Activists from Germany, Europe and around the world are protesting for nuclear energy and against the closure of the last six German nuclear power plants on November 13 in Berlin. In the wake of the energy and climate crisis, the continued operation of these plants is indispensable, while decommissioning them would be irresponsible.
The protest will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. on Pariser Platz at the Brandenburg Gate. Organizers are Nuklearia from Germany, FOTA4Climate from Poland, Mothers for Nuclear (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and the international Nuclear Pride Coalition under the label “Stand up for nuclear”. Detailed information are available at https://critical-climate-action.de/ in English and in German.
🇩🇪 Diese Pressemitteilung ist auch auf Deutsch verfügbar.
Speakers from around the world
Climate scientists, academics and environmentalists from around the world will give speeches and report on what nuclear energy means for our planet and for people. They will also provide insights into the situation in their countries. Represented are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Sudan, the United States and others. Of these countries, Poland and Sudan plan to enter nuclear power for the first time. Others plan to expand their nuclear power capacity.
The most prominent speaker will be the internationally renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen (USA). Back in the 1980s, he was one of the first scientists to warn of the dangers of global warming. Hansen calls for a return to nuclear power. There is no realistic way to stabilize the climate without a substantial amount of nuclear power, Hansen says. Hansen will be at the demo in person, so he won’t just be speaking via video link.
Nuclear power is low-carbon
The protesters are therefore calling for CO₂-free nuclear power plants to be preserved and for climate-damaging coal-fired power plants to be shut down instead. As long as they are functional, nuclear power plants should continue to operate, in Germany and everywhere. According to an IEA study, investing in extending the operating lifetime of nuclear power plants is the cheapest way to generate low-carbon electricity.
For a deep decarbonization of our industrial society, the construction of new nuclear power plants will also be necessary. Protesters are demanding that the EU recognize nuclear power as a green form of energy and include it in the so-called taxonomy for sustainable financings. Given recent signals from Brussels, this demand is probably already close to being met. More and more countries are realizing that the ambitious climate targets cannot be achieved without nuclear power. Scientists agree that the disadvantages of nuclear energy are no greater than those of wind power, photovoltaics and other green energies.
The energy crisis demands for continued operation of nuclear power plants
Also in the face of the energy crisis, nuclear power plants should remain in operation. The high prices for electricity and natural gas are putting many private households and industrial companies in dire straits. If the German government goes ahead as planned with the nuclear phase-out, it will reduce the supply of electricity, drive up prices even further and deepen the dependence on expensive Russian natural gas.
Maintaining existing nuclear power plants is actually a no-brainer in the energy crisis, in Germany and everywhere, says Rainer Klute, chairman of Nuklearia. “The chancellor and the ministers of the incoming German government will swear in their oath of office to avert harm from the German people. They should take this promise seriously, save the nuclear power plants and avoid making the economic hardship even greater by phasing out nuclear power, not to mention climate protection,” says the 60-year-old computer scientist.
Please find contact details of Nuklearia, FOTA4Ciimate and Mothers for Nuclear in the German version of this press release.
