Earthlife urges public to oppose nuclear plant

WINDHOEK – Earthlife Namibia has called on members of the public to vote against the establishment of a nuclear power plant in the country in an Internet poll.

The poll can be found at the website of the Chamber of Mines of Namibia’s Uranium Institute, www.namibiauraniuminstitute.com under the heading ‘Must Namibia get an own nuclear plant.’The local environment concern group has welcomed the initiative spearheaded by the Chamber of Mines.The chairperson of Earthlife Namibia, Bertchen Kohrs, said in a media statement issued last week that the group welcomes the opportunity for the public to vote on the issue.’We asked for a national referendum on this crucial issue two years ago. Now we urge you to make good use of this chance. Namibia’s safety is in your vote,’ she said.Kohrs appealed to people to contact her if they are uncertain about where to put their vote in the poll. She promised to provide all the necessary details to anyone about the danger of nuclear power plants and the resulting nuclear waste, which is radioactive.The poll has been running on the website since February 2011 and so far, a total of 1 394 people have cast their votes.By Saturday morning, a total of 87.2 per cent (1 216 votes) had cast a ‘no’ vote, while 12.2 per cent (170) voted in favour of the establishment of a nuclear plant.A total of 0.5 per cent (seven) said they ‘do not know’ whether Namibia should get its own nuclear plant, while 0.1 per cent (one vote) had ‘no opinion’ about the matter. In the media statement, Kohrs reminded Namibians about the widespread and disastrous nuclear fallout from a nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine nearly 26 years ago. An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant on 26 April 1986 released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere. Considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, it resulted in a number of deaths in the months after the tragedy, while fears of tumours, genetic mutation and more from long-term exposure, exist. With Namibia classified as the fourth biggest producer of uranium globally and striving to become number three on the global market, Earthlife Namibia has anticipated several discussions on nuclear power in the future.When Japan tried to avert a meltdown at its Fukushima nuclear power plant last year, the threat of radiation sparked fresh debate amongst local environmental groups about nuclear safety in Namibia. – Nampa

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