(June 7, 1996) In reaction to the announcement by the French government that it will distribute iodine pills to the people living in an area of ten kilometers around a nuclear plant, the group "Europeans against Superphenix" has successfully procured through an official agent a stock of iodine capsules, and redistributed these with an accompanying critical statement as a form of protest against the French policy.
(453.4481) WISE-Amsterdam - In a pamphlet entitled "What will happen in case of a nuclear accident at a French nuclear power plant?", the group gives the answer by explaining extensively that it will be impossible to take efficient measures. Practice drills for a possible emergency conducted recently in Gravelines (northern France) and some years ago in Lyons flopped completely.
According to the Lyons fire department, two rules would immediately apply in the event of an accident:
- The firemen would immediately be placed under the command of the military authorities
- They would have to maintain silence. This even means no communication by radio, which journalists and other people could easily listen to.
The official French policy - as in the days of the Chernobyl disaster - is and will be not to cause panic among the population through information. Once a grave nuclear accident occurs, the only possible recourse for the population is to organize itself and to take measures in their homes (like keeping a supply of iodine pills against thyroid cancer, bottled drinking water enough for many days and scotch tape to tape the windows, etc). What really is the best thing to do now, however, is to stop the nuclear insanity by protesting against it.
Source and contact: Les Européens contre Superphenix, 9 rue Dumenge, F- 69004 Lyon France.
Tel: +33-7828 2922; Fax: +33-7207 7004