First encounter with young political organizations
in Salamanca
On 24 October the Governing Board of
Jóvenes Nucleares (JJNN), the Spanish Nuclear
Young Generation chapter (www.jovenesnucleares.org),
organised in Salamanca the first-ever encounter with young political
organizations. The event took place in conjunction with the TopFuel
2006 international conference. Sylvia Choithramani (President
of JJNN), Jose Luis Perez (Vice-President), Francisco Alvarez
(Director of Communications) and Manuel Fernandez (Webmaster for
the JJNN website) had the pleasure of meeting three members of
the Socialist Youths of Salamanca: Noelia Sanchez (General Secretary),
Sara Gomez (Institutional Secretary) and Carlos Sanchez (Secretary
of Organization).
Following the presentations and the descriptions
of both organizations, the members of Socialist Youths portrayed
their work in all the areas affecting young people: employment,
housing, education, the environment, equal opportunities and the
improvement of public services. The organisation is made up of
young people between 14 and 30 years who are affiliated to the
Spanish Socialist Party - its history and its objectives. And
yet they operate independently.
The Spanish Nuclear Young Generation explained
that their objectives are basically to spread knowledge on nuclear
energy that shows the positive roll that this source of energy
can play for the well-being of society, to encourage communication
and debate and to facilitate the incorporation of professional
young people in the field. Consequently, it became clear that
the Spanish Nuclear Young Generation is not a pressure lobby group
but is instead primarily concerned with gathering and communicating
scientific and technical information with the aim of improving
people’s understanding of nuclear energy, and in such a
way that is independent of any political inclinations or affiliation
when it comes to nuclear energy policy.
Regarding the energy debate, and more precisely
its nuclear component, the members of Socialist Youths showed
a great awareness of the complexity of Spanish and European energy
supply problems, of the advantages and disadvantages of the different
energy sources and of certain rejections of nuclear energy that
are mainly due to the perception that there is no final solutions
to large-scale nuclear waste management. On the other hand, the
Spanish Nuclear Young Generation tried to clarify technical doubts
and explain that both history and current context reveal that
energy needs and supply forecasting are fundamentally important
considerations for the development of countries today and, therefore,
it should be seen as a European priority issue rather than as
a domestic issue subject to political demarcation.
Furthermore, regarding radioactive waste, firstly,
the Spanish Nuclear Young Generation claimed that they are convinced
that science and technology will solve every remaining aspect
of waste management in the short term and in a satisfactory way.
Secondly, The Spanish Nuclear Young Generation
argued that while the nuclear industry has controlled, confined
and isolated each gramme of its waste in a safe way, and a huge
R&D effort is being carried out in order to find better solutions,
fossil energy sources (coal, gas, petroleum), on the other hand,
have contributed to one of the most important problems in the
history of mankind: global warming.
It was an extraordinarily interesting, fruitful
and pleasant meeting. Both groups showed their willingness to
continue engaging in dialogue, and it was proved that youth is
something that brings people together very successfully. This
implies similarity in the way that both associations are free
to pursue their respective objectives. Finally, the Spanish Nuclear
Young Generation chapter was invited to organise a conference
for all the affiliated Salamanca Socialist Youths members.
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