"The Origin of Nuclear Power", Part 4,
Jan 26 2011
by Fredrik Loberg
Many people and countries are very much worried that Iran, North Korea and terrorists has got the knowledge of uranium enrichment. At the same time uranium enrichment is a absolutely necessary process for the production of electricity in Oskarshamn nuclear power plant.
This fourth and last reportage is also about the growing uranium cooperation between Oskarshamn and Russia. From the year 2011 there is no longer any law in Sweden stopping a fourth nuclear
reactor at Oskarshamn.
When nuclear power is growing in the world more enriched uranium needs to be produced. This means an even bigger need for more controls to prevent the knowledge of nuclear weapons production may spread further.
- It is wrong in so many ways to let this industry growing, Udo Buchholtz says.
He is leading the protests in one of the European towns where the uranium, which is
being sent to Oskarshamn nuclear power plant, becomes enriched.
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In three earlier reports near the beginning of 2010, from different parts of Canada, Nyheterna has written about the start of the very long global journey for uranium, from mine to electricity production in Oskarshamn nuclear power.
Now it is time to focus on the fourth stop for the uranium on its way to Oskarshamn.
The enrichment. The most secret process.
We are therefore travelling to Almelo, 1190 kilometres from Oskarshamn, a city with
more than 70 000 inhabitants in the east part of the Netherlands.
Uranium to be used in Oskarshamn nuclear power plant is enriched in Almelo.
Here we meet Jan Hammink. His parents ran a farm in Almelo until 1970. Then, the same year when Oskarshamn got its first reactor, it was decided that a plant for uranium enrichment should be built on the land where the Hammink family lived.
The family was compensated with a new house. At this time, when Jan was 17-18 years old, he was protesting against nuclear power.
- It was the flower-power era, you know, Jan Hammink says.
For six weeks young people from Almelo had an office in one of the farming buildings, where the protests where organized.
- It was the first resistance group against nuclear power here in Almelo, Jan Hammink says.
40 years later, in 2010, we are sitting in Jan Hammink's quiet, secure living room, talking while we hear the October rain from outside. Jan tells us that he liked the hippie period. He laughs a lot and explains that he is happy now also, but that he has changed. Now he thinks that the enrichment activity is good.
The fuel production in Lingen is runned by french nuclear giant Areva. OKG has decided to have closer partnership with Areva in the future. Areva will not only supply OKG with fuel elements, but also be responsible for the entire uranium supply chain to the reactor number 2 over the next four years. One of the reasons are Areva considered to have particularly good contacts with Russia. From which mines the
russian processed uranium comes from is not always easy to know.
But what is clear is that Areva for many years have lay its hands on the growing uranium market in Africa.
- For uranium companies it is easy to be in Africa, where environmental laws hardly exists, and in Africa authorities are often corrupt and in a bad situation for negotiations, Fleur Scheele says.
She works at Wise in Amsterdam, just returned from a conference in Tanzania, together with representatives from NGO:s in 20 African countries, where uranium mining is going on or is planned. Areva is the largest uranium company in Africa. Especially Areva's 42 years of uranium mining in France's former colony, Niger,
military dictatorship and one of the world's poorest and hottest countries, has been
very controversial for a long time.
Just like in Canada the mining is going on in areas where indigenous people live. Local NGOs claim that Areva had done nothing to help people out of poverty, but simply taking the profits from mining and leaves devastated and radioactive soil behind. In recent years Areva has started several development projects,
Read more:
Fredrik Loberg
fredrik.loberg@ostran.se
http://www.nyheterna.net/kaernkraftens/the_origin_of_nuclear_power/the_most_secretive_phase
