Sharing... Joseph DeMare Heres my reaction to the 3/11 podcast by Libbe HaLevy called Nuclear Hotseat: To my friends in the Japanese anti-nuclear movement. I recently listened to a radio program called Nuclear Hotseat hosted by Libbe HaLevy about the current state of the anti-nuclear movement in Japan. I heard the story of many wonderful activists who are doing great work, helping the people affected by the nuclear disaster and fighting nuclear power. However, I also heard many people express deep disappointment in the reaction of Japanese society at large, concerns about waning interest and resolve from the general public, and dismay at the coordinated and sophisticated campaigns of lies and disinformation being spread by the government and TEPCO through the mainstream media. As someone who has opposed nuclear power in the U.S. for about 40 years, I would like to share some experiences those of us here have had in opposing nuclear power. It seems to me that there are parallels between the current situation in Japan and the state of the anti-nuclear movement in the years immediately following the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear accident. Those of us who had opposed nuclear power for years before that accident suddenly saw proof of all the bad things we had believed and argued. We had said that the plants were unsafe, that they could melt down, and that accidents would be catastrophic for the people living around them. Those in favor of nuclear power said that there were so many safeguards that a melt down was impossible. They said that nuclear power was clean, cheap, and safe. When TMI happened, it was made very clear that those promoting nukes were lying. Accidents WERE possible. In fact, part of the core DID melt down (though the company denied it for years). So the truth is nukes are unsafe. As the years passed, it became clear that there was no safe way to dispose of nuclear waste, so nukes are not clean. It has also become clear that the electricity produced with nuclear which was originally promised to be too cheap to meter is actually the most expensive form of power in the U.S.. When TMI happened, disproving all the claims of safety from the nuclear industry, those of us in the anti-nuclear movement believed that the next logical step was to close down the nuclear industry. It seemed obvious that any form of power that risked contaminating such a huge area was simply too dangerous to continue. There were protests and sit-ins. Nuclear plants were blockaded. But the nuclear industry continued. The propaganda from government and industry was relentless. TMI was a fluke, they claimed. TMI actually was a success for the nuclear industry, they said, because the plant didnt go into a full meltdown, therefore the safety features like containment domes worked. There was hardly any radiation released, they claimed. The battle was long and hard and fought on many fronts, but what finally emerged was a stalemate. No new nuclear plants were built, but existing ones continued to operate. Although I was too young to participate in many of those battles at the time, I remember disbelief and disappointment in the fact that the government and industry refused to take the obvious and necessary step of shutting down nuclear power in order to protect the country. It seems to me that you are at a similar point, now. What slowly dawned on us, here in the U.S. is that this is a long term battle. Victories are hard won. The shut down of the Vermont-Yankee nuclear power plant was just announced. I asked one of the people who had been fighting the plant how they did it. She replied, Forty years of activism. For many years it seemed that the numbers of anti-nuclear activists were dwindling while the nuclear industry was regaining strength. When Chernobyl happened, there was a resurgence of anti-nuclear feeling, but the propagandists again told their lies. They claimed it had no bearing on the nuclear industry here because the Soviet design was so different than in our country. However, they did quietly close all the graphite cooled reactors in the country. More years passed, and the nuclear industry seemed poised on the brink of a renaissance. Barack Obama touted nuclear power as the answer to all our energy needs in his very first State of the Union address. New plants were ordered for the first time in 30 years, and some are being built, even now. Then the Fukushima disaster happened. This time the lies of the nuclear industry were laid bare for all the world to see. The lie that nuclear plants could not explode like atomic bombs went up in a mushroom cloud as reactor number 4 exploded. Another lie that was exposed was the lie that an industrialized country could not survive without nuclear power. Your country shut its nuclear plants after the disaster, and they remain shut as I write this letter. You proved once and for all that nuclear power is unnecessary. All the risk, all the pollution, all the expense is for an energy source which is superfluous. Your example inspired Germany to finally decide to eliminate nuclear power for good. You inspired over 97% of the Italian people to vote in a referendum to turn away from nuclear power forever. Through your conservation, switching to other sources, and now actions such as your feed in tariff for solar power, you have shown that we can all live just fine without nuclear power. This truth now stands in contrast to the lies being told by your government and nuclear industries. Hold on to that truth. Remind people of it. Hold on to the other truths that you have learned as well: truths such as the fact that there is no safe dose of radiation, and that there will be terrible health effects for those exposed to radiation, such as Chernobyl Heart syndrome where the radioactive Cesium isotopes destroy muscle cells in the heart causing holes to develop. When Gandhi was young he used to say, God is truth. When he became older and wiser, he said, Truth is God. You know the truth about nuclear power, let that be your guide, not the way it is portrayed in government propaganda or popular culture. One important truth to keep in mind is that this battle is really being fought for all our descendants. They are the ones who will suffer most if they are forced to live in a radioactively contaminated environment. This is true for your descendants. It is also true for the descendants of those who shamelessly lie in order to promote nuclear power. The radioactive pollution is making the entire planet less habitable for all our progeny, and we are their only defense. Do not be dismayed by the fact that there are those relentlessly promoting this evil source of energy. Those people will always be with us. Even when we succeed in shutting all nuke plants forever, there will still be pressure from such people to revisit nuclear power. Whether their motivation is greed, or religious faith in technology, or ignorance, or a desire for political or economic power, or simply a desire to protect their jobs, is unimportant. Remember you are fighting for their children and childrens children as well as your own. This will give you power when you deal with them. It can also be a way to turn some of them over to our side. But many will never see reason. You will have to learn to accept that. In the battle against nuclear power, sometimes Truth may seem like your only friend. One truth it seems like you may be in danger of forgetting is that the anti-nuclear movement is Japan is doing wondrous things! Some of you expressed disappointment that peoples attention there seems to be waning. But you are still bringing 30,000 to 50,000 people at a time out for protests! You have popular TV stars publicly opposing nuclear power. In the Tokyo mayoral race a majority of the people voted for candidates who opposed nuclear power, the pro-nuclear candidate only won by a plurality. Do not let your enemies interpret the results of your actions. They will not interpret them in your favor. Here in the U.S., even when citizen action has succeeded in getting plants closed, the corporations that own the plants will insist that they are not closing them because of public pressure. However, it is obvious that without that pressure, they would have continued to run the plants. It is also clear that without the resistance you have provided, the Japanese government would have restarted all your nuclear plants years ago. Continue to resist! Discouraging you is the main goal of the government right now. Do not let them achieve that goal. Not everyone can maintain a strong focus on nuclear power all the time. It may be unrealistic to expect them to. However, it is also clear that the majority of the Japanese people do not want nuclear power, and if they were allowed to vote on just that question, as the people of Italy were, they would vote overwhelmingly to end it forever. Perhaps a national referendum would be possible in Japan as well? Those of us who watch the nuclear industry know that, if the plants continue to run, another meltdown is inevitable. It may well be that the next meltdown will not be triggered by a tsunami, but instead will simply be the result of aging nuclear plants where safety has been sacrificed for profits. There have already been many, many close calls and the nuclear industrys luck is running out. If you are steadfast in your opposition, you will be in a position to respond to the next nuclear disaster, as the Greens in Germany were after Fukushima. I am sorry I do not have any money to donate to your groups. However, I did organize a direct Action against the nuclear power industry here in the U.S. called Unplug Nuclear Power. People all over our country turned off their electricity on March 11 in remembrance of the disaster and to deny the utility companies our money that day. I remember seeing my neighbors house that night, lit with candles, and realizing that all over the country people were doing the same. Our numbers were not huge, but they are growing. More and more people around the world are realizing the truth about nuclear power and are willing to act on it. We appreciate and are grateful for the work that you are doing in Japan, since your efforts are helping to protect us, as well. Thank you. Joe DeMare Organizer Unplug Nuclear Power organizer@unplugnuclearpower unplugnuclearpower.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:18:05 +0000
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