Nuclear Monitor #926
Jan van Evert
On Tuesday March 11th , exactly 14 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, representatives of twelve Belgian organisations stood at the entrance of the Federal Public Service FPS Energy. It was a diverse group, with climate, peace and antinuclear activists. They were protesting against the government’s plans to extend the lifespan of the old nuclear power plants, and to build new ones.
During the action, Yuko Matsubaru reads a recently written letter from Ruiko Muto, a resident of Fukushima, Japan. In it, she describes the threatening living conditions of the area around the nuclear power plant: “Nearby, in a small urban area that the government has decontaminated to lift evacuation orders, ‘reconstruction houses’ have been built for families with children. According to a new resident, the level of radioactivity in his house is 0.3 microSievert per hour (mSv/h), five to ten times higher than before the accident. “It is not exactly a healthy environment to live in and raise children.”
At the end of the action, the spokespersons of VAKS (a Belgian anti-nuclear group) and Yuko Matsubaru handed over two large envelopes, containing Ruiko Muto’s letter and other documents. These include a brief analysis of VAKS, a list of seven demands, and a list of 46 supporting organisations.
