Several hundred residents in Jiangmen, a city near China’s southern Guangzhou, took to the street to protest against a planned uranium processing plant [1] on July 12, 2013.
Marchers moved through the city carrying banners and wearing masks that read “we want children, not atoms.” The protesters say they're worried about radiation and possible nuclear pollution.
According to The New York Times [2], Jiangmen authorities have already signed an agreement with the China National Nuclear Corporation to house the six billion US dollar project. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year. The local government announced the project last week, giving the public 10 days to submit comments. The officials claimed that the plant is harmless, but the residents were not convinced. A news conference was held after the protest, and the mayor promised to extend another 10 days for public comment.
Earlier this year, similar protest [3] took place in China’s southern Kunming where residents protested against a gas refinery.
South China Morning Post [4] has reported that the protest had been organized via China’s social messaging services: QQ and WeChat [5].
On China’s most popular microblogging site Sina Weibo, information about the protests was quickly censored. Some Weibo users were able to get around the censor and post pictures.
Below are some of the pictures of the protests from Sina Weibo [6]:
Banner reads: We want children, not atoms. (from Sina Weibo [7])