The THTR Circulars from 2005

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THTR Circular No. 100, July 2005

Preface to this edition

Just a few years ago, hardly anyone expected that one day the 100th edition of this newspaper would appear and that the citizens' initiative that published it would soon celebrate its 30th birthday. Because originally citizens' initiatives were "only" one-point movements that were directed against a specific grievance or a certain danger. Then, very soon, the actors 'perspective first broadened to include neighboring areas, went further and many people realized that a lot had to be changed. However, some then said that comprehensive changes would only be possible through cooperation in parties and turned away from citizens' initiatives away. The result can currently be viewed as a heap of political debris. In order to work successfully, it is always necessary to consciously direct all available energy and all attention to a very specific focus. After it became clear that the HTR would be built as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) in South Africa near Cape Town, this is one such point for our citizens' initiative.

The Dortmund company Uhde is to build the fuel element factory in South Africa. There is already the very committed Böllstiftung and Earthlife Africa, with whom we work together. Before the South African Supreme Court, the activists were able to book an important legal partial success. Next door, in the former German colony of Namibia, the uranium was extracted for the THTR in Hamm and a new, large uranium mine is now also being planned.

Mahatma Gandhi, who lived in South Africa for 21 years and gained important political experience there, could also be the inspiration for future activities. He even stayed in Cape Town for some time. So only a few kilometers away from the place where the construction of a new HTR is planned today.

Horst Blume

Renaissance. The THTR in Hamm, beaten down after 14 years, had to be shut down in 1989. But after another 14 years it became apparent that the nuclear industry and its allies at Forschungszentrum Jülich had continued to work on their dangerous plans to build a new high-temperature reactor at the other end of the world. It turned out to be a great mistake to feel so safe.

Resistance. There was also resistance to the HTR in South Africa. At first there were only a few. But after a high concentration of radioactivity was measured at the border of the South African Pelindaba nuclear factory - where the HTR fuel element factory in Uhde / Dortmund is supposed to be - hundreds of articles appeared in the media. The planned HTR came more and more into the public discussion.

Problems. There is enough in South Africa. Of the 5,6 million AIDS sufferers, half a million die each year (1). Who still thinks of the radiation hazard from a nuclear power plant that would go into operation in a few years? Wouldn't it be more natural to worry more about the very high crime rate and the 2004 people murdered in 20.000? And about the numerous raids on ammunition depots by the police and army (2)?

Exploitation. Unemployment is officially 28%, independent institutes put it at 42% (3). Apartheid left the country with millions of unskilled black workers. The former Liberation Front, ANC, has been in government since 1994. She launched the "Black Economic Empowerment" program. Blacks, too, should increasingly become entrepreneurs and be allowed to order and exploit other people. Only a very small number of black business people benefit from it. And Deutsche Bank (4), which is the first to jump on this bandwagon. She hopes for a business advantage over the competition.

Dead end. The vast majority of blacks live in great poverty. The neoliberal policies of the former liberation front meant that for the first time since 1975 the gap between rich and poor widened again. The privatization of the water supply led to price increases of up to 600 percent (5). Many families have had their water turned off and cholera broke out. Electricity bills and mortgages can no longer be paid. There are power cuts and house evictions on a large scale. The landless movement calls for land reform. The opponents of privatization have violent arguments with the police and are partially reviving the old underground structures from the apartheid period. For the movement activists it is clear: "The ANC has become a party of the bosses" (6).

Cracks. The trade union COSATU and the Communist Party (SACP) are under the joint umbrella of the ruling ANC party. Their elites cling to the little power that capital has left them in institutions and various bodies. But the base grumbles. There are discussions. It doesn't stay the way it was. The alliance could break up at some point. In September 2004 a one-day general strike took place for more wages with 800.000 civil servants (7). It was the biggest strike in post-apartheid history.

Criticism. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Head of the Reconciliation Commission on apartheid crimes, spoke up in November 2004 and heavily criticized the ANC (8). He castigated the enrichment of a black elite within the framework of the ANC economic program and criticized the fact that there was no longer any critical and open debate in the ANC. The words tutu found a certain resonance in the ranks of the ANC as well. But with 69,68 percent, the ANC received another comfortable majority in the elections on April 14, 2004. After the former apartheid party NNP only received 1,65 percent in these elections, it disbanded and its members joined the ANC almost as one, in order to be very close to the meatpots in the future. You now provide the environment minister.

Example. When the apartheid dictatorship was overthrown, no long and bloody civil war took place. The process of transformation towards a parliamentary democracy went hand in hand with a process of reconciliation between the groups of the population that had been hostile to each other for a long time. The painful coming to terms with the apartheid past is making progress and is drawing great respect from the rest of the world. The geographical names, which are reminiscent of the white despots, are gradually being given new names. NRW's partner province Osttransvaal got the beautiful African name Mpumalanga (Land of the Rising Sun).

Frustration. The miserable living situation of the black majority has not changed 11 years after the official end of apartheid. Sections of black people are frustrated. This frustration is fueled when the country's judges, dominated by whites, pass judgments in favor of industrial groups against the interests of the majority of blacks (9).

Entanglements. Around 4000 former South African apartheid killers work as mercenaries on behalf of various "security companies" in Iraq (10). Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher, who lives in Cape Town, was involved in a coup attempt by British oil multinationals against Equatorial Guinea from South Africa. He got away with a fine after negotiating with Great Britain (11). Several German and Swiss engineers who were involved in the military nuclear program as accomplices of the racist regime have participated in a worldwide trade in nuclear technology together with the Islamist and "father of the Pakistani atomic bomb" Abdul Qadeer Khan. You will now be tried (12). Nothing is really certain. When South Africa builds and exports high-temperature reactors, there is another problem and hazard potential.

Energy. 94 percent of the energy is obtained from hard coal, only 1,5 percent from the sun and wind. By 2013 only five percent should be generated from alternative energy, although there is enough sun and wind in South Africa. The government is also relying on the high-temperature reactor for the future and wants to copy the industrialized countries with it (13). One of the largest offshore gas fields in the world has been discovered off the coast of Namibia near the border with South Africa. From 2009, the first power plant should be able to be supplied with this raw material and produce electricity for South Africa (14).

Life. After the hell of apartheid, the younger generation now wants to enjoy life. She has a right to it. The new freedoms have made a considerable boost in creativity possible. In the fields of music, fashion and media, young blacks are reclaiming their own areas and expressions. In particular, Kwaito (15), a new urban music style made up of spoken chant in township slang, elements of hip hop, house music, R&B and Jamaican dancehall conquered the music market and the media. Kwaito is now making serious competition to popular gospel music, this highly religious long-term consolation for a better life in the afterlife (16). As usual, a number of nouveau riche young stars liven up the gossip columns in the magazines, but many take advantage of the opportunity to gain influence and, for example, get involved in critical radio broadcasts or organize literary programs for street children. The picture is very colorful and diverse. Some are far-sighted and care about the protection of their livelihoods despite the omnipresent economic struggle for survival. And that's good.

Horst Blume

Notes:

1. JW May 24th 5
2. ND 6/1/05
3. FRI 4. 2. 05
4. ND 22/2/05
5. JW May 16th 11
6. FRI 13. 3. 04
7. ND 17/9/04
8. FRI 30. 11. 04
9. JW May 17th 1
10. ND 19/10/04
11. JW May 15th 1
12. THTR-RB 93, 95, 99
13. ND 30, April 6th
14. ND 18/8/04
15. www.rage.co.za
16. TAZ 5. 3. 0

The Dortmund company Uhde, a subsidiary of the Thyssen Krupp group, wants to build the nuclear fuel element factory for the high-temperature reactor planned in South Africa. The company, which has been active in South Africa since 1962, was commissioned to implement the $ 20 million project on the site of the Pelindaba nuclear factory, at the border of which only a few weeks ago Earth Life Africa and the Böll Foundation had alarmingly high levels of radioactive substances Rays were measured. After completion in 2010, 270.000 nuclear spherical fuel elements are to be produced there.

It was precisely these tennis ball-sized fuel elements that caused massive problems in the thorium high-temperature reactor (THTR), which was shut down in 1989, because some of them got stuck in the feed and discharge pipes or were pounded by the shut-off rods in the reactor core. Since the beginning of May 2005, there have been reports on the Dortmund HTR business in various magazines in Dortmund, on television (where we also had our say) and nationwide. Uhde tried to talk himself out of it. Allegedly it is only "auxiliary and ancillary systems", a few "steam and compressed air systems", a cooling tower, and a few "planning, purchasing, construction, assembly and commissioning services" that the Dortmund company would provide in South Africa .

Uhde's press spokesman, Andreas Beckers, hypocritically tried to shift responsibility for the project on to others: "What will emerge from it in Africa, the people down there will have to answer '" (TAZ May 21, 5). This famous company advertises on the homepage that the set corporate goals can only be achieved through their own coordinating activities: "Everything has to mesh precisely, the right data and components at the right time, in the right place. 'Just in time.' Engineering at Uhde is more than just fulfilling the quality standard. It is a sophisticated system in which all engineering sections clearly define how gearwheels mesh in a clockwork. " - Uhde is deliberately selling the public for stupid people: "We are not building a nuclear power plant," says Beckers' spokesman (TAZ 05).

In principle, all two components are required for the nuclear power variant, which failed miserably in Germany. On the one hand the reactor itself and on the other hand its fuel factory. Only both together make sense; they are two sides of the same coin. You cannot excuse yourself with a few references to first-class pipes "Made in Germany". Or with the fact that there must of course be other contractual partners in South Africa in order to be able to implement the nuclear project in this country.

During its long construction period from 1971 to 1983, the THTR in Hamm-Uentrop was also only a "harmless" complex with many pipe systems and a cooling tower, until the radioactive spherical fuel elements were loaded. From then on, however, it got really dangerous!

The order

For the pebble bed reactor planned according to the German model in Hamm-Uentrop, the construction of a fuel element factory is absolutely necessary. After the THTR's shutdown in Germany, the plant was dismantled by the Hanau scandal company NUKEM (or its daughter Hobeg) and shipped to China to supply the HTRs there with fuel elements. The old Hobeg system could no longer be taken. So that the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) - as it is called here - can go into operation in South Africa, such a system is now also to be built in Pelindaba, South Africa.

The Dortmund company Uhde is based in Dortmund. Until the merger with RWE, this town was the home of the United Electricity Works (VEW), which also operated the THTR in Hamm-Uentrop. Just a few hundred meters from the former VEW building (Rheinlanddamm 24, Bundesstraße 1) is diagonally opposite the Uhde company at Friedrich-Uhde-Straße 15. (And is connected to the other side of the B1 by an underground filing tunnel. ) - How short some ways are! The old connections are still working fine.

Uhde has been active in South Africa with its own branch since 1962. So she was one of the beneficiaries of the apartheid regime. Economic studies, technology selection and plant operation are part of the business activity of this company. Construction of the nuclear facility is scheduled to begin in 2007. 120 Uhde employees are currently employed in South Africa.

Uhde undermines existing court decisions in South Africa!

The high temperature reactor is extremely controversial in South Africa. The environmental protection movement Earthlife Africa has sued the Supreme Court because the operators had not made all relevant facts available to the public and a proper hearing process had not taken place. Earthlife got it right in January 2005 and the process has to be reopened. A delay of one year is under discussion. However, Uhde does not care about this South African legal situation. On the contrary: this company tries to create a fait accompli with the nuclear industry and to undermine existing legal norms.

And that too: environmental award for Uhde

On December 2, 2004, Uhde boasted on its homepage that it had received the European Environmental Press Innovation Award (EEP Award). Participating in the construction of an extremely controversial reactor line and receiving an innovation award for environmental protection at the same time, however, does not go together.

The prize is awarded by 13 supposedly leading European trade magazines for environmental protection. The federal German is called "Umwelt Magazin". Not to be confused with the newspaper of the same name of the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection (BBU), which was discontinued in 1983. Today a newspaper of this name is published by Springer VDI Verlag. This is not the one with the Bildzeitung, but a different science publisher.

A spicy detail: This Springer VDI Verlag also publishes the specialist energy magazine "BWK". There, in June 2005, a certain Prof. Dr-Ing. Klaus Knizia, the former chairman of the VEW board. And what about? Of course, about the advantages of THTR atomic technology. So the circle closes again.

In addition, the construction of nuclear facilities by German companies abroad contradicts the "internal logic" of the German government's decision to exit. Nuclear plants in their own country are seen as so dangerous that they should be decommissioned, while abroad such plants should continue to be built with German help.

Military use is possible!

In South Africa, the HTR is explicitly intended for export to third world countries. It carries a high risk of being used militarily as well. South Africa was in possession of nuclear weapons until 11 years ago and some German and Swiss engineers have since participated in the global trade in nuclear technology with the Islamist and "father of the Pakistani atomic bomb" Abdul Qudeer Khan and were only in South Africa a few months ago arrested (see also THTR circulars 93, 95 and 99).

As a scientist at the Öko-Institut, the former chairman of the German Reactor Safety Commission, Lothar Hahn, has demonstrated in detail the proliferation risk at the HTR. In his 223-page report (commissioned by Greenpeace) "Assessment of domestic and foreign concepts for small high-temperature reactors", he emphasized as early as 1990 that a safety analysis should not only be limited to the operation of the reactor itself, but also the fuel supply and take into account radioactive waste. He points out (under points 5 - 8) in particular the weak point of those spherical fuel elements as they are to be produced in the Uhde factory:

"With him (the HTR) the spherical elements can be removed without interrupting the continuous operation; the elements with a diameter of 6 cm and a weight of 200 g are very handy. In addition, they are in large numbers (several hundreds of thousands) in the reactor unmarked so that a removal can easily be camouflaged by adding dummy elements or is not even noticeable due to the frequent occurrence of ball breakage.

The conversion of a civilian HTR for purely military purposes or for simultaneous military and civil use is also quite simple and, above all, inconspicuous. A different measuring device in the burn-off measuring system, a change in the program of the computer there and the installation of a further removal line in the ball charging system would be the only modifications required. (...)

In principle, the production of weapons-grade plutonium with the help of the HTR would also be possible. For this purpose, completely normal fuel elements with low-enriched uranium could serve, which would only have to be removed from the fuel cycle earlier than normal fuel elements in order to obtain weapons-grade plutonium. "

Already in his report "The small high-temperature reactor - the last straw of the nuclear industry?" (documented on our homepage) Lothar Hahn calculated the above-mentioned possibility in 1988:

"A spent fuel element made from low-enriched uranium 235 contains approx. 0,1 g of plutonium. Consequently, the material for an atomic bomb could theoretically be obtained by processing 50.000 spent fuel element balls, ie with a throughput of 1000 balls per day in less than two months. "

An export permit may not be granted!

These facts clearly show that the military use of the HTR and the nuclear fuel element factory to be built by Uhde would be possible with very simple and inconspicuous means and that the planned further export of these systems through South Africa would result in an unchecked spread of highly dangerous, militarily usable nuclear technology . In the case of Iran, the Federal Republic of Germany cannot press for the closure of nuclear facilities that can be used by the military, but can operate the construction of such facilities from Dortmund itself.

In this context, the Federal Ministry of Economics, in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will have to check whether the planned export of the Uhde nuclear fuel element factory will violate foreign trade regulations.

In June 2005, Friedrich Ostendorff, a Green Member of the Bundestag, from the neighboring district of Unna made corresponding inquiries to Federal Minister Wolfgang Clement and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. Ostendorff was active in the resistance against the THTR for years and, together with other farmers, had carried out several tractor blockades in front of the gates of the THTR in 1986 when the incident in the reactor became known. In addition to the specific questions about the foreign trade permit for Uhde, he wrote to "dear Joschka": "Back then, as Minister of the Environment of Hesse, you fought against the Hanau nuclear company NUKEM and, as a green farmer, I tried to prevent the THTR in Hamm-Uentrop. Today it must this is why - as far as legally possible - the export of nuclear technologies must also be prevented. "

That is very correct. We look forward to the answers.

It should be clear: A really innovative company would not jeopardize the livelihoods of future generations in an irresponsible way by building military-grade nuclear facilities!

And above all: the opponents of nuclear power plants in this region now involuntarily have a starting point for practical engagement on their doorstep!

Horst Blume

Namibia's pillage and destruction for the profits of the nuclear industry

"When will the Bundeswehr march into Namibia, Niger, Russia or Kazakhstan in order to secure the scarce uranium reserves for Germany there?" asks the nuclear-critical doctors organization IPNNW (1) not only rhetorically and it is no coincidence that Namibia is named first. This country was a German colony from 1884 to 1918 and the people there were victims of a harrowing genocide carried out by German colonial troops from 1904 onwards.

The uranium will become increasingly scarce in the future. Inexpensive reserves are only sufficient for 20 years, very expensive funding opportunities for a maximum of 65 years. The EU has an annual requirement of 20.000 tonnes of uranium (1). With a renaissance of nuclear power, the need for uranium would increase sharply and the problem would become even worse.

The Rössing Mine in Namibia

Preparations for uranium mining in Namibia began in 1970. The Rössing mine is located about 65 kilometers from the coastal town of Swakopmund on the edge of the Namib desert and comprises a large open-cast mine, various processing plants and a dam through which the liquid waste is dammed up into a lake. The mine alone is five kilometers long. Contaminated seepage water flows into a river that leads into the sea.

Over 80% of the radioactive material remains in the spoil heaps. The wind blows radiant particles in all directions. One of the most dangerous decay products of uranium is the noble gas radon, which spreads invisibly and odorless and which increases the risk of lung cancer significantly.

"In view of the low uranium content, the mining near Rössing is associated with enormous rock movements, which are estimated to amount to 1,75 million tons per week (!). To make this dimension a little more tangible: Loading onto freight wagons, this would be a train of the length Hamburg - Munich fill "(2). The low uranium content makes it extremely difficult to track the amount of uranium actually extracted. In this way, uranium can be diverted from international control unnoticed (3).

Uranium for the THTR Hamm-Uentrop

30% of the uranium used in German nuclear reactors was imported from Namibia in the 80s (4). In 2000, EU imports from Namibia and South Africa together accounted for 11% (5).

The British group Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ) is Rössing's main operator. The French group Total and the German "Urangesellschaft" also own larger shares, 66% of which are owned by the state-owned companies Steag (Essen) and Veba (Bonn / Berlin)! So it is hardly surprising that the German federal government contributed 6 million DM to the development costs of Rössing.

Iran, which is so much talked about today when it comes to uranium centrifuges, already owned around 1976% of the Rössing mine in 10 because it was excellently suited to disguising the actual quantities of uranium extracted (6).

The German scandal company NUKEM from Hanau was also involved in the construction of the conveyor systems in Namibia and earned a lot from the sale of systems and equipment (7). Conversely, Rössing operator RTZ had an 18% stake in NUKEM (8). The 100% NUKEM subsidiary HOBEG (Hoch Temperatur-Reaktor-Brennelemente GmbH) manufactured the nuclear spherical fuel elements for the THTR Hamm-Uentrop and the AVR Jülich in Hanau. Through these business relationships, the uranium supply for the German HTR line was secured.

German banks provided the Rössing operator RTZ with 1979 million US dollars from 1983 to 25 (9). "Der Spiegel" reported on the uranium search in Namibia as early as 1976: "For their search, the prospecting companies - in addition to the uranium company and the Bonn 'Uranerzbau' '- receive eighty percent subsidies from the federal treasury, an aid that both private companies close to risk-free state-owned enterprises And the state still generously covers the residual risk "(10).

Colonialism, uranium theft and apartheid

After 1918, the former German colony of South West Africa was placed under the League of Nations with the task of preparing the way for Namibia's independence. Instead, the mandate power South Africa ruthlessly exploited the country, adopted the colonial German racial segregation laws (a pre-form of what would later come to the Jews) and established an apartheid state in Namibia. This had the function of providing a reservoir of cheap labor without rights and easily exploitable raw materials.

Since South Africa abused its mandate, on June 21, 1971 the International Court of Justice and the Namibia Council of the UN declared the existing presence of South Africa in Namibia to be illegal. In 1974 the Namibia Council - approved by the UN - issued Decree No. 1; the regulations "for the protection of the natural resources of Namibia". It prohibits the further plundering of raw materials by foreign corporations. But it was precisely at this time that the FRG imported uranium ore from Namibia, in violation of international law. Namely under the SPD government of Willy Brandt, which contributed a further 8 million DM from the Federal Ministry of Research for Rössing (11).

In the course of the investigation into the unauthorized handling of atomic bomb raw materials, in addition to NUKEM in March 1985, the HOBEG THTR fuel element factory was also searched. In September 1985, a motion by the Greens in the Bundestag was rejected by all other parties to abide by international law and to stop the plundering of Namibia's raw materials. Only two SPD MPs abstained.

"Since Namibian uranium is above average, at times even 50% above the world market price, Rössing could only be operated with economic manipulation. In addition, the recipient countries were often non-economic, e.g. military, because Namibia is not subject to international controls" ( 12). Reasons to pay far higher prices than on the world market,

The uranium cartel also succeeded in integrating German customers through long-term contracts and forcing them to buy more uranium than they needed at the time. Shortly before the THTR Hamm went into operation, the situation in Hanau was as follows: "NUKEM alone has around 1300 t of enriched uranium stockpiled at high storage costs" (13).

While the German nuclear industry was able to enrich itself in Namibia's natural resources with millions in government aid, South Africa, as the successor to the German colonial power, received the infrastructure for its atomic bomb factories from the FRG in return. Usually according to a tried and tested trick, not complete systems but individual parts were delivered one by one (14).

Through German nuclear technology, the South African racist regime got hold of the decisive means of power for its supremacy as a regional power and was ready to use this against the liberation movements in neighboring states until the end of apartheid in 1994.

New uranium mine planned in Namibia

With 2.036 t, Namibia ranks sixth among the uranium-mining countries (15). The Australian mining holding company "Paladin Resources Ltd" intends to mine uranium south of the existing Rössing mine near the Langer Heinrich mountain range. "The area is located within the Naukluftpark nature reserve. The rights for the mining were already secured by the Australian company Paladin in 2002. The mine is supposed to produce 1.000 t of uranium oxide annually for ten years" (16).

"During the construction phase, the mine will provide work for 300 to 350 Namibians," said the Namibian government authorities as a positive motivation. The construction will cost an estimated 325 million Namibian dollars. However, only about 100 people find work during ongoing operations, since the uranium ore is only mined using the most modern technology "(17)

In March 2005, the controversial company Softchem in South Africa presented the final environmental impact assessment. The new mine should take shape in early 2006. The immense water consumption of the mine is very much in public criticism, because there is a great water shortage in the region. "The head of the desert research station pointed out at an event in Windhoek that the deposits were located in a nature reserve. The area must therefore be separated from the rest of the Naukluft Park or lose its status as a nature reserve" (18).

Various non-governmental organizations such as EARTHLIFE AFRICA Namibia, the human rights organization NSHR and others have asked the Namibian government to measure the project against the strict environmental requirements of the constitution and the 1992 Rio Declaration of the United Nations. Whether this actually happens is doubtful. Because a few 100 kilometers south of the planned uranium mine, in the course of the renaissance of nuclear power in Koeberg, South Africa, the construction of a high-temperature reactor is planned, well-known to readers of this magazine as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR). One day, uranium will be urgently needed for its spherical fuel elements ...

The legacy of German colonialism

"Within the German borders every Herero is shot with and without a rifle, with or without cattle, I no longer take up women or children, drive them back to their people or have them shot. These are my words to the Herero people. The great general of the mighty emperor, von Trotha "(19). The victims of this merciless extermination order were around one hundred thousand people who dared to defend themselves against land grabbing, brutal attacks by German settlers and slavery.

In recent German historical research it is discussed to what extent the deliberate genocide of the German colonial troops was a pre-form of the Holocaust. Even today, this genocide is denied by the yesterday and finds its way into the letters to the editor in daily newspapers. Such a letter to the editor was printed in the hammer "Westfälischer Anzeiger" on January 15, 1 under the heading "Legends from Namibia". The order to annihilate the peoples was supposedly "not given". The uncommented print is a scandal and testifies to a blatant ignorance of history even among newspaper publishers.

The colonial past has ruined a reasonably humane future for several generations of black Namibians. A Namibian proverb sums it up: "When the missionaries came they had the Bible and we had the land. When we closed our eyes to pray and opened them again, we had the Bible and they had the land" (20) . Today, 15 years after the victory of the

Liberation organization SWAPO, the population is still suffering from the consequences of the German colonial policy. "So far, Namibia's white, predominantly German-born farmers have owned almost all of the fertile land. 30,5 million hectares are owned by 4000 exclusively white farmers, while black smallholders only have 2,2 million hectares of farmland. So far, however, no white farmer has been expropriated been "(21).

In connection with the 100th anniversary of the genocide, the question of a German apology and adequate compensation for the victims' descendants arose again. Foreign Minister Fischer rejected such an apology in 2003 because it could be relevant to compensation (22).

Development minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul also refused reparation payments when she visited Namibia in August 2004 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. She apologized with no relevance to compensation: "The lawyers had found a formulation from which the descendants of the massacred people could not derive any claims. So the SPD politician asked for forgiveness of our guilt in the sense of the common 'our father'. This gesture sounds very good pathetic. But since it is reciprocal, one wonders what the Herero's guilt is "(23).

Since 1884 the Namibians have been robbed of their land and natural resources. There were also dire conditions of exploitation. This continued 100 years later only under slightly different framework conditions. In addition, the nuclear industry's pursuit of profit is now endangering the lives of millions of people. Our energy consumption and the way we produce energy have a variety of effects on the rest of the world. This should also be taken into account in the future debate on the nuclear renaissance.

Horst Blume

Notes:

1. Junge Welt from April 27, 4
2. Leaflets of the Third World Information Center, No. 135, August 1986
3. Wolf Geisler on September 15, 9 at the hearing of the Greens in Bonn
4. Motion by the Greens in the Bundestag on September 26, 9
5. ESA Annual Report 2000
6. Thomas Siepelmeyer in the article "Namibia - blackmail ..." in anti atom aktuell 75 / 76.1996
7. From: "Oppression, Hunger, War." Materials against the World Economic Summit 1985 in Bonn, p. 56
8. "Urangate. Displacement and bribery scandal in the nuclear industry", 1988, p. 55
9. see under 4.
10. Der Spiegel, No. 12/1976, page 68
11. see "Urangate" under 8., page 55
12. see under 2
13. W. Lund: "Rössing and the illegal business with Namibian uranium", 1984, p. 105
14. see W. Lund, p. 144
15. anti atom aktuell No. 157, November 2004, p. 42
16. afrika süd, No. 1, 2005, 34th vol.
17. Allgemeine Zeitung Namibia of October 25, 10, cited after April 2004.
18. see 15.
19. TAZ of March 10, 1
20. Junge Welt from April 17, 11
21. New Germany from January 15, 11
22. New Germany from January 10, 1
23. New Germany from January 16, 8

Birgit Morgenrath / Gottfried Wellmer: "German capital at the Cape. Collaboration with the apartheid regime" Edition Nautilus, 2003, 160 pages, 12,90 euros

Robben Island, the former prison island of the apartheid state, is now Cape Town's biggest tourist attraction. Where people have been locked in prison cells for decades, comedy shows and banquets are now being held for paying celebrities, who then spend the night in the prison guards' houses as a highlight. This form of "remembrance" of the apartheid era is hardly better than forgetting.

When I was accompanying some members of non-governmental organizations in the Ruhr area on their round trip to alternative energy locations, a walker came across us with an indifferent trotting dog, which elicited the remark from a black participant that German dogs are obviously more peaceful than South African dogs. The shadows of the past are still there.

For decades, German capital reaped maximum profits from the exploitation and oppression of blacks. Here in Germany, too, there was a broad anti-apartheid movement that protested against the violation of human rights. But after apartheid was finally abolished ten years ago and transformed into a formal Western democracy, the conditions in South Africa are no longer an issue that attracts a lot of attention.

Morgenrath and Wellmer's book remedies this deficiency through a well-founded presentation and analysis of German-South African business relations and shows in shocking reports how badly the vast majority of the population of South Africa was then as it is today and in what ignorant way Germans are still doing now Corporations wash their hands in innocence.

This book also appears in the context of the indictment before a US court in which 91 South African victims accuse 22 international companies of serious human rights abuses. The Khulumani Support Group represents 32.000 apartheid victims as a self-help organization and argues with the legal principle of "secondary co-responsibility", which was introduced into international jurisprudence by the Nuremberg Trials. According to this, accomplices of a regime bear indirect responsibility for crimes committed. The following German companies are sued: Rheinmetall, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, DaimlerChrysler and AEG. In Germany itself, these companies cannot be prosecuted.

"Apartheid meant: no unions, low taxes, cheap labor, high profits - and a beautiful life in a beautiful country with extremely cheap service personnel." For fifty years "unproductive" natives such as the elderly, children and women were forcibly resettled to mostly sterile areas, while strong young men were allowed to move into the cities as wage slaves. That way they turned 70

Percent of the population penned in so-called homelands, which made up only 13 percent of the area of ​​South Africa.

In order to protect itself from economic sanctions from abroad, the regime centralized the economy in state corporations. From 1980 onwards, Germany gave most of the world's loans to these institutions of the apartheid government, thus providing the lifelines of this unjust social order with the necessary financial resources.

One of the most important state-owned companies was the energy supply company ESKOM, about which one of its managers testified to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997: "It is true that ESKOM operated effectively as an institution of apartheid and thereby mainly served white interests." ESKOM operated 14 coal-fired power plants and two nuclear power plant blocks in Koeberg near Cape Town. "The Deutsche, the Dresdner, the Commerz-, the Westdeutsche Landes- and the Bayrische Vereinsbank gave 30-70% of their loans to ESKOM." The huge portion of the electricity went to the coal and gold mining industry and not to the black population.

As part of a cultural exchange (!) There were lively mutual visits by nuclear scientists between the FRG and South Africa. In particular, experts from the Society for Nuclear Research in Karlsruhe and the state-owned Essener Steinkohle-Elektrizitäts AG (STEAG) stood out and at the end of the development South Africa was in possession of several atom bombs!

Hermes guarantees for German exports have been gladly given by every German government in the past few decades and a large part of the loans went back to ESKOM. According to the two authors, the foreign minister of the grand coalition in the 60s, Willy Brandt, reacted to human rights violations "with tactful restraint on the political level and clear approval in the economic field." That the good old connections of the nuclear industry and its scientists are still excellent today shows the fact that more than 30 years after Brandt, under the Green Foreign Minister Fischer, the nuclear cooperation with the post-apartheid state is being continued: under his leadership, the German high-temperature reactor was established -Know-how for the planned Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) near Cape Town sold to an ESKOM company.

In several separate chapters, the two authors show how the companies Siemens, the Düsseldorfer Waffenfabrik Rheinmetall and Mercedes have provided the South African ruling apparatus with military equipment in a key area despite UN Resolution 1977 for a mandatory arms embargo, which was passed in 418. In the case of Mercedes, these corporations even participated directly in the repression: "These Mercedes managers wore beautiful suits with ties during the day and camouflage suits at night and shot and killed unarmed young people, old people, and even small children . They did door-to-door raids. "

In their detailed study, the two authors show point by point that the 400 German companies with their branches in South Africa were not only "helpful" to the regime, they were part of the system. Corporations' claims that there was no discrimination in their operations are exposed as crude lies.

In 1983/84 around 40 percent of the total budget was spent on arming the security forces and the repressive apparatus. The state coffers emptied. In the 80s, "the generation of young lions" took up the fight in the factories and demanded their human right to equality and dignity with incredible strength and fearlessness. For me, the descriptions of the war in the factories are among the most impressive in the book. It is also noticeable here that in 1990 and 1991, when the liberation movements were allowed again, repression and layoffs were worst at the Hoechst company because the group wanted to rationalize quickly and inexpensively before the final end of apartheid.

This was followed by disillusionment when the new democratic government did not correct the unjust social structures created by apartheid, but instead intensified it with neoliberal economic policy since 1996. The red carpet was rolled out again for international corporations. Germany quickly developed into the number one trading partner for South Africa. However, not a single German company testified before the truth commission, in which the past was supposed to be dealt with. Tens of thousands of those who were abused and tortured, as well as the relatives of the murdered, had hoped for financial compensation. Because for many people it is still a matter of survival in the face of extreme social inequality. But there is no longer any money for this; it is needed for debt servicing.

The self-help organization Khulumani, together with 4000 other initiatives, demands that banks and corporations acknowledge the injustice they have committed and is demanding individual and collective compensation. They are demanding the cancellation of the despicable debt because it was the apartheid regime that ruined the state finances. "The call for international reparations is a call for economic redistribution, political change and the restoration of equality among nations."

The coordination group of the campaign for debt relief and compensation sought and demonstrated the dialogue with the apartheid financiers, attended company general meetings, gave speeches and wrote letters. The apartheid helpers weigh it down and even refuse to open the company archives, which would reveal the full extent of their reprehensible actions. The opponents of today's social apartheid will keep fighting and hope for our solidarity. This stimulatingly written and startling book shows very clearly that the South African past is also our history.

Horst Blume

Support Khulumani:

Contact: medico international winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize www.medico.de

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When Gandhi shared this good news (1) with his friends, he had been living in South Africa for 20 years. The major strike movements by miners against arbitrarily inflated tax burdens on Indian immigrants and their discrimination was at its height. They also took place in the "Kohleland" Osttransvaal, today's partner state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The white businessmen had originally welcomed the immigration of Indian workers. However, they did not count on the business skills of some Indians and saw them as competitors. Thousands of protesters were locked in prisons asking for the highest possible sentences for their disobedience.

In 1893 Gandhi came to South Africa as a lawyer to help his beleaguered compatriots. He quickly realized that it was not the traders and the rich who needed support, but the poor contract workers. The Indians had been deprived of all their freedoms by special laws. Apartheid in the use of transport already existed back then. As a lawyer he tried to "activate the better side of human nature" (2) and learned - conscious of compromise - to "appreciate the beauty of compromise" (3).

During the Boer War (1899-1902) Gandhi made himself useful as a paramedic and nurse. His reasoning: "I had the feeling that if I claimed rights as a British citizen, it was my duty as such to take part in the defense of the British Empire" (4).

In the "Zulu uprising" in 1906 he participated as a sergeant in an Indian ambulance corps on the side of the Empire. He soon became aware that black people were being hunted in the name of the great power and that black people were brutally abused by flogging. He was glad to be able to care for the injured Zulus.

The most important supporter and friend in Gandhi's struggle for Indian rights in South Africa was the Jewish architect and carpenter from East Prussia. He came to South Africa in 1896 and had countless theaters, churches, synagogues, cinemas and even ice rinks designed and built here over the next few decades. But first he took part in the Indian freedom struggle. Hermann Kallenbach

In 1904, Gandhi established the Phoenix Settlement 14 miles from Durban. It was a kind of self-sufficient commune that lived in great simplicity. Here his newspaper "Indian Opinion" was printed weekly in a self-built printing house, in which he wrote his articles until 1914. Even decades later, the newspaper was published here by Gandhi's son Manilal and Phoenix was looked after by Kallenbach.

During his time in South Africa, Gandhi carried out a number of diet experiments, fasts and traditional healing treatments for diseases. Intensive discussions with all religious groups were the order of the day. Kallenbach with a certain penchant for "luxury" had to adapt. In 1908 he bought an automobile and picked up Gandhi from one of his prison stays. He was disappointed in the car and initially said nothing. After that it stood around unused for a year and was sold. "All unnecessary luxury goods were thrown in the garbage by Gandhi" (5).

In 1910, 21 miles from Johannisburg, he founded the Tolstoy Farm as a refuge for the families of non-violent fighters. This settlement was also a model for the ashrams that were later built in India. Gandhi himself lived in the two settlements for only a few months. His work as a lawyer and especially the organization of the Satyagraha campaign left him no time for this.

Satyagraha means nonviolent resistance with enduring "firmness in the truth". Of the 150.000 Indians, over two thirds were contract workers with fixed-term contracts, mostly for five years. They were threatened with economic ruin by the £ 3 annual head tax.

At the height of the ten-year resistance campaign, a chain of mass gatherings and a general strike broke out in 1913. Failure to comply with the laws directed against them resulted in the Indians facing fines, imprisonment and deportations.

On November 6, 11, the so-called "Epic March" began with over 1913 people. The aim was to cross the border from Natal to the Transvaal, from which they were initially to be deterred with gun violence. In the period that followed, the movement expanded. Thousands of strikers and demonstrators had to be provided with food and tents during the long marches.

The main organizers Gandhi and Kallenbach repeatedly conducted negotiations with courts and police authorities who wanted to ban the protests. Gandhi himself was imprisoned several times for several months. Among other things, also in Heidelberg. A few decades earlier, the Boer settlers had given their newly founded cities the names of old Central European place names.

The arrest of Gandhi was a double incentive for the nonviolent fighters to intensify their engagement. In 1914 the annual head tax was finally abolished and immigration conditions eased.

The success of Satyagraha marked the end of Gandhi's time in South Africa. He returned to India via England. On June 27, 1914, many of his friends gathered in Cape Town. Representatives from all Indian communities expressed their gratitude and said goodbye to him with a procession to the ship landing stages in Cape Town.

Today, in my opinion, the memory of Gandhi in South Africa is a little too much overshadowed by father Nelson Mandela. But that's slowly changing a bit. After all, a comic (6) has recently appeared on Gandhi's life in South Africa. A thoroughly contemporary form of presentation for the young South Africa. 

Horst Blume

Notes:

1. "Hermann Kallenbach. Mahatma Gandhi's friend in South Africa" ​​A biography by Isa Sarid and Christian Barolf. Self-published, 1997, 135 pages, 7,80 euros. Relation: wezuco@t-online.de
2. MK Gandhi: "An autobiography or the story of my experiments with the truth". 1977, published by Hinder + Deelmann. Page 122
3. See 2nd page 133
4. See 2nd page 187
5. See 1nd page 19
6. www.tolstoyfarm.com and www.gandhiserve.de

The critical media reports in the FRG about the HTR line and the THTR are becoming more and more numerous. In the following documentation, those that can be viewed on our website are marked with an asterisk *. The reproductions of our press releases and articles on the Internet are no longer visible.

www.anti-atom-aktuell.dewww.grassroots.net

• China is massively entering the HTR business! Nuclear premiere. anti atom aktuell No. 160, March 05,
• No permit for nuclear reactor. south africa 1/05
• Nuclear power: NRW is not getting out. Bonner Umweltzeitung, No. 2, April 05
• No rush to dismantle to the THTR. Westfälischer Anzeiger 1. 4. 05
• The atomic triangle. Zeit -fragen, Zurich, April 18, 4 *
• Expensive downtime. THTR today. Westfälischer Anzeiger 22. 4. 05 *
• South Africa and China in the nuclear business. New Germany April 25th
• Ticking bomb, to the THTR. Westfälischer Anzeiger April 27, 4
• Uhde builds nuclear factory in South Africa. Westfälische Rundschau Dortmund. May 7, 5 *
• Uhde builds cooling tower and plans pipeline. Ruhr News Dortmund. May 12, 5 *
• Scrap reactor for South Africa, zu Uhde, TAZ NRW 13. 5. 05 *
• Atomic protest at the Cape, at Uhde. TAZ NRW May 21, 5 *
• German atomic technology for South Africa, to Uhde. Young World May 23, 5 *
• Fuel element factory for HTR in South Africa, anti atom aktuell No. 162, June 05 *
• The EU's nuclear framework. anti atom aktuell No. 162, June 05 *
• Fuel element factory for South Africa !. Gorleben Rundschau, June 05 *
• Reactors "Made in Germany" in China and South Africa. Grass Roots Revolution No. 300, June 05 *
• Interview about the HTR line and the THTR with Horst Blume. FugE news, Hamm, June 05
• Dortmund: The renaissance of nuclear power has already begun! June 05
• Nuclear export to South Africa, to Uhde. New Germany 4. 6. 05 *

Vigil at THTR on the Chernobyl anniversary was successful Top

In front of the main gate of the THTR in Hamm-Uentrop, around 26 people with banners and posters gathered on April 4, 2005 to draw attention to the accident in Chernobyl in 25 and the simultaneous incident in the THTR.

Over 100 balloons with information postcards were inflated and released into the air. Fortunately, there were also some citizens present who we did not know yet and who were amazed and indignant that the THTR still costs a lot of money today at over 5,1 million euros, despite its closure. Horst Blume read to the assembly the greeting from Udo Buchholz, the managing director of the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection (BBU), who encouraged those present for future actions and initiatives.

At the lecture event in the evening, the 15 attendees dealt intensively with the impending renaissance of nuclear power, in particular with the export of HTR know-how from North Rhine-Westphalia to South Africa and China and HTR funding within the European Union. There was great disappointment about the completely unsuccessful "exit policy" of Rotgrün.

The local and national press coverage was positive, also on Radio Lippewelle. On this anniversary there were not even half a dozen rallies nationwide.

In Hamm, Münster, Bochum and Bonn, Horst Blume gave a total of five lectures on the HTR line in order to lay the foundation for a broader resistance to the export of HTR know-how from the FRG.

The return of the anti-nuclear sun Top

The anti-nuclear movement triggered the Angela alarm after the NRW election. In the Hamm region there is also the particularly high-pitched Laurenz alarm.

The result was hectic activities among the former activists: where is the anti-nuclear sun as a sticker again, where have the old banners gone, wasn't the demonstrative nuclear waste barrel turned into a rain barrel?

Wasn't all of this put aside a little too quickly? The exit, which wasn't one, had clouded the critical mind of many. Now comes the rude awakening.

In autumn we will make it clear to the new government what we think of extending the service life of nuclear power plants with a large demonstration and blockades in Gorleben. The next high point of activities will be the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl.

When we were only one hundred demonstrators at the opening rally against the Castor transports to Ahaus a week after the NRW state elections, there were many long faces. Three weeks later we were already three thousand at the final blockade! It's that fast.

With the "broadcast" campaign, various entry points into nuclear resistance are now being offered and developed for everyone.

Horst Blume

www.ausgestrahlt.de Top

A ghost is haunting in Europe. The specter of the nuclear renaissance.

In many countries there are discussions about building new nuclear power plants or extending the service life of ancient reactors. In Germany, too, there is a debate about extending service life, although the red-green "atomic consensus" already favors the interests of the electricity companies almost optimally.

It is time to give this debate a new twist.

We are not interested in the wrong alternative, red and green status quo versus black and yellow renaissance. We want a nuclear phase-out that really deserves the name, because nuclear power plants, uranium factories and nuclear waste storage facilities have not become a bit safer just because the environment minister has a green party membership card. The catastrophe is still looming every day and there is still creeping poisoning of entire regions in the uranium mining areas.

That is why we are starting the ". Broadcast" campaign with you.

Our goal is also a renaissance. But not that of the nuclear industry, we want to organize the comeback of the anti-nuclear movement. For too many years, too many people have waited and stood still, some out of hope that the federal government would fix it, others out of resignation over unfulfilled red-green exit announcements.

In polls, large parts of the population are still in favor of a faster nuclear phase-out.

But it will only be possible if many people are not only against nuclear power, but also do something about it. So it is a matter of jointly applying political pressure as effectively as possible, so that the renaissance propaganda of the nuclear industry does not get caught, but on the contrary, finally put an end to this publicly dangerous energy generation.

The opportunities to get active are as varied as people are different:

Some take part in demonstrations, others write letters to the editor in their local newspaper. Some distribute information material to their circle of friends, others finally change their electricity provider and get green electricity. Some discuss nuclear policy with local members of the Bundestag, while others take part in blockade campaigns. Some put up anti-nuclear posters all over the city, others found a local anti-nuclear initiative. Some do anti-nuclear street theater in the pedestrian zone, others put a sticker on their bike or car. It is only important that everyone starts doing something, depending on their own possibilities.

Nobody should overstrain themselves - but neither should they understrain themselves. The threat posed by the dangers of using atomic energy continues to be huge and is growing every day because the mountain of nuclear waste is getting bigger and the reactors that are running are getting a bit older and ailing again. The ".ausgestrachte" campaign brings people together who want to take action, organizes the exchange of information and offers for action and bundles the various forces to create common political pressure.

The first step: a signature

Part of this call is a declaration for which we are looking for signatories. It bears the title ".ausgestrante" and is thus an expression of our political demands and our own willingness to act.

The whole text reads: "I am convinced that the operation of nuclear facilities is a grave injustice. That is why I call for them to be shut down. I see myself as part of the responsibility for politically pushing through the exit from the nuclear industry, and I will do everything possible to achieve this . "

Those who sign this declaration not only express their own political will, as in the case of a normal collection of signatures, but at the same time declare their own responsibility and willingness to act. Who is involved and how is up to everyone. Each according to their own abilities. And: Anyone who signs the declaration belongs to the ". Broadcast" campaign. This is not an association with permanent membership, but a loose alliance and network of opponents of nuclear power.

Info: www.ausgestrahlt.de

On my own behalf: Do you speak English? Top

Don't worry, I don't want to offer the legal protection share from 1980 for sale again.

But with the renaissance of nuclear power that is slowly emerging, the newsletter and our homepage are facing a whole series of new tasks. In the future, basic information about high-temperature reactors must be available worldwide in several languages ​​so that people everywhere can find out about the dangers of this reactor line. So that reporting on the HTR line does not only come from the nuclear industry. So we are not only looking for translators for English, but also for French, Spanish and Dutch. If someone could volunteer to translate a page or two of basic information into these languages, it would be very helpful to us.

Otherwise we are dependent on commissioning and paying translators for this work. It will probably not be possible to avoid this entirely. Therefore we ask our readers for a donation especially for future translation work.

Election fever

This time the comment on the federal election comes from Mark Twain:

"It's a great consolation in elections, that only one of several candidates can be chosen. "

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Donation appeal - The THTR-Rundbrief is published by 'BI Umwelt Hamm e. V. ' issued and financed by donations. - The THTR circular has meanwhile become a much-noticed information medium. However, there are ongoing costs due to the expansion of the website and the printing of additional information sheets. - The THTR circular researches and reports in detail. In order for us to be able to do that, we depend on donations. We are happy about every donation! Donations account: BI Umweltschutz Hamm Purpose: THTR circular IBAN: DE31 4105 0095 0000 0394 79 BIC: WELADED1HAM

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