(Japanese version in pdf)

The participants of the Abolition 2000 Annual General Meeting, gathered in Vien na on May 5, 2012, celebrate the shut-down today of the last operating nuclear power reactor, out of 54 reactors previously operating in Japan.

The reactors have been shut-down temporarily for normal and special maintenance.

In light of the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences from the Fukushima disaster unfolding now and into the future, we support the majority of people in Japan and worldwide calling for a phase-out of nuclear energy, and specifically that the Japanese reactors are not restarted, but are closed permanently.

The facts that the Japanese society is now functioning without nuclear energy – and that the majority of other societies continue to function and develop successfully without nuclear energy – indicate that such a dangerous energy source is not necessary, particularly if we increase renewable energy sources.

The phase-out of nuclear energy also closes a door to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and helps create the conditions for a sustainable nuclear-weapon-free world.

We send this appeal to the Japanese government, parliament and civil society.

Forty European students from Austria, Germany, Italy, Romania and Switzerland will attend and monitor discussions at the NPT PrepCom, the first committee for the 2015 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. These participants were selected through an open online process, that took into account gender and geographical balance. Read more »

On Saturday 5 May the Abolition 2000 network will gather in Vienna for the 2012 Annual General Meeting. All are welcome, and encouraged to join.

The meeting will take place at the Kulturzentrum Amerlinghaus (Stiftgasse 8, 1070 Wien) from 9am – 6pm. Read more »