Wave of anti-nuclear protest after reactor accidents in Japan

Verfasst von: AAID (Account: Anti-Atom-Initiative Dreyeckland - AAID). Übersetzt von: a friend (Account: Anti-Atom-Initiative Dreyeckland - AAID). Verfasst am: 03.04.2011 - 20:48. Datum: Montag, 14. März 2011 - 18:00.

Fukushima Daiichi, Blöcke 1-4 (von rechts) am 16.03.2011

A gigantic earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan on 11 March. Thousands of people were buried under buildings or died in the flooding. In many of Japan's more than 50 nuclear reactors cooling systems broke down. This caused several hydrogen explosions and at least partial fuel rod meltdowns in the reactor blocks one to four of the Fukushima Daiichi nuke.

Impacts of the disaster in the western Pacific

The 11 March earthquake, subsequent quakes and flooding waves severely damaged several atomic installations in Japan. Inter alia an explosion on Saturday destroyed the building of reactor block I of the nuclear power station "Fukushima daiichi genshiryoku hatsudensho" where fuel rods are melting down. On Monday there was a second hydrogen explosion in reactor block III which uses plutonium as well as uranium. It also emerged on Monday that the fuel rods in block II are completely dry and exposed. The necessary cooling is not working in at least four more of the more than 50 reactors in Japan.

Update 15.03. 1:00: Another explosion (this time in block 2) damaged not only the outer reactor building but also the pressure container. At times the wind turned towards Tokyo.

Update 15.03. 14:30: In the cooling basin of Block IV fire broke out, radioactivity got into the atmosphere. High radiation levels are measured, personnel were evacuated from the control room. Cooling in Blocks V and VI is not working properly.

Update 16.03 9:45: After another fire in block IV, ongoing damage in block III and rising radiation the remaining 50 workers were temporarily withdrawn from Fukushima. The military tries to cool the reactor with helicopters.

Update 16.03 15:00: The helicopters could not cool the damaged reactorblocks because of high radiation. Now police water-canons will try to cool them.

Update 17.03 9:00: During the last hours helicopters and police water-canons tried again to cool the reactor. Tepco is working on reestablishing the electricity-supply. US-army drones try to photograph the reactor.

The evacuation radius around the first accident reactor was extended to 20 kilometres on Sunday. Media and government are trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation. Reliable information about no longer deniable happenings is being gathered by the IAEA. Independent nuclear experts no longer doubt that the situation is close to the worst expectable, that is, almost totally out of control. Attempts are being made to fill reactor blocks I - IV with sea water to prevent further overheating. Experts say this emergency measure is "not provided for in this form in any manual" and renders the reactors permanently unusable. The contaminated water turns into steam or runs back untreated into the sea.

The western Pacific death toll from the Strength 9 Richter scale earthquake has already reached 10,000. Thousands of people are still missing. More than 200,000 have been evacuated from the Fukushima area. Millions in northern Japan were still without power and water.

Debate and demonstrations in Germany

Nukes have also been built in potential earthquake areas elsewhere, for example the scrap reactor in Fessenheim, France. It is also important to note that it was not the earthquake and tsunamis as such that put the Japanese reactors out of control, but in the final analysis it was the failure of the power supply. Even in areas not vulnerable to earthquakes, power failure is a crucial nuclear vulnerability.

The catastrophe is again mobilising tens of thousands of opponents of the high-risk atomic technology. On 14 March more than 100,000 people took to German streets [1,2,3] demanding that all nukes be switched off immediately. Activists chained themselves on at the Biblis plant. On 12 March about 60,000 demonstrated between Stuttgart and Neckarwestheim, while the Social Democratic Party and The Greens, despite their atomic nonsense, yet again pretended to themselves that they are anti-nuclear parties.

For election-tactical reasons the CDU-FDP (conservative-liberal) coalition government wants to suspend for three months the extension of nuke running times and offers as a sacrifice the final closure of Neckarwestheim I, and closure for three months of six other nukes built before 1980 as well as Krümmel, which has been out of action for years because of endless mishaps, intending to keep using what it calls the "bridging technology". Switzerland is putting a moratorium on construction of new nuclear power plants.

Reports of independent Media