuclear power in Germany after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
All three German nuclear power plants are to be now running in stretch-out operation mode until mid-April 2023. While proponents claim that nuclear energy would make them energy-independent, they like to ignore the fact that EU states process uranium from Russia for the fuel rods. The nuclear lobby has managed to get the nuclear sector spared from EU sanctions.
The Russian attack on Ukraine has made it abundantly clear that the nuclear threat was always highly topical. Many people who previously professed disarmament suddenly emphasize the importance of nuclear sharing, of deterrence.
The Ukraine war also made it clear: nuclear power plants become targets in wars. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhya, was repeatedly under attack and is often powered by emergency diesel generators. Should the power supply be interrupted, there is a risk of a new accident like in Fukushima.
Chain reactions and radioactive rays know no boundaries between friends and foes. They also make no difference whether the same technology is used for military or civilian purposes. The only safe and climate-just solution is to develop green energy as quickly and consistently as possible throughout the world.
Therefore, we demand together:
– No further nuclear power plant lifetime extensions in Germany
– a worldwide phase-out of irresponsible nuclear energy
– immediate decommissioning of the nuclear plants in Lingen and Gronau
– no classification of nuclear energy as sustainable energy production/deletion of nuclear from the EU taxonomy
– Cancel EURATOM treaty
– No discharge of radioactive water into the sea, whether in Fukushima or elsewhere!
Kazaguruma Demo 2022 – The 11th anniversary of FUKUSHIMA
-Nuclear power will NOT save our climate!
Start at 12pm on Saturday, 5th March 2022
Meeting point: Brandenburger Tor (Parizer Platz), Berlin
We are very concerned. Despite the recent decision to replace nuclear and coal-fired energy with renewable energy, more than a few member states of the EU are claiming that nuclear power serves as a measure against climate change.
Over 10 EU governments have announced that they will expand their nuclear energy. The new Japanese government has also announced its intention to promote the development and construction of small nuclear power plants (SMR). These are unacceptable developments.
We cannot turn a blind eye to the daily radioactive contamination caused by the normal operation of nuclear power plants. The problem of the final disposal of vast amounts of radioactive waste also remains. This is still an unsolved problem, not only in Germany but anywhere in the world. Such claims that nuclear power does not harm the environment must not be accepted. A single accident at a nuclear power plant causes irreparable, unimaginable damage to the environment, animals, and people. We should have learned that from Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Last April, 10 years after the accident of Fukushima Daiichi, the Japanese government approved a plan to discharge radioactively contaminated water stored since the accident into the Pacific Ocean. This water, which the operating company Tepco claims to have purified of all radioactive elements still contains primarily tritium and contaminates the environment. The water has not yet been discharged due to strong opposition from residents and fishermen, as well as the international community.
We demand the end to nuclear energy. We want to build a nuclear-free future: Nuclear power will NOT save our climate.
Together we demand:
・Global end to irresponsible nuclear energy
・Immediate shutdown of nuclear facilities at Lingen and Gronau
・No classification of nuclear power as sustainable energy production
・Cancelation of the EURATOM treaty
・No discharge of radioactive water into the ocean
Kazaguruma Demo
- 10th Anniversary of FUKUSHIMA Start at 12pm on Saturday, 6th March 2021 Meeting point: Brandenburger Tor (Parizer Platz), Berlin
10 years after Fukushima, but nothing has changed. We need no more nuclear power!
11th March 2021 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. No matter how hard the Japanese Government and IAEA try to patch up and underestimate the worst disaster, the facts tell us the real story: The affected homeland will never be the same again. Hundreds of thousands of people are still unable to return to their homes. The damaged nuclear power plant continues to diffuse radiation throughout the environment. The Japanese Government is even thinking about dumping the radioactive water into the ocean as the Fukushima nuclear power plant is, apparently, running out of space for storage.
The situation is far from being “under control”. Fukushima still faces great of danger. However, apart from the reality, pro-nuclear lobbyists promote this dangerous dark nuclear business advocating that climate neutrality cannot be reached without nuclear energy. Quite a number of countries still rely on nuclear power generation. In some countries, there are even plans to build more new nuclear power plants or to extend the lifetime of aged nuclear power plants.
This is ridiculously wrong. We must stand up and fix it! Not only that, nuclear power is never an option to solve climate change, but also is the catastrophic threat to humanity. It’s been 10 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster but our further efforts are required to push the clean energy revolution forward. Our economy should be free from the power by nuclear and fossil fuels and shift to 100% renewable energy. We will not let the nuclear waste be produced any longer!
Nuclear power is a false solution to climate change!
Far from climate neutrality: Nuclear energy is like an endless chain – uranium mining, generating electricity, reprocessing spent nuclear fuels and final disposal. When you look at the whole process, nuclear energy is a large emitter of CO2.
Contamination threat: Nuclear industries leave hazardous radioactive waste behind almost permanently and they will continue to be the great threat to humanity and to the environment.
Too dangerous: Nuclear energy always goes hand in hand with risk of serious accidents as we witnessed in Fukushima. Long term impacts to humans and to the environment are unavoidable once an accident has occurred. Nuclear technology also increases the ability of nations to manufacture nuclear weapons.
Madly expensive: Nuclear energy is eventually the most expensive way to generate electricity. It cannot survive without pouring governmental funds.
We are therefore calling for:
Operations of all nuclear power plants in the world should be stopped, especially in Germany, Gronau uranium enrichment plant and Lingen nuclear fuel plant.
EURATOM and other institutions that promote nuclear technology should be dissolved.
Sufficient subsidies should be allocated to the research efforts for renewable energy and radioactive waste management made by the independent civil society organizations.
Germany and Japan should sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Tepco and the Japanese government have been considering dumping of contaminated water into the ocean for quite some time, under the pretext that there will soon be no more place capacity for new tanks at the site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The Japanese government is going to make the final decision on it by the end of November 2020, without having discussed enough about alternative methods for filtering or storage of contaminated water.
We are firmly speaking out against dumping the radioactive water into the ocean.
The oceans are an important part of our biosphere which belongs to all of us. Once it gets contaminated, the damage will remain irreversible. We should never allow it to happen! This is why we, Sayonara Nukes Berlin, would like to start a photo posting action through social network. Please join us and share your voice!
<Step 1> Preparing your posterChoose one of the attached posters with the slogan „Don’t dump radioactive water into the ocean!“ and print it out. On the masters ③and④ you can add your own message or illustrations. ①#NoNukeDump②#NoNukeDump③#NoNukeDump④#NoNukeDump
<Step 2> Take your photoHold your protesting message in your hands and have your photograph taken wherever you like.
<Step 3> Posting in social mediaPost your photo with the hashtag
“#NoNukeDump”
“#(your country or city) "
in social media
(no blank space after #)
It would be great if we could get together in this action and make it a bigger movement. If you don’t have any SNS-account or if you are not sure about the posting procedure, please send us your photo to our email address with information on your place of residence.
We would appreciate it if you would translate this text into another language, so that this call could be shared with as many people as possible. We would only like you to KEEP the text on the posters UNCHANGED, so that our collective action remains consistent. Thank you!
Start at 12pm on Saturday, 7th March 2020
Meeting point: Brandenburger Tor (Parizer Platz), Berlin
FUKUSHIMA is NOT “Under Control”!
11th March 2020 marks the 9th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics is approaching. Some Olympic games are planned to be held in Fukushima although the current situation is far from to be said “under control”: The damaged nuclear reactors continue to diffuse radiation throughout the atmosphere, the contaminated water is leaking into the ocean every day, hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes and the foundation for life and those affected people still have to deal with the long-term hardship and pain. The government of Japan has been misusing the Olympic games to display to the world that the nuclear disaster is over. They underestimate the real damage and impact of the worst nuclear disaster in the history and make us believe that the situation has been back to normal. Instead of putting the priority to provide relief to those who continue to suffer from the disaster, the government of Japan is rather promoting evacuees to return to their hometown which is still heavily contaminated. They just raised the acceptable level of radiation for residents by 20 times higher than what was applied as the maximum level of annual exposure before the accident occurred. We must say NO to this policy!
Nuclear power is NOT a solution to climate change!
High risk of contamination: Nuclear reactors produce harmful radiation almost permanently. Too dangerous: As we have learned through the disasters of Fukushima and Chernobyl, serious accidents are unavoidable. Technology of nuclear energy also serves increasing the ability to develop nuclear weapons. Enormous cost: Nuclear energy is eventually the most expensive way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Unjustified theory: The theory that the supply chain of nuclear fuels has a lower CO2 emission is unjustified. Inflexible to control: Nuclear power generation is not flexible to control comparing to renewable energy. Too slow to save climate: Climate change give us no time to wait until the new generation develops a “harmless nuclear power”. (This does not necessarily mean to agree with the new generation nuclear technology.)
We are therefore calling for:・Misuse of the Olympics should be stopped to display as if the contaminated area in Fukushima had been cleared and restored.・The government of Japan should withdraw the relocation policy to put evacuees back to the highly contaminated area and should resume to provide compensation and financial assistance.・Operations of all nuclear power plants in the world should be stopped, especially in Germany, Gronau uranium enrichment plant and Lingen nuclear fuel plant.・ EURATOM and other institutions that promote nuclear technology should be dissolved.・Investment for nuclear technology should come to an end. Instead, sufficient subsidies should be allocated to the research efforts for renewable energy and radioactive waste management made by the independent civil society organizations.・Signature and ratification of Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty by all countries.
Fukushima warns: Nuclear phaseout worldwide! Call for the Demonstration on 8th Anniversary of Fukushima on March 9th 2019
Sa. 09.03.2019 12:00 Uhr Brandenburger Tor, Pariser Platz, 10117 Berlin
A series of one of most severe nuclear accidents worldwide followed a strong earthquake and tsuhami on 11 March 2011. The Fukushima Nuclear Accident shows clearly that even highly industrialized countries cannot ensure safe nuclear plants. Nuclear disasters like this could recur at anytime, as long as nuclear plants are being operated.
Worldwide 446 reactors in nuclear power plants were still operating in 2018. Every reactor produces 20 to 30 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste per year. And no operational final storage facilities are there to host the waste long term.
No consistent nuclear phaseout has been resolved in Germany. 7 nuclear power plants are still operating in Germany. Influential economic lobbies are calling for extending their life. At the same time three research reactor and the uranium enrichment facility Gronau and the fuel elements factory Lingen are completely excluded from the so-called nuclear phaseout.
Until 2022 15,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste will be accordingly piled up in Germany. Approximately 8000 generations of human beings have been alive and less than three generations have created the giant amount of atomic waste, which has to be kept away from the biosphere for 33,000 generations.
The nuclear lobby is misusing the concern over climate change in order to represent their irresponsible business as a “climate saving” strategy. Nevertheless plenty of CO2 is produced throughout the nuclear chain beginning from uranium mining to generation of nuclear power for electricity and weapons up to “storing” of nuclear waste, not to mention that the reducing of CO2 and nuclear risks cannot be set off against one another. This is why it is important to recall: Only the rapid shift to renewable energies and consequent energy saving could mitigate climate change.
The nuclear technology threatens to make our planet Earth uninhabitable in several ways:
-Constructing nuclear weapons and other radiological dispersal devices,
-Polluting radioactive emissions from nuclear facilities in “normal operation”,
-Increasing the risks of nuclear meltdown like in Chernobyl and in Fukushima, which could happen again,
-and finally by unforeseeable leakage of nuclear waste.
We therefore call for:
• Immediate shutdown of all nuclear facilities worldwide.
• Annulling of EURATOM and all the other organizations promoting the nuclear technology.
• Redeployment of all nuclear technology promoting grants and subsidies in favor of renewable energy and researches on dealing with nuclear waste controlled by civil society.
• Worldwide ban of all kinds of nuclear weapons. Germany and Japan must accede to the „Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons“ of the United Nations.
Kooperierende Gruppen：
BUND
IPPNW
Rote Beete
ICAN
Coop AntiWar Cafe
Kuhle Wampe
BürgerInitiative Lüchow-Dannenberg
Friedensglockengesellschaft Berlin e.V.
Ausländer mit uns
Die Linke Landesverband Berlin
Ruiko Muto Member of Fukushima Women Against Nuclear Power Chair of the Complainants for the Criminal Prosecution of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
To all whosethoughts are with Fukushima
It’s been seven years since the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster on 11th of March 2011. I would like to wholeheartedly say thank you to all the Fukushima supporters.
These days in Fukushima, we often hear such words as “repatriation,” “reconstruction,” and “health creation.” With the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 approaching, a huge investment has been made to redevelop disaster-struck areas. Research centres for decommissioning technology and for robotics, wind farms, mega solar parks, as well as biomass generators are being build in severely devastated coastal areas as a part of “Innovation Coast Project.” Futaba Town, one of the most heavily contaminated areas located in the immediate vicinity of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, plans to host an archive centre to record damage inflicted by the disaster, and an industrial centre in an attempt to attract study trips from high schools. Fukushima Prefecture is soon reopening the whole length of a major motorway on the eastern coast, trying to repatriate all the Fukushima evacuees.
On the other hand, however, there are a string of human rights violations on a huge scale. The current repatriation scheme does not mean that you can return to a thoroughly decontaminated, safe area. Instead, it means that you have to live with the contamination as long as the dose is claimed to be under 20 millisieverts a year. This threshold is 20 times higher than the allowable dose for citizens everywhere in the world before the disaster. There are no publicly funded recuperative support plans for the repatriated children. Financial compensations and housing subsidies are cut even if you decide not to return. There are people who have no choice but to return to the still-contaminated area for financial reasons. Some are resigned to become homeless and others have felt so devastated that they have taken their own lives. Some evacuee families have been sued for eviction from their shelters. In the UN Human Rights Council, four member states have recommended corrective actions over the human rights situation in Japan.
The situation within the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant also remains highly critical. There are now over 800 tanks, each of which contains 1000 tons of tritium-contaminated water. The current and previous chairmen of the Nuclear Regulation Authority have insisted that pouring the tritium-contaminated water into the ocean is the only solution, and they are attempting to gain consent from local authorities. For me, this is the first ocean I saw in my life as a four-year old girl. I can still picture the scenery in my mind. It was one of the three greatest fishing places in the world, with rich marine life. The ocean connects many places all over the world. Now that Fukushima Nuclear Disaster has already caused massive radioactive contamination of the ocean, I don’t wish to exacerbate it by letting the contaminated water in the tanks flow in, further contaminating the ocean. It is unbearable for me that the government is indeed trying to promote such an action despite the fact that they should be trying to stop it. The local fishing industry is desperately trying to prevent the release of tritium-contaminated water into the ocean. I have to ask you all over the world to raise your voice with them.
The number of people in Fukushima Prefecture having thyroid cancer, or having large cysts that indicate possible thyroid cancer, has risen to 193. The Oversight Committee for Fukushima Health Management Survey continues to insist that it is “unlikely” that the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster caused the surge in the number. What is worse, it turned out last year that there were unreported thyroid cancer cases. People who were deemed “in need of follow-up observation” at the first screening and then individually received thyroid cancer diagnosis before going through the next screening, did not appear in the statistics. Faced with criticism from some committee members and citizens, Fukushima Medical University has decided to look into the matter. The investigation, however, is supposed to take as long as two years. Despite the fact that this survey is the only one that examines the health conditions of Fukushima victims, not even a correct result has been provided. There are also people trying to diminish the scope of the health survey, using phrases like “overdiagnosis,” “a health survey in school violates human rights,” or “people have rights not to know.” I think Fukushima Prefecture, which refused to even distribute iodine at the beginning of the nuclear accident, has a responsibility to continue carrying out the thyroid cancer survey.
Two years ago I was surprised to learn that high school students visited Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to observe decommissioning works. Now Fukushima University has also started to provide students with opportunities to visit the plant as a part of their curriculum. With the aim of developing robots that can be used for decommissioning work, technology students from all over Japan are encouraged to join robotics competitions in Fukushima. Commutan Fukushima, a facility in my town built for the purpose of radiation education, helps children learn through visual aids and games. There have been 100 thousand visitors during the year since its opening. There I had an opportunity to read messages left by visitors. Many children wrote “I was scared of radioactivity, but I am glad to be reassured that it exists in the natural environment and foods, ” or “if everyone learns here, Fukushima will no longer be discriminated.” As such, the aim of the facility seems far from educating the children how to acknowledge and protect themselves from the danger of radioactive substances that still surround us.
Meanwhile, various lawsuits are going on in order for the victims to be properly compensated, to correct administrative procedures, or to demand criminal convictions for those responsible for the disaster. In a civil case, the court decided that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Japanese government neglected necessary precautionary measures against Tsunami. More judgments are expected this year. Hearings of the case brought by 14 thousand complainants for the criminal prosecution of TEPCO executives finally started last June. Although the three former top executives of TEPCO pleaded not guilty, prosecutors started the legal procedure with ample documents and facts to prove TEPCO’s negligence over the risk of Tsunami. I would like everyone to keep an eye on the proceedings. We are collecting signatures to petition for a truly fair trial. We have an English version of the petition form ready on our website: http://kokuso-fukusimagenpatu.blogspot.co.uk/p/please-sign-petition.html
This winter was very cold in Fukushima, too. Under the icy ground, however, plant seeds are waiting to sprout in the spring. Let’s not forget to dream about a new era, while living this moment with sincerity. Let’s keep our solidarity, just like oceans unite the world.
You can listen to the exclusive remixes of Aizu-Bandaisan (a folk song from Fukushima) that were created for our anti-nuclear Kazaguruma Demo – Remember FUKUSHIMA – held on March 7th, 2015 in Berlin. Enjoy a wide variety of 14 songs!
Our deepest appreciation goes to the artists who devoted their time and effort voluntarily to this project. Thank you so much!!
Please note: The artists who provided the songs retain the copyrights and duplication of the copyrighted material for commercial use without permission is prohibited.
