The issues

Reactor No 4 at Chernobyl in Ukraine exploded on April 26th 1986, 22 years ago. That day, one of the biggest technological and industrial disasters the world has ever known began. Chernobyl keeps claiming victims nowadays : its irreversible and catastrophic impact on health (cancers, multiple organ failures, mutations...) will affect generations to come.

Nowadays, nuclear companies, supported by businesses and politicians, say that nuclear power is indispensable for fighting climate change and ensuring economic growth. They also claim that all the problems associated with nuclear power have been solved. But, the truth is that nuclear power is dangerous, expensive, dirty and not helpful, and associated with numerous problems such as:

• the impossibilities of permanent storage of nuclear waste (DANGEROUS),
• the financial and technical problems of building nuclear power plants EXPENSIVE),
• the impacts of uranium mining (POLLUTING),
• the numerous and serious nuclear accidents have taken place recently (NOT SAFE - ESPECIALLY IN TURKEY WHICH IS AN EARTHQUAKE-PRONE REGION),
• the contribution to, rather than mitigation of, climate change (NOT HELPFUL),
• the dangers of proliferation (ALSO RELATED TO PRODUCTION [AND USE] OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS).

Ecotopia is taking place close to the city of Sinop, one of the three planned locations for the construction of nuclear power plants in Turkey. The intentions of the Turkish government to increase the reliance on nuclear power is a reflection of the global trend – increasing the number of nuclear power plants in Europe and around the world. For example, the EU keeps investing in nuclear power (even though 634.686 Europeans and more than 780 NGOs have signed a petition against developments of nuclear power in Europe). In fact, from the EU budgets for the next five years – more money will be spent on nuclear power than on renewable energy and energy efficiency (HOW STUPID IS THAT??).

Next to the anti-militarist movement seeking demilitarization of the Turkish society, the grass-roots anti-nuclear movement is one of the most important and most interesting in Turkey. The two movements have much in common. The problematics of Turkish nuclear plans goes beyond the pressing energy issues and ecological concerns. The risk of nuclear disaster is augmented in the context of political instability and conflicts in Turkey and the whole of Middle East.

During Ecotopia we would like to support local activists in Sinop who, for years, have been opposing the plan to construct a nuclear power plant just outside the city. At the moment, the resistance is decreasing due to the lack of development alternatives for the area, and the construction of the nuclear power plant is likely to start next year. We are supporting the local anti-nuke activists because we believe that nuclear power is not a solution for the energy crisis. The energy deficiency should be solved by decreasing energy consumption, improving energy efficiency and promoting low-impact energy production. We also believe that the construction of nuclear power plant will not generate economic growth or prosperity in the area as it is highly risky, dangerous and expensive. The surrounding area of Sinop, is not only beautiful, it has a great potential for alternative development such as organic agriculture, sustainable energy production, low-impact tourism, etc.

The construction of the nuclear power plant has not started yet - and massive actions are needed to ensure that the plan is CANCELLED.

LINKS TO ANTI-NUCLEAR GROUPS AND CAMPAIGNS IN TURKEY

www.sinopnkp.org
www.sinopbizim.org/kampanya/en.html
www.antinukleer.org
www.kureseleylem.org

MORE ON NUCLEAR POWER & OTHER ANTI-NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE

www.million-against-nuclear.net/million_brochure_all_72dpi.pdf
www.motherearth.org/nuke/info.php
www.foeeurope.org/activities/Nuclear/nuclear.htm
www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/nuclear
www.sortirdunucleaire.org/index.php?menu=english&page=index
www10.antenna.nl/wise/
www.cnduk.org
www.olkiluoto.info/en/ + http://olkiluotocamp.org