ARGENTINA: Chernobyl remembered on 25th anniversary of meltdown, with calls to halt expansion of local nuclear energy program

Record ID: 215760

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Chernobyl remembered on 25th anniversary of meltdown, with calls to halt expansion of local nuclear energy program
  • Date: 27th April 2011
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (APRIL 26, 2011) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF PARK WITH EXHIBIT COMMEMORATING CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SETTING UP EXHIBIT PERSON HANGING SIGN READING: CHERNOBYL 25 YEARS MAN LOOKING AT EXHIBIT
  • Embargoed: 12th May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,History
  • Reuters ID: LVAD5G01HJU0TMRIHC8ZJ1O9GE6T
  • Story Text: Argentina remembered victims of Chernobyl's nuclear meltdown on Tuesday (April 26), the 25th anniversary of the catastrophe, and called on President Cristina Fernandez to halt expansion of the country's nuclear energy program.
    An exhibit organized by Greenpeace showed pictures of the victims of radiation in a main square in downtown Buenos Aires.
    The 1986 explosion of the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine, was the world's worst nuclear incident, sending radiation billowing across Europe.
    The recent meltdown at reactors in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami has stirred calls to cut back on nuclear energy across the globe.
    Ernesto Boerio, a member of Greenpeace in Argentina, recounted some of the problems the radiation caused.
    "This tragedy killed 200,000 and caused health problems of all kinds; mostly cancer, thyroid problems, diabetes, infections in the respiratory, digestive and cardiovascular system. These things still affect people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. How long are we going to continue tolerating the danger of nuclear power?" he said.
    Argentina opened the first nuclear power plant in Latin America in 1974. But the country stopped at two plants when the technology fell out of favor as accidents such as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster raised safety concerns worldwide.
    President Cristina Fernandez's government is finishing construction on the South American country's long-stalled third nuclear power plant, and plans to build another two by 2025.
    Boerio said it was time to revise this new policy.
    "We ask President Cristina Fernandez to stop her plan that started a few years ago. We ask her to stop the construction of Atucha 2 and that the fourth nuclear plant never gets built," he said.
    Latin America is home to just five nuclear power plants. Mexico has one, and Brazil, like Argentina, has two and is building a third.
    The goal is for 15 percent of Argentina's power to come from nuclear sources by 2025, up from 6 percent currently, according to official estimates. This would reduce dependence on shrinking natural gas and crude oil reserves, which now account for about 60 percent of Argentina's electrical power.
    Argentina's two operating nuclear power plants are run on natural uranium as opposed to enriched uranium, which can be used to make bombs. But Argentina plans to adapt as the world turns increasingly to enriched uranium.
    The exhibit in Argentina joins a worldwide movement of demonstrations against nuclear power and official calls to revise safety policies.
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