IndyMedia - Vrij Media Centrum Nederland

Waar: in de buurt van Rauma: OLKILUOTO, Finland
Wanneer: 03/08/2012 - 11:02

Kom deze zomer naar Finland om mee actie te voeren! Tussen 3 en 16 augustus wordt een blokkade-actiekamp georganiseerd tegen de groeiende kernenergie productie en uranium mining in Finland en wereldwijd. In het oosten van Finland (in de buurt van Nurmes) heeft men onlangs licenties gekregen voor de ontginning van uranium en binnenkort begint men aan de rampzalige exploitatie.

Het actiekamp zelf gaat door op een boerderij in de buurt van de Olkiluoto power plant (zuidwesten van Finland, tegen Rauma), waar men momenteel bezig is een derde reactor te bouwen en toelating heeft gekregen voor de constructie van een vierde reactor. Bovendien bevindt zich daar ook de eerste permanente ondergrondse opslagplaats voor hoog radioactief afval ter wereld.

Men hoopt op de massale opkomst van internationale activisten wereldwijd!

Hier vind je de Engelstalige flyer van het actiekamp:

http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Olkiluoto_Blockade_2012

Olkiluotoblockade camp 6th - 13th Aug 2012

Olkiluoto Blockade Camp in Eurajoki, western Finland, will bring together people from the anti-nuclear movements in Finland and internationally. The camp will be an opportunity to discuss nuclear power projects, including uranium mining, and to share experiences, skills and tools for struggles against the nuclear energy industry and for encouraging truly sustainable, decentralized forms of energy.

On August 11, Olkiluoto Blockade action day, people are invited to come and block the roads to the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant by civil disobedience. Year 2012 will mark the third annual blockade.

The Olkiluoto power plant consists of two reactors owned by Teollisuuden Voima (TVO). Additionally, TVO and French Areva are currently building a third reactor, which will be the world's largest and first EPR reactor. Despite the countless problems with the EPR's construction so far, the Finnish parliament has granted the company a license to build a fourth reactor at the site. Another pioneer project in Olkiluoto is Onkalo ("the Cave"), the world's first permanent underground storage for highly radioactive waste.

Nuclear power cannot solve the climate crises, but rather it feeds the economic system where short-term profit-making sacrifices common safety and environmental issues.

While many European countries are phasing out nuclear power after the disaster in Fukushima, the Finnish government is grasping the opportunity to increase nuclear power production in Finland. Join us in action and send a strong message to the state and the industries: you will not turn Finland into a nuclear power reservation! Uranium mining, nuclear power plants and waste disposal projects will be met with growing and determined resistance, on a local and international level.

Get more information, or give your ideas for the program: olkiluotoblockade AT riseup.net[1]

* http://olkiluotoblockade2012.wordpress.com
* http://olkiluotoblockade.info
* http://twitter.com/#!/BlockOlkiluoto

Als je meer wil lezen over de rampzalige gevolgen van uranium mining, vind je hier een heleboel informatie: http://www.greenkids.de/europas-atomerbe/index.php/Uranium_mining

Uranium Facts

§ Volumes of greenhouse gases are emitted throughout the nuclear chain from mining, milling, transporting, building nuclear power plants and reprocessing uranium for use in weapons and nuclear power.[6]

§ Uranium is the heaviest of all minerals. The percentage of uranium to ore is quite small in commercially mined uranium, averaging 0.3 % in Australia but as high as 15 % in Canada. The ore is, therefore, milled to concentrate the uranium, resulting in a marketable product, uranium oxide (U3O8), also known as 'yellowcake'.[6]

§ Uranium isotopes remain radioactive for millions of years:[6]

§ U238: (also known as depleted uranium) has a half-life (the time it takes for it to lose half its radioactivity) of 4.5 billion years

§ U235: 704 million years

§ U234: 245,000 years

§ Radon is a radioactive gas released from uranium decay.[6]

§ In Australia three kinds of mining process are used to extract uranium: underground (as currently used at Olympic Dam), surface (open pit, as used at Ranger), or acid solution/in-situ leach (as used at Beverley). Tunnel mining poses risks to both human health and environment. Besides the risk of collapse and poor or dangerous air quality in underground operations, uranium mines present a dangerous scenario for workers due to exposure to radon gas and uranium dust.[6]

§ After ore extraction, uranium must be separated from the other minerals in the matrix. This is done by crushing and leaching the rock using water and sulfuric acid. This process uses enormous amounts of water which is contaminated with acid, unwanted minerals and leftover uranium, and contains long lived decay products which continue to pose a risk to health and environment. It is left on site in tailing dams, in an attempt to minimise dust and because there is no safe means of disposal. The sludge that tailing water covers is 85% as radioactive as the uranium extracted and it continues to release the deadly radon gas.[6]

§ Tailing dams all over the world have had leakage problems. There are many documented instances of increased exposure to radiation in people living downstream from these tailings damas through consuming contaminated water, fish and crops. Local wildlife, particularly water birds, have also been killed by drinking the tailings water.[6]

§ The health and environment effects are felt in many mining communities worldwide. Recent reports from China indicate that there are both serious health impacts on communities living near uranium mines and grave consequences for workers who speak out on the issue. Navajo homelands in the US are a notable example of former mining communities where residents now experience high lung cancer rates. Over half of the groundwater is contaminated by defunct uranium mines.[6]

§ Workers and the community are exposed to serious health risks at all stages of the nuclear chain from mining to transport, use and disposal of nuclear materials including waste. Workers are at risk from radiation exposure through inhalation of radioactive dust or direct contamination from the mine. The permitted levels of radiation exposure considered 'safe' for workers and the public have dropped dramatically over the years as research indicates harmful effects still exist at much lower exposure levels than what was originally thought to be safe. It is now acknowledged that there is no safe level of radiation exposure that guarantees cancer will not be triggered.[6]

§ Globally, the nuclear industry has a history of developing uranium mines, nuclear tests, and waste dumps on indigenous people's lands against their wishes. Australia is not different. Unfortunately, lack of infrastructure and investment in remote areas, has allowed mining companies to pressure indigenous communities to permit mining on their sacred lands, in exchange for basic services like school and hospitals. Royalties are often an enticement in areas where poverty and lack of services prevail due to government neglect.[6]