The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), together with South Asia Solidarity Group, is hosting a public meeting in the House of Commons tonight on the future of nuclear power plants.
At a time when many other countries are turning away from nuclear power, the British government is looking to build two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point. Moreover, Britain continues to export civil nuclear technology to India, a country with an abysmal industrial safety record.
Serious concerns over nuclear power have sparked mass protest in both Britain and India demonstrating the depth of opposition to new nuclear power plants. This month has seen hundreds of protesters converge on the proposed site of two new nuclear ‘mega-reactors’ at Hinkley Point in Somerset. While in Kudankulam, India – a tsunami- and earthquake-prone zone – a non-violent mass movement continues to resist the commissioning of a nuclear power plant which violates the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safety guidelines.
Global solidarity between people resisting nuclear power plants is essential.
CND General Secretary Kate Hudson stated:
“Protests against nuclear power in the UK, India, Japan and Germany – and many other countries – show the scale of global public opinion against this dangerous and expensive form of energy. The mass non-violent protests in Kudankulam in India and the repeated demonstrations at Hinkley Point in the UK are powerful expressions of the widespread rejection of nuclear power that governments around the world would do well to heed.”
“Rather than pumping subsidies into nuclear energy, governments should be seriously investing in a sustainable energy policy based on renewable sources. If the lessons of Chernobyl and Fukushima are not learned, then governments are inviting further disasters.”
Speakers include: Caroline Lucas MP, Kate Hudson (CND), Amrit Wilson (South Asia Solidarity Group), Dr Frank Boulton (Medact) and a speaker from People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy, Kudankulam (via internet).
Details:
NO MORE FUKUSHIMAS! NO MORE CHERNOBYLS! NO NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS IN BRITAIN AND INDIA!
Public Meeting, House of Commons, Committee Room 6
6:30 – 8:00pm, Thursday 18 October
Free of charge and open to the general public