The Nuclear Resister

Fr. Martin Newell, center, with codefendants Chris Cole and Sr. Susan Clarkson

Fr. Martin Newell of the London Catholic Worker community was sentenced to 24 days imprisonment on Friday 9 December 2011 at Highbury Magistrates Court.  Martin was brought before the court for refusing to pay a fine arising from cutting into the Northwood Headquarters/ London
in December 2008.  The anti-war direct action was timed for the “Feast of the Holy Innocents” on the Catholic liturgical calender. The feast day follows Christmas and commemorates the massacre of children in a search and destroy mission by King Herod who saw the birth of Christ as a threat to his power.

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A private firm’s plan to dump low-level radioactive waste in their East Midlands landfill met with nonviolent resistance on the morning of December 2. Three days before, Kings Cliffe Waste Watchers, with the backing of 98% of area residents who opposed the plan in a recent referendum, were given leave to appeal a British High Court ruling in favor of operator Augean. But the court refused to grant an order barring the waste until the appeal is concluded. Augean had earlier agreed to wait until the legal dispute was settled, but now said they’d go ahead, and could just dig it up again if the ruling was not in their favor.

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(From the Nuclear Resister #164, December 5, 2011. For  a free copy of the current issue, email your postal address to nukeresister@igc.org.)

Castor Schottern activists in Germany work together to stop the train carrying nuclear waste by removing gravel ballast from under the rails. (Castor Schottern photo)

The 12th and last of the scheduled rail shipments of German nuclear reactor waste from a reprocessing center in France left the station a day earlier than expected in November. Authorities wanted to get the jump on tens of thousands of nuclear resisters assembling all along the possible routes from La Hague to the geologic grave site at Gorleben, in Germany’s northern Wendland. Despite the head start, this shipment took longer than any other to reach its destination due to the largest such opposition protest ever mounted in France, and the second largest in 35 years of nuclear waste protest in Germany. France’s failure to get German agreement to the expedited shipment also added to a delay at their border.

An echo of the past and inspiration for the present resistance to the shipments came from a prison in Frankfurt, where Franziska Wittig began serving an 80-day sentence October 14 for conviction of assault. She and two others had chained themselves to the tracks in November 2008, stopping the train at the French border for 12 hours. Wittig refused to pay an €800 fine.

Eleven massive Castor canisters on special rail cars made up the train that pulled out of Valognes, France, late on the afternoon of November 23. Already that morning, police using teargas and truncheons

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Michael Lyons

British conscientious objector Michael Lyons was released on November 9, after serving four months in military prison for refusing orders to train and deploy to Afghanistan. Summing up his gratitude for the support he received while in prison, a Facebook message said Lyons now “has a new answer to the famous hypothetical question, What would be the one thing you would save if your house was on fire. Answer: The box of letters and cards of support received whist in prison!”

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From the Save Jeju Island Global Campaign 

Dear friends of Jeju Island,

On November 18th, the South Korean Navy will blast Gureombi, the smooth volcanic rock along the coastline of Gangjeong village where the local people have been fighting day and night almost for 5 years to stop the naval base. Please take 5 minutes to be part of this global collective effort to stop this destructive blast.

Jeju was recently selected among the New Seven Wonders of Nature, which with its UNESCO triple-crowned status makes the island among the world’s most precious cultural and national treasures. In addition, the marine ecosystem that lines Gureombi is an absolute preservation area designated by the South Korean government because of the many endangered species that inhabit Gureombi, including the red-clawed crab and soft coral. The spring water that bubbles up from Gureombi provides up to 80% of the drinking water for residents of Seogwipo City, the southern half of Jeju Island. The destruction of Gureombi threatens the surrounding marine life and the clean water that farmers and villagers depend upon for their survival.

Please take action now and send an email to Jeju Governor Woo urging him to halt the blast and construction of the naval base. The Jeju Island governor should protect Jeju’s pristine nature from being destroyed. Although Governor Woo has the authority to order the Navy to halt construction, he is overseeing the destruction of this pristine coastline.

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