No Nukes Asia!

(Source: RT.com)

March 11th marked the 5th year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. A few days later from March 22nd to the 30th, Japanese civil society groups hosted the annual No Nukes Asia Forum. Begun in 1992 and inspired by the Rio Earth Conference, it has been hosted by civil society groups around Asia. Its goal is to create a nuclear-free world. ISC Advisor Lee Heon Seok (Senior Organizer of Energy Justice Action) attended the 17th forum in Tokyo, Japan. 40 people came representing organizations in Japan, Korea, Turkey, Philippines, India, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This year’s forum focused on the impact of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown five years later and in supporting Japan’s denuclearization struggle: Participants joined 30,000 protestors on March 26 to oppose Prime Minister Abe’s plan to re-operate Japan’s nuclear power plants (which were shut down after Fukushima).

One important distinction between the forum participants was whether they were from countries exporting nuclear technology or those importing it. As Lee points out, denuclearization groups from “countries that are exporting nuclear technology have a responsibility” to support denuclearization struggles in the importing countries. In Asia, Korea and Japan export; the rest import. In fact, recently Japan expanded its export capacity by acquiring the nuclear divisions of two major US companies: General Electric and Westinghouse. These two companies along with state owned Areva in France and Rosatom in Russia make up the big four in the nuclear industry. No Nukes Asia Forum allows the exchange of information and strengthening of relationships between denuclearization movements. These spaces facilitate solidarity and cooperation between denuclearization movements in exporting and importing countries.

While nuclear technology is exported from developed countries to developing ones, mostly China, the industry itself is a dying one. France, a major consumer of nuclear energy, recently passed a bill to reduce its nuclear energy use from 75% to 50%. In the United States, the total number of plants is decreasing as the old ones being decommissioned outpace the new ones being built. Developed countries are phasing out of nuclear energy not only because of aging power plants but also because controversy, opposition, and nuclear waste prevent new ones from being built. It is China with its 22 reactors under construction (almost a third of all nuclear power plants being built) that keeps the industry afloat. Thus, companies from developed countries depend on China to export their technology. Yet, with China learning the technology, it’s just a matter of time before it starts to build nuclear power plants for both itself and export. In a 2015 visit to England, Xi Jinping announced China would build a nuclear power plant in England.

While nowhere at the scale of China, Korea is also one of the handful of OECD countries expanding, rather than reducing, its nuclear power reactors. Currently it has 25 reactors with 6 planned to be built. After the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, opposition to breaking ground on a nuclear power plant to house the 6 reactors increased. The recent earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador added to the anxiety around the nuclear reactors especially as Busan – which houses nuclear reactors – also experienced tremors. Despite fierce local opposition, only change at the national level, by switching the ruling party, can decisively stop construction of the new nuclear power plant. To raise consciousness, Climate Justice Alliance, a grouping of environmental groups, is planning an Anti-Nuclear Forum on May 25th with environmental groups, assembly members, and others to discuss how to prepare for the incoming 20th National Assembly and intervene in next year’s presidential election.