Anti-nuclear movement

The anti-nuclear movement is a group of people who work together to stop the use of nuclear technology. This includes both nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. Many different groups have joined this movement, such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, and others. They believe that nuclear technology can be very dangerous and have worked hard to stop its use.

People have worried about nuclear weapons since before 1945, when two cities were bombed using these weapons. After many tests of nuclear weapons, people began to protest, leading to treaties that limited testing. In the 1970s, people also started to protest against nuclear power plants. Big protests happened in many countries, with hundreds of thousands of people showing they did not want nuclear power.

After a serious nuclear accident in 1986, many people thought nuclear power was too risky. But in recent years, as concerns about climate change grew, some countries started to think again about nuclear power. However, accidents like the one in 2011 brought back fears, and many countries are still working to stop or reduce the use of nuclear power.

History and issues

The use of nuclear technology for energy and war has always been a big debate. People have argued about nuclear weapons since before 1945, when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed. After nuclear tests in the Pacific in the 1950s, many people became worried. In 1961, during a time of tension between countries, about 50,000 women marched in the United States to protest against nuclear weapons. In 1963, many countries agreed to a treaty stopping tests in the atmosphere.

In the 1970s, people started protesting against nuclear power plants. One big protest happened in Germany over a plant called Wyhl, and it was stopped. This success led to more protests in Europe and North America. Nuclear power became a major issue that many people talked about.

Anti-nuclear groups worry about several things. They fear that nuclear weapons could cause big wars or accidents that might hurt many people. They also worry about nuclear power plants, like accidents, radioactive waste, and the cost of building and cleaning up after accidents. Some people think nuclear power is too risky and expensive, and they prefer using energy from the sun, wind, and water instead. These groups believe we can save energy and use cleaner sources to meet our needs.

Anti-nuclear organizations

See also: List of anti-nuclear groups, List of anti-nuclear power groups, and List of anti-nuclear groups in the United States

The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that works locally, nationally, and internationally. Different kinds of groups support this movement:

• direct action groups, like the Clamshell Alliance and Shad Alliance
• environmental groups, such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace
• consumer protection groups, like Ralph Nader's Critical Mass
• professional organisations, such as International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
• political parties such as European Free Alliance

These groups have held public protests and peaceful actions at nuclear plant sites. They have also used other ways to share their ideas, like talking to leaders, signing petitions, and joining elections. They have also helped change rules and taken part in important decisions.

Anti-nuclear groups exist in every country that uses nuclear power. These groups started in the United States and then spread around the world. Big events like the Three Mile Island accident and the Chernobyl disaster helped more people join the movement. In the 1970s and 1980s, many new green parties formed because of concerns about nuclear power.

International organizations

• European Nuclear Disarmament, which held big meetings in the 1980s with people from many countries
• Friends of the Earth International, a network of environmental organizations in many countries
• Global Zero, a group of leaders working to end nuclear weapons
• Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, a partnership of many nations
• Greenpeace International, an environmental group with offices in over 41 countries
• International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
• International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility
• International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which won important peace awards
• Nuclear Information and Resource Service
• OPANAL
• Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, a group of leaders from many countries
• Pax Christi International, a Catholic group that strongly opposes nuclear weapons
• Ploughshares Fund
• Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
• Socialist International, a group of political parties around the world
• Sōka Gakkai, a Buddhist group that held exhibitions and gathered signatures for ending nuclear weapons
• United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
• World Disarmament Campaign
• World Information Service on Energy, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• World Union for Protection of Life

Other groups

National and local anti-nuclear groups are listed at Anti-nuclear groups in the United States and List of anti-nuclear groups.

Symbols

Activities

Large protests

In 1971, the town of Wyhl, on the Rhine in Southern Germany, was proposed as the site of the Wyhl Nuclear Power Plant. Over the next few years, people in the area spoke out against the plan, and big protests happened. TV showed police taking away farmers and their families, which helped make nuclear power a big topic of discussion. In 1975, a court decided the plant could not be built. The Wyhl story helped start more local groups to speak up about nuclear plans.

In 1972, people in the Pacific Ocean spoke out against French nuclear testing. In New Zealand, people sailed boats close to the test area to stop the tests. In Australia, many people joined marches in cities like Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney. Scientists also said the tests should stop. In Fiji, people started a group against testing on Mururoa Island.

In the Basque Country (Spain and France), people spoke out against nuclear power starting in 1973. This led to most planned nuclear projects being stopped. On July 14, 1977, in Bilbao, between 150,000 and 200,000 people protested against the Lemoniz Nuclear Power Plant. It was called the biggest anti-nuclear protest ever.

In France, big protests happened at almost every planned nuclear site in the early 1970s. Between 1975 and 1977, about 175,000 people joined ten different protests. In 1977, a huge protest happened at the Superphénix reactor in Creys-Malville.

In West Germany, between February 1975 and April 1979, about 280,000 people joined seven protests at nuclear sites. Some people even tried to stay at the sites to stop work. After the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, about 120,000 people joined a protest in Bonn.

In the Philippines, people protested in the late 1970s and 1980s against the planned Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, which was built but never used because of safety worries and problems with honesty in government.

In 1981, Germany had its biggest anti-nuclear protest against building the Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant near Hamburg. About 100,000 people faced off against 10,000 police officers.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, worries about nuclear weapons grew again. Older groups like the Federation of Atomic Scientists started up again, and new groups formed, like the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign and Physicians for Social Responsibility. In the UK, on April 1, 1983, about 70,000 people made a big human chain between three places with nuclear weapons in Berkshire.

On April 1982, 100,000 Australians joined anti-nuclear events in big cities. Each year, more people joined, and in 1985, about 350,000 people took part. On October 29, 1983, 550,000 people joined a protest in The Hague, Netherlands, making it the biggest protest in Dutch history.

In May 1986, after the Chernobyl disaster, protests happened in West Germany. Over 400 people got hurt in May at protests against the Wackersdorf reprocessing plant. In Rome, about 150,000 to 200,000 people marched, and in Milan, 50,000 marched. In 1986, hundreds of people walked from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., for nine months to speak out against nuclear weapons.

In 1989, a group called “Nevada Semipalatinsk” started in the former Soviet Union. They spoke out against a nuclear test site in northeast Kazakhstan, and their work helped close it in 1991.

In September 1992, the World Uranium Hearing happened in Salzburg, Austria. People from all over the world talked about problems with uranium mining, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear tests, and disposing of radioactive waste.

Protests in the United States

There were many protests against nuclear power in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. These included protests by the Clamshell Alliance at the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant and the Abalone Alliance at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, where many people were taken away by police. Other big protests happened after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.

In May 1979, 65,000 people, including the Governor of California, joined a protest in Washington, D.C., against nuclear power. On September 23, 1979, almost 200,000 people protested in New York City. Protests against nuclear power helped close the Shoreham, Yankee Rowe, Millstone I, Rancho Seco, Maine Yankee, and about a dozen other nuclear plants.

On June 12, 1982, one million people gathered in New York City's Central Park to speak out against nuclear weapons and war. It was the biggest anti-nuclear protest and the biggest political event in American history. On June 20, 1983, protests happened at 50 places across the United States. In 1986, hundreds of people walked from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. There were many protests and peace camps at the Nevada Test Site during the 1980s and 1990s.

On May 1, 2005, 40,000 people marched in New York past the United Nations, 60 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the biggest anti-nuclear march in the U.S. for many years. In the 2000s, people spoke out against new nuclear reactor plans in the United States. In 2013, four old reactors were closed forever: San Onofre 2 and 3 in California, Crystal River 3 in Florida, and Kewaunee in Wisconsin. Vermont Yankee, in Vernon, is set to close in 2014 after many protests. People in New York State want to close Indian Point Energy Center, which is 30 miles from New York City.

Recent developments

For many years after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, nuclear power was not a big topic in most countries, and some anti-nuclear groups stopped working. But in the 2000s, nuclear power became a topic again because of activities by the nuclear industry, new reactor designs, and worries about climate change. Then the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster made people worry about nuclear power again.

In January 2004, up to 15,000 people marched in Paris against a new type of nuclear reactor called the European Pressurised Water Reactor (EPWR).

On May 1, 2005, 40,000 people marched in New York past the United Nations. This was the biggest anti-nuclear march in the U.S. for many years. In Britain, many people protested against replacing the old Trident weapons system.

On March 17, 2007, protests happened in five French towns against building EPR plants: Rennes, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, and Strasbourg.

In June 2007, 4,000 people in Kudus, Indonesia, spoke out against building a nuclear power plant there.

In February 2008, scientists and engineers spoke out against closing the Kazantzakis-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.

The International Conference on Nuclear Disarmament happened in Oslo in February 2008. The Government of Norway, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and the Hoover Institute organized it. The meeting was called Achieving the Vision of a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and aimed to get agreement between countries with and without nuclear weapons about the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

In October 2008, about 15,000 people stopped a train carrying radioactive waste from France to a dump in Germany. This was one of the biggest such protests in years. In 2009, green parties in the European parliament grew from 5.5% to 7.1% (52 seats).

In October 2008, more than 30 people were taken away during a big anti-nuclear protest at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston for the first time in ten years. About 400 people joined the protest, which marked the start of the UN World Disarmament Week.

In 2008 and 2009, people spoke out against new nuclear reactor plans in the United States and against letting old nuclear plants keep operating longer.

On September 5, 2009, a big march happened in Berlin with 350 farm tractors and 50,000 people. They wanted Germany to close all nuclear plants by 2020 and close the Gorleben radioactive dump. Gorleben is where the anti-nuclear movement in Germany has tried to stop trains carrying waste and block roads to the site. Two above-ground storage units hold 3,500 containers of radioactive sludge and thousands of tons of used fuel rods.

On April 21, 2010, environmental groups asked the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission to look into possible problems with the AP1000 reactor design. These groups wanted three federal agencies to stop the process of approving the design, saying the safety of the new design is weaker than older reactors.

On April 24, 2010, about 120,000 people formed a human chain (KETTENreAKTION!) between the nuclear plants at Krümmel and Brunsbüttel. They were protesting Germany’s plans to make nuclear power plants last longer.

In May 2010, about 25,000 people, including peace groups and survivors of atomic bombs, marched in New York to the United Nations, calling for no nuclear weapons. In September 2010, Germany decided to use more nuclear energy, which caused new protests in Berlin and other places. On September 18, 2010, tens of thousands of Germans surrounded Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office in a big anti-nuclear protest since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. In October 2010, tens of thousands protested in Munich against Germany’s nuclear policy. This was the biggest anti-nuclear event in Bavaria in over twenty years. In November 2010, violent protests happened against a train carrying processed nuclear waste in Germany. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Dannenberg. Around 16,000 police were there to manage the protests.

In December 2010, about 10,000 people (mainly fishermen, farmers, and families) spoke out against the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in India’s Maharashtra state, with many police there.

In December 2010, five activists, including older people and Jesuit priests, were found guilty of entering a military base in Tacoma, US, to speak out against submarine nuclear weapons stored there. They could face up to 10 years in prison.

In January 2011, five young Japanese people started a hunger strike for more than a week outside government offices in Yamaguchi City to speak out against building the Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant near the Seto Inland Sea.

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, protests against nuclear power grew in Germany. On March 12, 2011, 60,000 Germans formed a 45-km human chain from Stuttgart to the Neckarwestheim power plant. On March 14, 110,000 people protested in 450 German towns, with polls showing 80% of Germans opposed extending nuclear power. On March 15, 2011, Angela Merkel said seven nuclear plants that started before 1980 would close while studying faster renewable energy commercialization.

In March 2011, about 2,000 people in Taiwan protested for stopping the building of the island’s fourth nuclear power plant. They also spoke out against making three existing plants last longer.

In March 2011, more than 200,000 people joined anti-nuclear protests in four big German cities, the night before state elections. Organizers said it was the biggest anti-nuclear protest in the country. Thousands of Germans spoke out against nuclear power nationwide on April 2, 2011. About 7,000 people protested in Bremen. About 3,000 protested outside RWE’s headquarters in Essen.

At a U.N. meeting in April 2011, environmental activists spoke up for using renewable energy instead of nuclear power and dealing with climate change.

In mid-April, 17,000 people protested at two events in Tokyo against nuclear power.

In India, environmentalists, local farmers, and fishermen have protested for months against the planned Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project six-reactor complex, 420 km south of Mumbai. If built, it would be one of the world’s biggest nuclear power complexes. Protests grew after Japan’s Fukushima disaster, and during two days of big protests in April 2011, one person was killed and dozens hurt.

In May 2011, about 20,000 people joined Switzerland’s biggest anti-nuclear protest in 25 years. Demonstrators marched near the Beznau Nuclear Power Plant, Switzerland’s oldest, which started operating 40 years ago. Days later, the government decided to not build new nuclear power plants. The country’s five existing reactors could keep operating but “would not be replaced at the end of their life span”.

In May 2011, 5,000 people joined a fun-like protest in Taipei City. This was part of a nationwide “No Nuke Action” protest, asking the government to stop building a Fourth Nuclear Plant and use more sustainable energy.

On World Environment Day in June 2011, environmental groups protested against Taiwan’s nuclear power policy. The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, with 13 environmental groups and lawmakers, gathered in Taipei to speak out against the country’s three operating nuclear plants and building a fourth.

Three months after the Fukushima disaster, thousands of people in Japan protested. Workers, students, and parents with children joined protests across Japan, “speaking out against the government’s handling of the crisis, carrying flags saying 'No Nukes!' and 'No More Fukushima'.”

In August 2011, about 2,500 people, including farmers and fishermen, marched in Tokyo. They were suffering losses after the Fukushima disaster and asked for quick help from the plant operator, TEPCO, and the government.

In September 2011, anti-nuclear protesters marched in Tokyo and other cities to mark six months since the earthquake and tsunami and speak out against the government’s handling of the nuclear crisis from meltdowns at the Fukushima plant. Protesters asked for shutting down all Japanese nuclear plants and switching to other energy sources. Among the protesters were four young men who started a 10-day hunger strike to change Japan’s nuclear policy.

Tens of thousands of people marched in central Tokyo in September 2011, chanting “Sayonara nuclear power” and waving signs, to ask Japan’s government to stop using atomic energy after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Author Kenzaburō Ōe and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto supported the event.

Since March 2011, protests around planned Indian nuclear power plants have grown, making people question nuclear energy as a clean and safe choice instead of fossil fuels. Promises by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that all safety measures would be used were not believed. There have been big protests against the French-backed 9900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Maharashtra and the 2000 MW Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. The state government of West Bengal also refused to allow a proposed 6,000 MW facility with six Russian reactors. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed against the government’s nuclear program at the top Supreme Court. The PIL asked to “stop all planned nuclear power plants until safe measures and cost-benefit analyses are done by independent groups.”

In October 2011, more than 200 protesters blocked the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site in the UK. Members of the Stop New Nuclear alliance stopped access to the site to protest EDF Energy’s plans to build two new reactors there.

In January 2012, 22 South Korean women’s groups asked for a nuclear-free future, saying nuclear weapons and power reactors “threaten our lives, the lives of our families and all living creatures”. The women said they felt a big worry after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, which showed the destructive power of radiation in disrupting lives, polluting the environment, and contaminating food.

In January 2012, three hundred anti-nuclear protesters marched against plans to build a new nuclear power station at Wylfa in the UK. The march was organized by Pobl Atal Wylfa B, Greenpeace, and Cymdeithas yr Iaith, supporting a farmer in a dispute with Horizon.

On the anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, protesters across Japan called for ending nuclear power and reactors. In Koriyama, Fukushima, 16,000 people called for the end of nuclear power. In Shizuoka Prefecture, 1,100 people asked to shut down the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant. In Tsuruga, Fukui, 1,200 people marched in the city of Tsuruga, home of the Monju fast-breeder reactor prototype and other reactors. In Nagasaki and Hiroshima, anti-nuclear protesters and atomic-bomb survivors marched together and asked Japan to stop depending on nuclear power.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann expects anti-nuclear petition drives to start in at least six European Union countries in 2012 to ask the EU to stop using nuclear power. Under the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, petitions with at least one million signatures can make the European Commission suggest laws, helping anti-nuclear activists get support.

In March 2012, about 2,000 people protested in Taiwan’s capital against nuclear power after the big tsunami that hit Japan one year ago. The protesters asked the government to stop plans to use a newly built nuclear plant – the fourth in crowded Taiwan. Some native protesters “asked to remove 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste stored on their Orchid Island”.

In March 2012, hundreds of anti-nuclear protesters gathered at the Australian headquarters of global mining companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. The 500-strong march through southern Melbourne asked to stop uranium mining in Australia. It included speeches and performances by members of the expatriate Japanese community and Australia’s Indigenous communities, worried about uranium mining near tribal lands. There were also events in Sydney.

In March 2012, South Korean environmental groups held a rally in Seoul against nuclear power. Over 5,000 people attended, one of the biggest turnouts for an anti-nuclear rally in recent memory. The demonstration asked President Lee Myung-bak to stop promoting nuclear power.

In March 2012, police said they arrested nearly 200 anti-nuclear activists protesting the restart of work at the long-stalled Indian Kudankulam nuclear power plant.

In June 2012, tens of thousands of Japanese protesters joined anti-nuclear power rallies in Tokyo and Osaka, against the government’s decision to restart the first idled reactors since the Fukushima disaster, at Oi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture.

In March 2013, 68,000 Taiwanese protested across major cities against nuclear power and the island’s fourth nuclear plant, which is being built. Taiwan’s three existing nuclear plants are near the ocean and at risk from geological fractures.

In April 2013, thousands of Scottish campaigners, lawmakers, and union leaders protested against nuclear weapons. The Scrap Trident Coalition wants to end nuclear weapons and use the money for health, education, and welfare. There was also a blockade of the Faslane Naval Base, where Trident missiles are kept.

In March 2014, around 130,000 Taiwanese marched in an anti-nuclear protest across Taiwan. They asked the government to remove nuclear power plants in Taiwan. The march happened before the third anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. About 50,000 people marched in Taipei, while three separate events happened in other Taiwanese cities, each with about 30,000 people. Among the participants were groups from Green Citizen Action’s Alliance, Homemakers United Foundation, Taiwan Association for Human Rights and Taiwan Environmental Protection Union. With ongoing opposition and many delays, construction of the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant was stopped in April 2014.

Impact

Impact on popular culture

See also: List of films about nuclear issues

Starting in the 1950s, ideas about not using nuclear weapons appeared in books and movies. Films like Godzilla (1954), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb from 1964, and The China Syndrome from 1979 showed the dangers of nuclear power. The story of a real worker, Karen Silkwood, who helped uncover problems at a nuclear plant, inspired the movie Silkwood. Documentaries such as Dark Circle talked about the effects of nuclear testing on people and the environment. Music groups like Musicians United for Safe Energy held big concerts to raise awareness about nuclear issues.

Impact on policy

See also: Nuclear energy policy, Nuclear power by country, Nuclear free zone, List of canceled nuclear plants in the United States, and Anti-nuclear movement in Australia

Public opinion and actions against nuclear weapons helped change government policies. For example, public pressure led to agreements to limit nuclear testing and reduce the number of nuclear weapons. In the United States, many states decided not to build new nuclear power plants because of concerns about waste and cost. After serious accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima, several countries decided to stop using nuclear power. For example, Germany planned to shut down all its nuclear power plants by 2022. Other countries, like New Zealand, made laws to keep their lands free from nuclear weapons and testing.

Public opinion surveys on nuclear issues

Main article: Public opinion on nuclear issues

Surveys show that many people worry about the safety of nuclear power plants, especially after events like the Fukushima disaster. While some support keeping existing nuclear plants, most people do not want new ones built. There is also concern about the risk of terrorist attacks on nuclear facilities. However, some people believe nuclear power can help fight climate change because it doesn’t produce greenhouse gases. Support for nuclear power often depends on how much people know about it, with those living near nuclear plants often showing more support.

Criticism

Some people think that groups working against nuclear energy don’t always tell the full story. They say these groups sometimes make nuclear energy seem worse than it is and other energy sources seem better than they really are.

A few environmentalists have changed their minds about nuclear energy. They believe it can help reduce pollution from coal and oil. Some of these people used to work against nuclear energy but now support it. They think it’s important to use all energy sources wisely to protect the environment.