Activists stop loggers clearing nuclear reactor site. Photo by Tiina Prittinen.
Before permits have been issued for the Pyhäjoki (Holy River) nuclear power plant in Finland, contractors newly hired for their willingness to proceed nevertheless rushed this month to resume clearing dense forest habitat at Hanhikivi, a remote headlands on the northern Gulf of Bothnia. Anti-nuclear activists from the Rising Tide network were arrested last fall blocking roadwork into the site as the work began, and since then the original contractor refused to continue until a challenge by conservationists and local opponents was resolved.
Activists were already planning a protest camp for the second week of June, but faced with the audacious assault on the environment, they put out the call for immediate help with site occupation, treesits and blockades.
Their first stop on April 17 was at the Helsinki head office of the contractor, where police arrested three people who refused to leave until the company agreed to stop logging.
Dozens then traveled to the planned reactor site. On April 22, three people were arrested after repeatedly interfering with operation of the construction equipment, but all were later released. That night, anarchists who disavowed any connection to the nonviolent activists set fire to two work vans in the company’s Helsinki lot.
Three days later, three more activists infiltrated the site and locked down to logging machinery. They were arrested several hours later after police removed the lock-down devices. They were fined for insubordination and later released.
No Nukes treehugger halts Finland site prep. Photo by Taina Mäntykenttä
On April 28, activists blocked the road with a banner. A truck laden with logs blared its horn from a hundred yards away and barreled straight ahead, causing them to scatter. One person grabbed a door handle and was carried along until the truck finally came to a halt. The blockader climbed on top of the tall load, holding an anti-nuclear banner. Security forces hired by the state energy company eventually arrived and arrested the activist, taking him in for questioning before being released.
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Action video here.