Specialised talks and workshops addressed many different themes connected with uranium enrichment and there was lively discussion.
In a joint declaration the conference participants rejected all further use of uranium. The declaration says uranium mining worldwide, processing of uranium and its use for military purposes must stop immediately because of the great dangers they pose. The participants demanded immediate closure of all uranium enrichment factories because they serve only to continue operation of atomic power stations and the construction of atomic bombs. In Germany the British-Dutch-German Urenco corporation operates an enrichment plant at Gronau, near the Dutch border.

Aktionsbündnis Münsterland gegen Atomanlagen wrote that the conference was an important contribution to cross-border networking of the anti-nuclear movement aimed at putting up effective resistance against the international nuclear industry. The world’s biggest uranium enricher, Urenco, is active around the globe. Backing the uranium industry are governments and large corporations like the German power giants EON and RWE and the nuclear corporation, AREVA. Moreover, the uranium industry is massively subsidised. In many countries uranium mining, enrichment and storage of the depleted uranium endanger people’s health and the natural foundations of their lives. That is totally unacceptable.

The disposal of uranium waste is totally unclear. Masses of depleted uranium are produced as waste when uranium is enriched. There is no way to safely dispose of atomic waste. From Germany, the Netherlands, France and Great Britain about 100,000 tonnes of depleted uranium were transported to Russia in the past ten years, where the uranium waste lies in the open air under catastrophic conditions at three locations. We regard this unscrupulous pushing out of highly dangerous atomic waste as criminal. We demand immediate cessation of these uranium waste transports to Russia.

The conference participants emphasised that there is no separation between military and supposedly civilian use of uranium – not in Iran, nor Russia, Brazil or anywhere else. We want the uranium to stay in the ground. Atomic waste has to be prevented before it’s produced. We call for the use of regenerative energy sources and for resistance to the uranium industry.

The conference agreed to expand international cooperation between the various groups and organisations. The next step in that endeavour will be the “European Anti Nuclear Manifestation” from 9-11 November in Helsinki. The participants also called for joint protest actions to be mounted against supplies of natural uranium from Pierrelatte in southern France to Gronau in Germany and another Urenco plant at Almelo in the Netherlands. Also, protests against uranium waste transports from Gronau and Almelo to Russia are to be intensified. Next year the first joint European day of action against the uranium industry is to be organised.

The declaration was supported by Aktionsbündnis Münsterland gegen Atomanlagen, Arbeitskreis Umwelt (AKU) Gronau, Ecodefense Russia, Baikal Environmental Wave Irkutsk (Russia), Women Against Atomic Power (Finland), Folkkampanjen mot kärnkraft-kärnvapen (Sweden), Laka Amsterdam, Nederlands Euregionaal Nucleair Overleg (Netherlands), Réseau Sortir du nucléaire (France), Anti-Atom-Gruppe Bonn, Anti-Atom-Gruppe Heidelberg, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Schacht Konrad, BI “Kein Atommüll in Ahaus”, BI Umweltschutz Hamm, BI Umweltschutz Lüchow-Dannenberg, Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz (BBU), Contratom, Dortmunder Menschen gegen Atomanlagen, Greenpeace Deutschland, Kölner Gegenstrom gegen Atomanlagen, Lüneburger Initiative gegen Atomanlagen, Menschen gegen Atomanlagen Waltrop, Natur- und Umweltschutzverein Gronau, Ökologiereferat des ASTA der Fachhochschule Düsseldorf, Robin Wood, Sauerland gegen Atomanlagen, Sofortiger Atomausstieg (SOFA) Münster, “Urangruppe Nirgendwo”.

More information at: www.urantransport.de, www.wise-uranium.org, www.aku-gronau.de, www.sofa-ms.de, www.contratom.de