nuclear power

Money isn't everything © Gavin Austin

The climate camp's 24 hours of action has drawn to a close and it's been a rare old time with protests springing up all over the country, not just around Heathrow. When I left the camp last night, a large group of people were camped outside BAA's offices near the airport and thanks to Indymedia's rather excellent Twittering, my mobile has continued to deliver updates about what was going on.

We can shout from the rooftops that nuclear power won't stop climate change and decentralised energy is the way forward; we can produce investigations into what it is, how it can apply to the UK and how much it will all cost; we can write case studies about how it's already being used; we can lobby government to sort out the regulatory framework and the energy markets so that decentralised energy is on a level footing with other forms of energy production; we can ask you to write to your MP to help spread the word.

In making sure that nuclear power doesn't become part of the UK's energy policy, we tend to focus on the myth that it will solve climate change, the vast expense and the danger from radioactive waste. However, the other end of the supply chain is also fraught with problems and uranium mining can seriously damage your health. Just watch this video:

We recently launched a new film about the real solution to climate change (clue: it's not nuclear power - and the film explains exactly why not). The film's been sent to every MP in the country and is making its way around the interweb nicely. But we think its message - that the UK needs a new, and sane, energy system now - is crucial and we want to push it out further. So we've produced this new trailer.

There are plenty of ways you can help us get the word out: write to your MP asking them to watch the film; embed the film or the trailer on your website, blog or MySpace page; send it to a friend; Hugg it, Digg it or add it to your StumbleUpon favourites.

Climate change is happening. We know exactly what needs to be done to stop it. The technologies already exist. Let's do it.

Reuters has a new video report on the impacts of earthquake-struck Japan's recent nuclear accident, which means Kawashaki nuclear plant will be closed indefinitely:

Japan's killer earthquake left its biggest nuclear power company facing financial losses, supply questions, and demands for greater safety.

The video's here (there's an advert before the Reuters report starts).

After the conflicting reports about last week's earthquake in Japan, a Greenpeace team of nuclear and radiation experts headed over to Japan to check radiation levels on the ground.

Happily, most places the team checked around the plant didn't show signs of increased radioactivity, but they had a couple of bizarre moments along the way. Their diaries are on our international site.

On Monday, an earthquake hit Kashiwazaki in north-western Japan, killing nine people and injuring hundreds more. Already a disaster for the citizens of Kashiwazaki, thousands of whom are now living in shelters, things could have been much, much worse.

Kawashaki is the location of the world’s biggest nuclear power plant – the site of seven nuclear reactors. At first it was thought that the 6.8 magnitude earthquake had just caused a fire at the plant and Tepco – the nuclear company - initially said no radioactivity was released. "No harm" was done, said a spokesperson.

Then we were told that in fact there had been a leak, but it was only 1.5 gallons of radioactive water. On Tuesday, it emerged that just a smidgen more radioactive water might have leaked than 1.5 gallons. About 243 times more. And the water was 50 times more radioactive than had been stated.

If you like our film, please help us to make sure that the UK gets a genuinely clean and efficient energy system.

"We have made the decision to continue with nuclear power."

With those ten words, Gordon Brown managed to break the law, sabotage an ongoing public consultation and do a U-turn on his promise to listen to the people - all during his first Prime Minister's Question Time.

As head of government, Brown's meant to be abiding by a high court ruling that says the government can't legally make a decision on whether to build new nuclear power stations before a proper public consultation has been carried out.

The last consultation, said Justice Sullivan, was "seriously flawed"; the process was "manifestly inadequate and unfair" because insufficient information had been made available by the government for consultees to make an "intelligent response".

It now looks like this consultation is as much of a sham as the last one; the government seems to have already made up its mind on nukes, before the consultation's even really underway.

Here's a pdf of the letter our lawyers sent Brown this morning.