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ON OCTOBER 24, the Finnish
© Greenpeace
OCTOBER
20
E.ON SEES THE LIGHT
TOXIC SLUDGE LEAK AT THE TALVIVAARA MINE
ON NOVEMBER 7, a leakage from the waste water pond
of a metal mine in Finland, spelt disaster for the surrounding forests and provided a powerful call to action for the Finnish team. The leaking water, a cocktail of poisonous chemicals containing nickel, uranium, aluminium and cadmium, contaminated swathes of the the local ecosystem and caused great upset amongst concerned locals. Greenpeace immediately dispatched a campaign team to bear witness to the spill, collect samples and demand that authorities close the mine. The event was a reminder of the considerable risks associated with uranium mining; other countries in which uranium prospecting is currently taking place include Sweden and Greenland. © Aino Tuomi-Nikula / Greenpeace
nuclear energy campaign experienced a breakthrough when plans for a new nuclear power plant, Fennovoima, were jeopardised by the major shareholder E.ON withdrawing from the project. This decision has increased the likelihood that the 70 remaining investors, each with considerably smaller shares, will also pull out of the project. E.ON’s decision followed two years of intensive campaigning by our Finnish office, including the mobilisation of a week long protest camp on the site of the proposed plant. Finland currently has four nuclear reactors with a fifth under construction; the process of which has so far been riddled with safety problems, huge delays and budgets overrun several times by escalating costs.
NOVEMBER
© Timo Puohiniemi / Greenpeace