December 5, 2011

Anti-Nuclear protest Demonstration at Jantar Mantar, 8th December 2011

Say NO to Nuclear Power: It is unsafe, polluting, costly and not a solution to our energy crisis

Invitation

Anti-Nuclear protest Demonstration at Jantar Mantar

December 8, Jantar Mantar, New Delhi

Friends,

Livelihoods and safety of millions of people and the fragile ecology in the large parts of our country is threatened today by the ruling elite’s insane nuclear power expansion. People in Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Chutka (Madhya Pradesh), Mithi virdi (Gujarat), Gorakhpur (Haryana) and Kovada (Andhra Pradesh) are fighting a difficult battle against these projects.

People from these places will gather to demand scrapping of these projects which are endangering people’s safety and livelihoods. Civil society organisations from Delhi and other parts of the country are also joining the protest.

We would like to invite you for the day long National Anti-Nuclear Protest Demonstration on 8^th of December at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. We do hope you will be able to join us for this.

These struggles have highlighted some important local issues as well as generic risks with nuclear technology:

Nuclear power projects will displace large number of people and threaten the livelihoods in surrounding areas. The fisherfolk in Koodankulam, Jaitapur and Mithivirdi, the mango and cashew cultivators of Jaitapur and the farmers of Haryana and MP are faced with these challenges.
The proposed plants are coming up in coastal regions and areas where ecological balance is already under threat as govt’s own reports admit. Environmental clearances for these projects have been obtained by undermining standard norms and procedures.
Some of the proposed reactor designs are new and untested. Areva’s EPR has run into trouble in Finland with delays, huge cost escalations and objections raised by safety regulators.
Nuclear industry in India has been known for their gross negligence of safety in the past. Not only is the Indian nuclear establishment unprepared to handle a large scale accident, it cannot be trusted to operate properly and safely such large-scale facilities given their experience chequered with inefficiency, accidents, unaccountability, non-transparency.
The nuclear power expansion will put huge burden on the Indian exchequer as not only nuclear power expensive, the imported reactors are going to cost exponentially more. Also, the government has exempted nuclear suppliers from liability and in case of accidents; the financial burden will fall on the people.
India’s energy needs can be better met with decentralised energy production through abundant renewable sources.

And then, are some general problems with nuclear energy itself:

Nuclear Power is inherently unsafe. While nuclear accidents have very large-scale and long-term consequences unlike other industrial accidents, even in the normal operation of reactors, workers and local population is exposed to radiation which causes diseases such as cancer, thyroid and leukaemia in long-term.
Nuclear waste is a problem that has no solution. Substances like plutonium remain dangerously radioactive for thousands of years. India has nothing more than an ad-hoc policy on nuclear waste.
Nuclear power is not a solution to Climate Change. It leaves substantial carbon footprints in uranium mining, transport, and construction of reactors.
After Fukushima, most countries have ordered a phasing out of nuclear power, underlining the inherent dangers.

The Indian elite is pushing the country towards a dangerous future obsessed with its idea of neoliberal ‘development’ and under the influence of nuclear corporate lobbies. When the people in many parts of the country resisting these projects and facing state repression, we must stand it solidarity with them.

We urge you to join us in the protest individually / organisationally and circulate the invitation widely.

Date: December 8, 2011 | Time: 11 AM onwards | Jantar Mantar, New Delhi

With best regards,

Do endorse and join the protest !

For details contact : Sundaram 9810556134 | Malathi 8285815945 | Kavita Krishnan 09560756628 | Madhuresh Kumar 9818905316 |

Mail to cndpindia@gmail.com