GERMANY-FUKUSHIMA/ ANNIVERSARY Hundreds gather in Berlin to remember Fukushima disaster

Record ID: 275859

  • Title: GERMANY-FUKUSHIMA/ ANNIVERSARY Hundreds gather in Berlin to remember Fukushima disaster
  • Date: 7th March 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (MARCH 7, 2015) (REUTERS) PEOPLE GATHERING IN FRONT OF BRANDENBURG GATE TO COMMEMORATE 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF FUKUSHIMA DISASTER (MARCH 11) AND PROTEST AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • City:
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAD1QGMDCA0SGBRLI5FYBVN10JF
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  • Story Text: Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Saturday (March 7) to remember the Fukushima disaster four years ago and call for end of nuclear energy.
    On March 11, 2011 an earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 220 km (130 miles) northeast of the Japanese capital of Tokyo, sparking triple nuclear meltdowns, forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee from nearby towns and contaminating water, food and air. Now, almost 4 years later, protesters wanted to remind people of the catastrophe by marching through the city centre of the German capital and performing a traditional Japanese dance called "Kansho Odori". The event was organised by Sayonara Nukes Berlin, an anti-nuclear group of Japanese people living in Berlin, together with "AntiAtom (Anti-Nuclear) Berlin" and "Naturfreunde (Friends of Nature) Berlin".
    The protesters called for a stop on nuclear energy plants. "To switch off nuclear plants worldwide and destruction of all nuclear weapons, that's the second demand. Because they are something like Siamese Twins," said protester Hauke Benner and Daesoo Lee, Chairperson of the Asia's Citizen's Network for Peace, added: "The Fukushima-problem is not only a problem for Japan, but it concerns all of us."
    In the meantime the Japanese government is reviewing the restart of some of their nuclear reactors. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pushes the restart of plants, but has said he will defer to local authorities to approve a policy that is still unpopular with large parts of the public. Before the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl 1986, Japan was a world leading operator of nuclear power.
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