Nuclear power and capitalism are a lethal combination!

The Fukushima meltdown disaster proves once again that our environment and the safety of the workers and people may be sacrificed because of the greed for maximum profit that reigns under the capitalist mode of production.

The nuclear lobby has consistently told lies, claiming that nuclear power is “entirely safe”. Fukushima, Chernobyl and Harrisburg prove the opposite. This proof is emphasized by the fact that the financial insurance monopolies themselves refuse to insure nuclear plants.

Even if the plants were “safe”, this still would not solve the problem of toxic radioactive waste. This waste is poisoning oceans and rivers every day. Uranium and plutonium lie unprotected in contaminated areas, and inside the nuclear plants themselves.

Nuclear power is expensive and a limited source of energy.

The safety of the workers in the nuclear power plants and of the people in the nearby areas is ignored. They are forced to work in contaminated areas, and are the first to suffer when accidents occur.

Because of the first strike strategy of the NATO alliance, Europe is also being polluted by hundreds of missiles with nuclear warheads belonging to different atomic powers, mainly the USA. These are a potential disaster for all, friend or “foe”. The peoples should demand that such weapons be banned from their territory, as some countries already have done.

The civil use of atomic energy originated as a by-product of military production. Even today, the civilian and military sectors are intertwined. The military and police are always involved in safeguarding the nuclear energy plants, making them into semi-militarized zones. In this way, faults and accidents can also be kept secret from the public, totally undermining democracy.

Our immediate demands are therefore:

1. Immediate start of renewable and sustainable energy production.

2. Immediate closure of all old nuclear plants.

3. No to new nuclear plants.

4. Existing plants must shut down as soon as possible

These demands are entirely just and reasonable. The peoples do not want to be dependent on nuclear power. The people of Italy have demanded a referendum to reject construction of new nuclear plants in their country; in Sardinia 97 precent of the voters said no to nuclear power in a recent consultative referendum.

We demand that the monopolies responsible for the pollution and contaminated waste resulting from the nuclear industry be compelled to pay all costs of the devastation and of dismantling of old power plants.

We still do not know the long-term consequences of the disaster in Fukushima. When a catastrophe of such a dimension occurs in a highly advanced country like Japan, similar disasters may occur anywhere. Capitalism and imperialism are incompatible with safeguarding our environment; this system is incompatible with a sustainable future.

Copenhagen, May 2011