No Nukes Asia Forum 2010

The 2010 No Nukes Asia Forum Joint Statement

September 18-21, 2010 Taipei, Taiwan

(The statement is also posted on the web site of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union)

Twenty-four years after Chernobyl disaster, the victims and their families are still suffering from the impact and radioactive pollution. The people of Asia continue to be exposed to fear of nuclear disaster and radioactive contamination. Many antinuclear activists, who battled against political and economic authority locally, understood it was important to share information and collaborate internationally for no nuke movement among Asian countries. Therefore, No Nukes Asia Forum, NNAF, was first convened in Japan in 1993. Till now, the mission to stop nuclear threat is not yet accomplished. The greed of multinational corporations, headquartered in some countries such as China, France, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the USA, continues to push nuclear expansion. They take aim at Asian market primary in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam currently, and the menace of nuclear war and disaster continues to proliferate. Recently, nuclear reactors in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa and Hamaoka power plants were damaged or stopped by earthquakes in Japan, further proving that nuclear power is unsafe.

We are delegates from Japan, India, Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan to celebrate 2010 NNAF. We have gathered in Taipei for a four-day international conference and activities and have a sense of full trust and solidarity among ourselves. We are proud of having participated in and promoted an Asian anti-nuclear movement over the past seventeen years. We feel invigorated and strive as partners in mission to No Nukes Asia.

Our Stand

1. We advocate the sustainable energy policy. We urge the government of each country to promote energy conservation, enhance energy efficiency, and develop renewable energies. We oppose unsustainable nuclear power.
2. Earthquake damaged Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station, the world's biggest nuclear power station in Japan, and caused nuclear waste spill in July 2007. We appeal to the government of each country for enhancing earthquake protection system in the existing nuclear power stations. We also request Taiwan government to stop as soon as possible the operations of all the nuclear power plants, which site in areas of geologic faults.
3. Because of inappropriate construction work and improper management on NPP4, many accidents have taken place during recent test run period. Besides, Taiwan Premier We Den-Yi pushes Taipower to advance the schedule of commercial operation of NPP4. These will increase the possibility of disasters and expose people to great danger. We condemn Taiwan government for its irresponsibility. The test run of NPP4 with nuclear fuel rods filled should not be started before holding the referendum.
4. Climate change induces the extreme weather conditions that result in heavy rains causing massive flooding and landslides. The government of each country should prevent and manage the serious risks of nuclear power plant destruction by climate disaster. Also, nuclear energy is not clean energy and not a solution to climate change. Huge amounts of fossil fuels are used in every stage of the nuclear process and the toxic wastes and radioactive chemicals emitted pose great danger to people's health.
5. Nuclear power endangers the life and property of people. Inappropriate nuclear policy making is also a violation of human rights. We urge the government of each country to assure the civil rights of self-determination. We are in solidarity with the Taiwanese people's action to call for revising the referendum law and holding a referendum on NPP4.
6. We are strongly opposed to Taiwan government's decision to expand the highly energy-consuming, polluting, and carbon dioxide emitting industries (for example, Kuo-Kuang Petrochemical Plant Project), while continuing the construction of the NPP4 and postponing the decommissioning of the existing nuclear reactors.
7. The continued storage of nuclear wastes on Orchid Island has put the lives and the environment of the indigenous Tao people to great risk. We request Taiwan government to seek the speediest and most judicious solution to this, while not to increase the risks to life and the environment in other areas.
8. We call upon the governments of Asian countries to establish an open, transparent, and democratic mechanism for the decision-making of energy policy.
9. We call upon the people of Asia to collaborate on stopping the exporting and importing of nuclear power plants. Exporting and importing nuclear power plants are not only constructing new power plants, but also increasing incidental risk, problems of nuclear wastes and nuclear weapon proliferation in each Asian country. Nuclear power trade also poses a risk for imposing huge economic burdens and debt to developing countries.

All Participants of 2010 No Nukes Asia Forum

September 18-21, 2010, Taipei, Taiwan

Return to NIT 139 contents

See also CNIC's Asian Nukes Campaign page