{"id":3678,"date":"2026-05-07T22:16:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/?p=3678"},"modified":"2026-05-07T22:16:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:16:40","slug":"air-cyclists-against-nuclear-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/en\/2026\/05\/07\/air-cyclists-against-nuclear-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Cyclists Against Nuclear Power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

26 April 2026, Borssele, commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Chernobyl. Marjan Smeulders gave this speech at the finish line of the Air Cyclists\u2019 Ride near the Borssele nuclear power station:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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My name is Marjan Smeulders and today I cycled with the Air Cyclists to commemorate the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl 40 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am a climate activist with Scientists for Future and Scientist Rebellion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both groups consist of scientists who are deeply concerned about the unprecedented rate of global warming. Climate scientists from the IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, put it this way in their conclusion: \u201cThe chance to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all is almost gone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only solution is to stop emitting CO2. We need an energy transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does nuclear energy form part of that? Our government thinks so. It wants to build four new nuclear power stations and is promoting smaller modular reactors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are terribly bad ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relying on nuclear energy is a missed opportunity for the energy transition! Money that is desperately needed to strengthen our energy grid is being wasted on a technology that keeps us tied to fossil fuels for longer.<\/p>\n\n\n

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So why no nuclear energy? Seven reasons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 1<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is not clean energy. It may produce less CO2 than fossil fuels, but there is still no solution for the highly radioactive waste, and after 70 years of nuclear energy, there is only one long-term storage facility, in Finland. Small modular reactors have never been built in Europe, but will produce relatively more radioactive waste due to their smaller scale. Our government does not want to think about the waste that will be produced and is leaving this problem for our grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 2<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is risky. The nuclear disaster in Fukushima in 2011 showed that a catastrophic disaster can occur even in highly developed countries. Fifteen years later, only one billionth of the radioactive fuel has been cleared away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But geopolitical dangers are also very real: consider Russia\u2019s attack on the Ukrainian nuclear power station, Iran\u2019s threat to bomb the Abu Dhabi nuclear power station, and the threat of drone or cyber attacks. Do we really want nuclear power stations in many different locations across our country?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 3<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is extremely expensive. Since Chernobyl, reactors may well have become safer, but they have also become much more expensive! Nuclear energy has never been profitable without government support and guarantees. Our government wants to build and finance new reactors itself, via the new state-owned company NEO NL. Estimated cost: 20 billion per reactor. Taxpayers\u2019 money. Billions that could be spent much more effectively on reducing energy demand. For example, through a large-scale insulation campaign, and by fully committing to strengthening the energy grid for the necessary electrification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 4<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy makes us dependent on imported uranium: 40% of the world\u2019s uranium comes from Kazakhstan, an autocratically ruled country within Putin\u2019s sphere of influence. Do we really want to make ourselves dependent on countries of this kind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 5<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is not a good complementary energy source to wind and solar. Nuclear power stations cannot be easily switched on and off to compensate for low levels of wind and sunshine. Nuclear power stations will have to generate continuously, even when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, nuclear power stations require cooling water. With the warming climate and overheated rivers, this has already led to reactors being shut down in France during the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 6<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is too late. We have just over three years left before we have emitted so much CO2 that global warming will exceed 1.5\u00b0C. Our government estimates that the first nuclear reactor will be ready in the late 2030s. Building nuclear power stations always takes much longer and always costs billions more than planned. Even China, the country that achieved its renewable energy targets 10 years ahead of schedule, is failing to meet its nuclear energy target. Meanwhile, the costs of electricity from solar, wind and battery storage are falling. Nuclear energy is coming too late and will be far too expensive by the time new reactors start supplying energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 7<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear energy is not a solution to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By focusing on nuclear energy, it appears as though the government is taking action against climate change. But in fact, it is merely delaying and diverting attention from the measures needed to make our country energy-independent and reduce our CO2 emissions to zero as quickly as possible. Measures that rapidly reduce our energy demand and electrify society. Opting for nuclear energy keeps us in the grip of fossil fuels for longer and is therefore also a gift to the fossil fuel industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conclusion is clear:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The path to a sustainable and liveable future for all does not lead through nuclear energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you all for being here together to make our voices heard!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

26 April 2026, Borssele, commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Chernobyl. Marjan Smeulders gave this speech at the finish line of the Air Cyclists\u2019 Ride near the Borssele nuclear power station: My name is Marjan Smeulders and today I cycled with the Air Cyclists to commemorate the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl 40 years ago. I … Lees verder<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3602,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":true,"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eerdere-acties-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3678"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3691,"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3678\/revisions\/3691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scientistrebellion.nl\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}