Nuclear activities endanger people, democracy, freedom and the environment. After the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, the fight against greenhouse gases must not be a pretext to maintain nuclear energy. There is a especially strong interrelation between Europe and Asia on this issue, illustrated by the role of Areva in both regions. A wave of people’s struggles against the building of new nuclear plants is ongoing, as in Koodankulam.

To address these issues, a workshop was organized during the Vientiane (Laos) AEPF9 forum. This workshop established a permanent « circle » (network) within the AEPF framework. This circle aims first of all at:

• introducing the nuclear energy issue in AEPF activities and outlook, linking it to various other or broader fields: overall energy policy, fight against militarism…;

• contributing to popularize ongoing people’s struggles in Asia or Europe against nuclear plants or national pro-nuclear energy policies, proposing concrete regional and international solidarity initiatives toward them;

• sharing information and analysis, building a common background of references, posting the most important contributions on our various websites;

• contributing to build closer solidarity links between existing regional anti-nuclear networks, especially between Asian and European networks.

The workshop was introduced by Pierre Rousset (France), speaking on the aims of the AEPF “no-nuke” circle; by Vaishali Patil (Jaitapur struggle), speaking on the present situation in India; and by Achin Vanaik (India), who presented the draft statement “A call for action”... Participants were from China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Laos, Spain, Thailand, Vietnam. Other countries could not be represented (Japan, Malaysia…) because of other meetings taking place at the same time, or because national networks could not send someone to Vientiane (South Korea…).

Declaration. A declaration had been drafted by Achin Vanaik to prepare the workshop. Some amendments had been already introduced in the version distributed in Vientiane. It was further discussed and amended with the participants. The purpose of this declaration is to present in a synthetic way the “stand” of the AEPF “No-Nuke” Circle and the main reasons why we do oppose nuclear energy.

National and regional situations. We did not try to map the situation in all concerned countries or sub-regions; this sharing of information should be part of the coming activities of our circle. Nevertheless, some specific issues were addressed during the workshop’s exchanges.

• The extreme gravity of the situation in India was underlined: an unprecedented and massive wave of repression is hitting the anti-nuclear people’s movements. Indian movements are among the most important (Koodankulam…) and the most suppressed ones, today.

• Contrary to what is too often written, the French government is not planning to significantly reduce nuclear energy production. Only one nuclear plant should be closed down (the oldest one: Fessenheim), while the construction of another one should be concluded (Flamanville EPR). France remains a stronghole for the nuclear lobby.

• The regional and international implications of the possible building of nuclear power plants in a new country were discussed through the example of Thailand in relations to its neighbours (Laos…), leading to a discussion on the possibility sub-regional coordination of people’s movements on such issues.

No Japanese could participate in the workshop, so we did not discuss the post-Fukushima situation, which is of course a major issue for all of us, neither we could address the situation in South Korea or Malaysia…

Proposals. A first set of proposals was discussed:

• To underline the link between nuclear energy and military nuclear proliferation. To integrate the nuclear energy specific question within the overall energy issue (“neither oil nor nuke”, rather than “oil and nuke”).

• To take part in the ongoing international solidarity campaign in defence of the Indian people’s movement, in particular in Tamil Nadu (Koodankulam). One proposal is for an international delegation of MPs to go to Tamil Nadu (maybe at the occasion of the March anniversary of Fukushima): it would be very difficult for the Indian government to refuse the entry in the country to MPs, as it did with Japanese representatives of anti-nuclear networks.

• To discuss with the concerned French networks the possibility to target more systematically Areva company, involved for example in Jaitapur (construction of a giant plant) and many other countries like Mali (uranium mines).

• To participate in the initiatives which will be taken for March 11, 2013 anniversary day.

Report to AEPF organizing committees. A short report was given to the AEPF International (IOC) and National (NOC) Organizing Committees on the workshop and its recomandations. The call for a nuclear free world has been incorporated into the AEPF9 Declaration, which will be given to the ASEM heads of states and governments.

AEPF “No-Nuke” Circle

The “Call for Action” (the Declaration discussed at the workshop) is available on both AEPF (www.aepf.info) and AEPF9 (www.aepf9.info) websites.

It is also posted on ESSF (article 26840) website: AEPF9: A call for Action: toward a nuclear free world