About 300 protest in Groningen against Eemshaven nuclear plants

Hundreds of people demonstrated on the Vismarkt in the city of Groningen on Sunday afternoon against the possible building of two nuclear power plants in the Eemshaven. The Eemshaven and Terneuzen in Zeeland are the two locations still in the running. The cabinet wants to make a final choice in early December.

Groningen Seaports, the port authority, concluded on Friday that the Eemshaven is not a logical location. Nuclear plants there could affect the local energy system and the security of electricity supply across the Netherlands, it said.

German authorities also object. Border towns and the state of Lower Saxony (Nedersaksen) reject the plans, and the state government has told the Netherlands so. The mayor of Borkum calls the plans unacceptable, noting that the whole island would have to be evacuated in a nuclear disaster. He has written a letter of concern to the Tweede Kamer.

Some demonstrators travelled from Borkum to the mainland to join the protest in Groningen.

Demonstrator Ko Janssen said: "It's a really stupid decision to build nuclear power stations." He said there is no final solution for nuclear waste. Carla Franken wants no plant in either the Eemshaven or Terneuzen. The cabinet announced last summer that three sites are being considered: two in the Eemshaven and one in Terneuzen. It keeps the Groningen option open, but has promised to stick to its pledge that Groningen drops out if Zeeland is "just as suitable".