Last century's nuclear nightmare has no place in today's world

zoom

Twenty Greenpeace activists blocked the entrance of the French Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industry, where the international conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency 'Nuclear in the 21st century' is being held. Activists unfurled a large banner that read: 'nuclear free future'. Greenpeace wants to highlight that nuclear power is expensive, dangerous and proliferates nuclear weapons.

"The simple truth about 'civil' reactors is that one single reactor generates enough plutonium for 30 bombs every year it operates" said Jan van de Putte of Greenpeace International. "Any country with a nuclear reactor is thus able to build nuclear weapons if it has the political will to do so. Those promoting the benefits of nuclear power for the new century are in the same dangerous mindset that created the nuclear nightmare of the last one. We cannot allow them to make same mistakes all over again, its time to move on to real energy security through renewables and massive efficiency," (1).

The most imminent threat caused by today's nuclear power sector is the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The UN's High Level Expert Group on Threats stated in December last year that 'We are approaching a (...) cascade of proliferation' (2). The historical role of the IAEA in promoting nuclear projects all over the world has been a key factor in the increased threat of nuclear proliferation. The proliferation and security threat is highlighted by the imminent sea shipment expected in the next 24 hours of a cargo of weapons-grade plutonium MOX from France to the United States. (3)

Wind power has already taken the lead and is nowadays far cheaper than nuclear: For the same investment, wind generates twice as much electricity and offers twice as much jobs (4). No surprise it is a booming industry. Over the last years, more than 6,000 MWs have been installed every year in Europe, the equivalent of 2-3 large nuclear power plants. Meanwhile, only one reactor has been built over the last 6 years, and it will take at least another 5 years to build the next one in Finland.

"Wasting money on expensive, inefficient and dangerous nuclear power is counter-productive to combat climate change and should be rejected by anyone genuinely concerned about the environment." said Helen Gassin of Greenpeace France.

All twenty activists involved in today's protest have been arrested.

Notes: (1) Regarding the IAEA, the conversion time needed to produce plutonium metal for weapons-use from spent fuel is estimated at 1-3months. (1) IAEA, IAEA safeguards Glossary, IAEA/SG/INF/1 (Vienna, IAEA, 1980) p.21.(2) http://www.un.org/secureworld/ (3) see www.stop-plutonium.org for further details.(4) "Eole ou Pluton?" (Wind vs Nuke), A. Bonduelle and M. Lefevre, december 2003 (http://www.greenpeace.org/france_fr/multimedia/download/1/359529/0/Eole_ou_Pluton_VF.pdf)