Mark Nelson is mad at the nuclear industry – because it does not support him and his movement enough, as the campaign manager complains: “We have been fighting for so long to be recognized by the nuclear industry and every time we think it is now far, industry withdraws into its shell. ” the 32 year old American organizes “Stand Up for Nuclear“, in German: Stand up for nuclear power. According to the company, this is the first and largest international pro-nuclear movement. The members meet for demonstrations in front of nuclear reactors or in capital cities around the world to protest against exit plans. Because shutting down the kilns is unnecessary and endangers climate protection, is their argument.
Recently organized “Stand Up for Nuclear” a protest in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin; Members dressed up as polar bears to draw attention to the consequences of global warming. In Germany the associations Nuklearia, Ökomoderne, the party of humanists and the “Mothers for Nuclear” support the movement – all groups that reject the nuclear phase-out. Throwing environmental organizations like BUND these associationsto lobby for the nuclear industry in disguise. On the contrary, campaign manager Nelson complains that the electricity companies are too rabid and invest too little money: “The companies do not promote nuclear power because they are afraid of the public’s reaction,” he says.
“Chernobyl wasn’t the end of the world.”
He estimates the global budget for pro-nuclear lobbying at $ 20 million – “that’s pathetic, nuclear opponents have a lot more to spare”. Nelson is frustrated because the nuclear power plant operators are not sponsoring his demonstrations. At a protest in Brussels with around 100 participants, the Belgian energy company Engie did not even want to sponsor rolls or beer, let alone encourage its workers to participate.
Nelson runs a strategy consultancy in Chicago called the Radiant Energy Group; his company has nothing to do with PR and lobbying, he says. Nelson also takes care of “Stand Up for Nuclear” and the project is financed by donations, he explains. The young American with the hipster mustache studied engineering and Russian in Oklahoma before he went on to earn a degree in nuclear engineering as a scholarship holder in Cambridge, England. But he has never worked in a nuclear power plant, which he says is a little embarrassing. Instead, Nelson joined “one of the most hated and loved” environmental groups, Environmental Progress in California. The founder and president of the organization, whose name means “environmental progress”, is the well-known and controversial climate and nuclear power activist Michael Shellenberger. Nelson later went into business for himself.
Germany is one of the countries where “Stand Up for Nuclear” was particularly active recently. This is no wonder, after all, the last six nuclear power plants will be taken off the grid this year and next – the final of Germany’s nuclear phase-out. Nelson criticizes that the Federal Republic is making itself even more dependent on Russian gas. He considers the German fear of the atom to be irrational: “Chernobyl was terrible, but not the end of the world,” he says. And Ukraine is now “the most atomic country on the planet”, which is increasing the share of nuclear power in the energy mix in order to be less dependent on Russian gas. Nelson believes the mood in many countries is turning in favor of nuclear power: “We are seeing a tide change.”