17 nuclear headaches

“It was my duty to do this and I did it.” These are the words of one of our Greenpeace activists when he was prosecuted last September for the peaceful protest at the nuclear power plant of Fessenheim in France. These thoughts are shared by the 17 people who participated in the action at Cofrentes nuclear power plant in Spain in 2011 to expose its dangers,  for which they will be tried in the coming days. The Cofrentes 17 face a possible sentence of almost three years in prison.

Greenpeace activists ‘stress testing’ at Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant. facility. (10/09/2012 © Greenpeace)

13. Valencia is just 100 kilometres away from Cofrentes, with a population of almost 800,000. Requena is 36 kilometres away with 21,000 inhabitants. Just like the Hartlepool nuclear plant in the UK which is also more than 30 years old and has highly populated towns in the vicinity.

14, 15. In Ukraine, the Rivne 1 and 2 reactors are older than 30 years. Their operators  breached the Espoo Convention by not carrying out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) before finalising a periodic safety review that allows them to operate another 10 years. At Cofrentes, its lifetime extension plan was published on the same day as the Fukushima disaster began and without any public consultation.

16. Three years ago, when the Greenpeace action took place at Cofrentes, nobody could imagine what would happen just a month later in Fukushima – a nuclear disaster which is very far from over. Some of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors were supplied by General Electric just like Cofrentes. These reactors lacked filtered ventilation systems to help prevent radioactivity escaping in the event of an accident. Cofrentes is exactly the same.

At Fukushima, the institutions responsible failed because they were unable to recognize the risks, unable to reinforce safety measures when deficiencies were acknowledged, and unable to protect the population and the environment. Just like at Cofrentes.

17. Without doubt, the Santa María de Garoña nuclear power plant is Spain’s biggest headache. Not only is it – like Cofrentes – operated by the company Iberdrola, at 43 years old it is also the oldest in the European Union Like the containment vessel in Cofrentes it was built by the same Dutch company as those in Belgium’s damaged Doel and Thiange reactors. It is now closed, but the Spanish government is looking to reopen it by modifying laws without public or environmental consultations.

Greenpeace activists are sprayed with a power hose at the Garoña Nuclear Plant (11/20/2008 © Greenpeace / Pedro Armestre)

So there we have it – 17 nuclear headaches, one for each of the 17 Cofrentes activists who are being prosecuted for doing their civil duty. When it comes to nuclear power, public participation and consent is essential. Peaceful protest is a right.

Will you stand with the Cofrentes 17?

Raquel Montón is a nuclear and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Spain