News from Kick Nuclear

London nuclear conference demo calls for EDF boycott

13 Sep 2010 - 00:00

Delegates to a nuclear suppliers’ conference taking place in central London this morning (Monday) were greeted by ten anti-nuclear activists displaying banners calling for a boycott of energy giant Électricité de France (EDF), the organisers of the conference.

A very rough guide to resisting nuclear power
20 Apr 2010 - 00:00

 

Stop Nuclear Power Network broadsheet (Apr 2010)

The paper you are reading was produced by the Stop Nuclear Power Network, a non-hierarchical network of groups and individuals committed to resisting nuclear power in Britain and worldwide (see bottom left). With this paper, we are trying to do something to counter the spin of government and nuclear industry. Nuclear power is not the answer to climate change, neither is it safe, nor is it economical, nor is it needed.

OK , I get it — Nuclear power is not the answer to climate chaos. But what can I do?
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

This question brought the Stop Nuclear Power Network to­gether for our first gathering and needs revisiting regularly. Be­low is not a complete list but it is aimed at getting the creative juices flowing ...

Nuclear power: low-level radiation is not harmless
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

The government and the nuclear in­dustry claim that the low level of ra­diation emitted by nuclear power sta­tions during their normal operation is not harmful. Radiation also occurs naturally, they argue, and the small amount of radiation added by nuclear power stations is insignificant.

However, no dose of radiation is safe. Radiation damage is cumulative. Each dose received adds to the risk of develo­ping cancer, or mutating genes in the reproductive cells.

Nuclear Power makes no economic sense
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

The steep global decline in reactor orders since 1986 has been a caused by poor economics as well as Chernobyl. No UK reactor was completed on time and budget. India’s most recent 10 reactors have averaged 300% over budget. The Finnish reactor – the first in Western Europe since Chernobyl – is three years late and 75% over budget.

There are alternatives!
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

Renewables and energy saving can deliver more carbon savings than nuclear

Neil Crumpton, until recently Friends of the Earth’s anti-nuclear campaigner/energy spec­ialist, has produced a “carbon-negative” non-nuclear UK 2050 energy scenario. The proposed infrastructure would have the potential to go beyond low-car­bon energy technologies should climate protection policies re­quire it. Neil will soon be em­ployed by the Bellona Founda­tion to set up a Bellona UK to progress such far-reaching energy and climate solutions.

Nuclear waste – an unsolved problem
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

In a nuclear reactor, huge quantities of radio­active atoms are created – to the extent that the waste fuel rods that are taken out of the reac­tors are so lethal that they would almost immediately kill someone if they were to be anywhere near.

The nuclear industry relies on “shielding” in order to stop the wastes killing people in such a direct way. However some of the waste will still be radioactive one million years into the future, and even though the waste would be much less intensely radioactive after that time, people would still need to be protected from it.

CO2 Emissions of Electricity Generation
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

Local democracy dumped
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

With the 2006 Energy Review, the government proposed a num­ber of initiatives “to reduce the regulatory barriers for new nu­clear build”. EDF and others inter­ested in nuclear new build demanded a “predictable and efficient con­sents and approval process”, getting rid of lengthy planning inquiries such as these had been for Sizewell B. The Planning Act 2008 fast-tracks nuclear power stations and other “nationally sig­nificant infra­structure pro­jects”, thus remo­ving a historic demo­cratic deci­sion-making process.

The Nuclear Companies
1 Apr 2010 - 00:00

EDF Energy bought British Energy to gain access to sites for nuclear new build. It subsequently sold a 20% stake to Centrica, better known to the public as Scottish Gas or British Gas. They aim to build new nuclear at Hinkley Point, Sizewell, Heysham, Hartlepool, and Bradwell.

German RWE, in Britain better known as RWE npower, bought sites at Kirksanton and Braystones in Cumbria for new nuclear. In addi­tion, RWE formed a joint-venture with another German utility com­pany, E.on, under the name Horizon Nuclear Power, to develop nuclear power at Wylfa and Oldbury.