Anti-nuclear protesters demonstrate in Austria on eve of Chernobyl disaster anniversary

Xinhua News: Anti-nuclear protesters demonstrate in Austria on eve of Chernobyl disaster anniversary
VIENNA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Two anti-nuclear protests took place in two cities of Austria on Monday, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and after Japan's nuclear accident at Fukushima.

More than 700 protesters gathered in the downtown of Vienna for a peaceful protest against the use of nuclear energy in the country, holding posters and shouting slogans such as "Shut down now" and "Stop nuclear power".

A number of Austrian politicians, including Austrian chancellor and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria Werner Faymann, chairman of the Austrian Green Party Eva Glawischnig and officials of the Austrian People's Party participated in the demonstration.

On the rally site, Faymann criticized that the opinion of nuclear power as a controllable technology was "cynical" and pointed that the nuclear lobby would just wait until the issue of nuclear disasters disappears.

Glawischnig said the demonstration was a joint and international movement reflecting the general will. She also expressed the hope that the nuclear accident in Fukushima could become a turning point of the European energy policy. "The nuclear industry must be stopped," she said.

Klaus Kastenhofer, director of the Austrian environmental protection organization Global 2000, recalled Austria's indirect participation in the nuclear power industry, saying that the Fukushima accident is a wake-up call for Austria despite a country without nuclear power plants.

Another anti-nuclear rally took place in Salzburg, the fourth largest city of Austria, on the same day, Austrian Broadcasting ( ORF) reported.

The Global 2000 organized the two anti-nuclear protests in Vienna and Salzburg, aiming to use the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster as an opportunity to call on all mankind to fight against nuclear power.

It has estimated that some 2,000 and 5,000 people would participate at the demonstrations. But the actual attendance was much smaller than expected.