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Rights group urges end to nuclear power

Lecturer says government’s response to disaster in Japan has been fairly muted
Rights group urges end to nuclear power
Gwangju Human Rights Peace Foundation started a series of lectures on ditching nuclear power
Published: June 24, 2011 08:08 AM GMT
Updated: June 24, 2011 08:56 AM GMT

A Church foundation is urging the government and society to follow Germany’s lead in phasing out nuclear power. The call came at the start of a series of lectures on Wednesday discussing ways of ceasing reliance on nuclear energy and concentrating on alternative sources. The lectures are being organized by the Gwangju Human Rights Peace Foundation, in cooperation with the Korean bishops’ Committee for Justice and Peace. “Germany has decided to do away with nuclear plants and are looking at alternative energy sources,” said Father Raphael Kim Jae-hak, executive director of the foundation, who expressed the wish that the lectures would encourage a similar move in South Korea. The first lecture on Wednesday at Gwangju Catholic University saw around 120 people attend.  Four more lectures will be delivered each Wednesday until July 20. During the lecture on Wednesday, Park Jin-hee, professor of technology history at Dongguk University, said the government’s response to the Fukushima disaster in Japan in March has been fairly muted. But Germany, thousands of kilometers away from the disaster area, almost immediately started looking at how it could ditch nuclear power, she noted. Park explained that Germany appeared to decide very quickly because it has been able to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear power for many decades. According to her, Germany does not envision an energy problem in 2021 as alternative sources and reducing demand for energy supplies should meet the country’s needs. Park said government and society in South Korea need to seriously think about gradually phasing out existing nuclear plants and reactors, and scrapping plans for further ones. South Korea currently has 21 reactors at four nuclear power plants and is constructing or planning 11 more, according to Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power. Related reports Photographer warns of nuclear threat

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