Sixteen anti-nuclear protesters - half of them Japanese - gathered outside the Japanese embassy in Piccadilly, London on Friday morning (10 August), for the second week running, in a demonstration organised by London-based group Kick Nuclear. This was in solidarity with weekly demonstrations taking place outside the Prime Minister's residence in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan against the restarting of nuclear reactors as the Fukushima crisis continues. The weekly numbers taking part in those protests have been growing every week. A recent demonstration against nuclear power in Tokyo drew a crowd of 170,000 (organisers' estimate; even the police estimated 75,000).

On Friday, Kick Nuclear and London Mining Network took part in two demonstrations in central London - at the Australian High Commission and at the UK headquarters of mining giant BHP Billiton - to show solidarity with The Lizard's Revenge protest festival taking place this weekend in the South Australian desert. The protests, in solidarity with local aboriginal communities, are in opposition to BHP Billiton's planned expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium (plus copper, gold and silver) mine at Roxby Downs, which was recently approved by the Australian Federal Government and the South Australian State Government, and would make it the largest such mine in the world.

On Friday 11 May, Stop Hinkley, Kick Nuclear and friends held a two dozen-strong demo outside the AGM of Centrica (owner of British Gas) at the QE2 Centre in Westminster. Recent news reports suggest that Centrica may be getting cold feet about partnering with EDF Energy in its nuclear new build projects at Hinkley Point in Somerset and other sites in England. This protest aimed to reinforce the message to shareholders and investors that nuclear power is a risky gamble.

Six members and supporters of Kick Nuclear gathered outside the Nuclear New Build Forum, taking place at 1 Whitehall Place, Westminster early on Thursday morning (17 November). They called on the nuclear industry bigwigs attending the conference to abandon their plans to build new nuclear power stations and instead concentrate on safer and more sustainable alternatives instead, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.

More images here: http://tinyurl.com/KN17Nov11pics

Campaigners from London Mining Network, Kick Nuclear, Colombia Solidarity Campaign, London Rising Tide, Occupy London and other groups gathered outside and inside Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton's central London AGM to protest the company's record of environmental damage and forced displacement of indigenous communities in Colombia, Australia, Indonesian Borneo and elsewhere, due to its extraction of dirty fuels, including coal and uranium.

Some of the group later visited the Australian High Commission, demanding to speak to an official about BHP's uranium mining activities and exploration on aboriginal lands in South and Western Australia. The 'diplomatic protection' police were called by the High Commission. When the police arrived, the protesters were ordered to leave the building.

See also the following reports on the AGM and demo:
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2011/10/bhp-billiton-agm-protest-london-20-october-2011/
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/10589

Campaigners welcome MOX plant closure, call for end to reprocessing

Kick Nuclear - 4 August 2011

Kick Nuclear welcomes yesterday's announcement that the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication plant at Sellafield, Cumbria is to close, but demands an end to reprocessing and to highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel transports through London and across the country.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Medact jointly staged a vigil and parliamentary meeting at Portcullis House, Westminster on Tuesday (26th April) to mark the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, the world's worst ever civil nuclear disaster. [See photos and report...]

Activists blockade Queen's back yard to brand energy giant's nuclear power bid a ‘Right Royal Rip-Off'

Campaigners brought rush hour traffic to a standstill on Tuesday morning (11 April) to protest against EDF Energy's plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK. All four lanes of the A302 outside EDF Energy's headquarters in Grosvenor Place - which runs alongside the gardens of Buckingham Palace - were sealed off shortly after 8am using two 14-foot bamboo tripods. The cleared zone was then declared a ‘nuclear disaster area'.

Full report & pics | More pics | Video