87 Japanese NGOs call for nuclear-free society on 25th anniversary of Chernobyl accident

From Japan Today:

TOKYO — A group of 87 nongovernmental organizations in Japan reiterated calls to achieve "a nuclear-free society" on Tuesday, the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, at a time when a nuclear crisis is continuing in Japan at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

"We will launch a large national action" seeking the permanent closure of the Fukushima Daiichi and neighboring Daini plants, cancellations of the nuclear fuel recycle program and new reactor construction plans as well as shutdowns of aging reactors, the NGOs said in their joint statement.

"As a first step we are issuing this joint statement today, 25 years after the Chernobyl accident," it noted. "And we will propose a process for achieving a steady phase out of nuclear energy" so the earth will not be further subjected to radioactive contamination and radiation exposure.

On the state of the Fukushima plant, the statement said the reactors there "have not achieved cold shut down. The situation continues to be unpredictable."

The No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded on April 26, 1986, becoming the world’s worst nuclear accident.

A list of the signatory NGOs is included following the Japanese version of this statement at the website of the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center.

For a gripping photojournalist account of post-disaster Chernobyl, see the Kid of Speed website, which documents the 2004 motorcycle journey of a Ukranian woman who simply calls herself Elena as she travels through the abandoned town and records what she sees and feels.