Lancashire: Vigil at nuclear power station to mark Fukushima anniversary

On the third anniversary of the nuclear incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, all concerned people are invited to join a one-hour vigil on Saturday, 8 March at Heysham Nuclear Power Station to say: 'No more Fukushimas; No more nuclear waste; No nuclear weapons!'

Heysham in Lancashire is one of the eight proposed sites in Britain for nuclear new build to go ahead, in addition to the four reactors already in operation. However, the future of nuclear as a power source for countries around the world was called into question in 2011, after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March that year rocked the reactors at Fukushima, leaving radioactivity leaking from the plant. Japan is still reeling from the impact of the disaster. More than 340,000 people became nuclear refugees, forced to abandon their homes and their livelihoods. Since that time, a forceful grass-roots movement has grown to permanently decommission all of Japan's nuclear power plants.

Nuclear energy was described as a ‘Pandora’s Box’ by Columban eco-theologian Sean McDonagh, when speaking at the London launch of his book, ‘FUKUSHIMA: THE DEATH KNELL FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY?’, on 18 November 2012. Sean felt that the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan showed that nuclear reactors are fundamentally dangerous. And the danger is magnified by the extreme weather, which is becoming more common in the context of Climate Change.

One intervention from the floor was from Mo Kelly, a Lancaster-based architect and Pax Christi member, who had been challenging the proposed development of a new nuclear power station in the nearby Heysham area, which is on the coast. Holding a copy of the publication ‘Nuclear Disasters and the Built Environment’, she was interested in engaging with other professionals highlighting the short and long term risks involved in nuclear power. She pointed out that the employment in her region of many Catholics in nuclear civilian and military establishments meant that challenging the morality of the nuclear industry often fell on unsympathetic ears in the Catholic community. I

Following the Fukushima disaster, the Vatican formally changed its policy on supporting nuclear energy in October 2011, it declared that nuclear power was 'neither cheap nor safe'. Many Catholic bishops’ conferences around the world have also rejected nuclear power, including Japan, Korea, Philippines, India, Germany, and Canada.

Participants will meet at 10am for a briefing and refreshments at the Lancaster Quaker Meeting House, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1TX. The vigil at the nearby power station will start at noon.

For more information, phone Mo Kelly, Lancaster Quakers at 01524 389911