Renewable Revolution

Global Conference Urges Ban on Uranium Mining and Nuclear Power    

Posted on Apr 24, 2015

By Paul Brown, Climate News Network
 
LONDON—Uranium mining across the world should cease, nuclear power stations be closed and nuclear weapons be banned, according to a group of scientists, environmentalists and representatives of indigenous peoples.

Three hundred delegates from 20 countries that produce uranium for nuclear power, weapons and medical uses called for an end to all uranium mining in a declaration launched on Earth Day this week at a meeting in Quebec, Canada.

The venue for the World Uranium Symposium was chosen because Quebec state is currently considering whether to continue its moratorium on uranium mining, having already closed down its only nuclear power plant in 2013.

Symbolic choice

The city of Quebec is also symbolic because this is where Canada, the US and the UK made a co-operation agreement in 1943 that led to the building of the world’s first nuclear weapons. Two of the resulting A-Bombs were used to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

But the symposium was more concerned about the damage that existing uranium mining is doing to the welfare of indigenous peoples, and the “erroneous view” that nuclear power can help solve the problem of climate change.

The declaration applauded the expansion of renewable energy and the significant strides in phasing out nuclear power following the growing awareness that “nuclear power is not a cost-effective, timely, practical or safe response to climate change”.

“The risks to health, safety and the environment represented by the entire nuclear fuel chain . . . greatly exceed the potential benefits for society”

It called for “a worldwide ban on uranium exploration, mining, milling and processing, as well as the reprocessing of nuclear waste, and the irresponsible management of radioactive waste”.

Dr. Eric Notebaert, associate professor of medicine at the University of Montreal, co-president of the Symposium, and member of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, said that the symposium delegates all agreed that “the risks to health, safety and the environment represented by the entire nuclear fuel chain—from uranium mines, to power reactors, to nuclear weapons, to radioactive wastes—greatly exceed the potential benefits for society”.

Dr. Juan Carlos Chrigwin, a physician affiliated with McGill University, and president of Physicians for Global Survival, said: “The issuing of this World Declaration on Uranium is the culmination of essential work carried out over many years by international coalitions who, despite geographical and cultural differences, share common objectives and who desire to shape a common vision of a better world.

“Uranium does not provide a viable or sustainable approach for dealing with climate change, nor for providing isotopes for medical use. Today, there are a number of medical and energy alternatives that are cheaper and safer.”   

The declaration is open for organisations and individuals to sign on the internet and is bound to put further pressure on an industry already suffering from falling confidence.

The price of uranium has dropped from $138 a tonne in 2007 to less than $40 a tonne currently as plans to build more nuclear stations have been shelved in several countries.  :emthup:

While the search continues for rich new uranium deposits—particularly by China in Africa and the US in Greenland—it is unlikely to be economically viable to exploit them at current prices.


According to the World Nuclear Association, 52% of the world’s production comes from 10 mines in six countries. The largest is in Canada, followed by one in Australia, but the largest single producer is Kazakhstan, which has four mines in the top 10 in the world. In Africa, Niger and Namibia are also big producers.

While many pro-nuclear governments—including the UK’s—regard nuclear power as a clean, low-carbon form of energy, the politicians ignore the carbon footprint of the mines and the consequences for the health of workers.

It is in developing countries that the miners and the local environment tend to suffer most because of open cast mines. For example, large areas of Kazakhstan are too dangerous to inhabit as a result of mountains of uranium tailings and mildly radioactive dust.

The Symposium’s co-president, Dr. Dale Dewar—a physician who is associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan and is co-author of the book, From Hiroshima to Fukushima to You—summed up by saying:

“We are calling on national and international leaders to protect our planet and our populations from any further nuclear catastrophes. Anything less would be irresponsible.”

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/global_group_seeks_ban_on_uranium_and_nuclear_power_20150424

How Much of Worldwide Disease Is Preventable? 
 
About one-fourth of all instances of disease are preventable and caused by environmental factors that could be changed, health experts say. Children are even more affected by diseases caused by environmental factors, with about one-third of all instances of disease being preventable in children younger than 5 years old.

It is estimated that about 13 million lives could be saved every year if precautions were taken to better manage environments. The main preventable worldwide diseases are diarrhea, malaria, lower respiratory infections and accidental injuries. These could be reduced by improved hygiene with water storage and handling of toxic substances, cleaner fuel usage and improved building safety.

More about preventable diseases:

The leading factors of diseases in the US are poor diet, lack of exercise, tobacco use and excessive alcohol consumption.

More than 90% of diarrhea-related conditions could be prevented by improving unsafe water supplies.

Nearly 3 million deaths each year are from cardiovascular diseases, which can be prevented in certain cases. This is nearly twice the amount of deaths from cancer.



Agelbert comment (I am Gelbert46 on WiseGeek):


The article is incorrect. Nearly 7 million people die each year of cancer. One in 10 humans were expected to get cancer in the 1950s. Thanks to nuclear power plant and atomic explosion Cesium-137 deposition throughout the globe, one in THREE people will get cancer.

The corrected sentence in the article, if the WHO (world Health Organization) wasn't prevented from telling the truth about radionuclide caused cancers by the IAEA, would be this:

The main preventable worldwide deadly diseases are all types of cancers. The rapid increase in the global cancer epidemic (one in three will get cancer in their lifetime) is caused by Cesium-137 planetary deposition from nuclear explosions and nuclear power plant radionuclide environmental contamination.  .

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-much-of-worldwide-disease-is-preventable.htm#discussions




And about that "background radiation" that we are all supposed to have "evolved" to live under...

Most “Background Radiation” Didn’t Exist Before Nuclear Weapons Testing and Nuclear Reactors.

Nuke pukes claim that we get a higher exposure from background radiation (when we fly, for example) or x-rays then we get from nuclear accidents.

News flash!

There was exactly zero background radioactive cesium or iodine before above-ground nuclear testing and nuclear accidents started.

Cesium-137 is unique in that it is totally anthropogenic. Unlike most other radioisotopes, cesium-137 is not produced from its non-radioactive isotope, but from uranium. It did not occur in nature before nuclear weapons testing began.

Fukushima has spewed much more radioactive cesium and iodine than Chernobyl. The amount of radioactive cesium released by Fukushima was some 20-30 times higher than initially admitted. And the cesium levels hitting the west coast of North America will keep increasing for several years. Fukushima is spewing more and more radiation into the environment, and the amount of radioactive fuel at Fukushima dwarfs Chernobyl.

As such, the concept of “background radiation” is largely Nuke Puke disinformation propaganda .  Most of the radiation we encounter today, especially the most dangerous types, did not even exist in nature before we started tinkering with nuclear weapons and reactors.

We all know that radionuclides cause genetic mutations and severe birth defects.

But most people are unaware of the fact that, due to the UBIQUITY of Cesium-137 in our environment, MOST of the cancers today and much of the cardiovascular disease as well as ANY soft tissue muscle related diseases are also caused by radionuclides that destroy both smooth and striated muscles. That means, the heart, the blood vessels, the intestines, the stomach lining, the lungs and every muscle in your body.

Cesium-137 goes EVERYWERE because your body thinks it is Potassium. Lodged in the heart muscle it begins to atrophy it. It happens more or less according to muscle mass location and activity. A doctor in Russia in the 1990s discovered Cesium-137 caused heart abnormalities in small animals, then in human children. He was put in prison for publishing his study. 

Neither the government of Russia or our Government CARES what radionuclides are doing to most humans. We have to MAKE THEM CLOSE THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS by letting everyone know what is really happening out there.

And if you think the elite aren't making sure THEIR food isn't contaminated, you are kidding yourself!

We have to kill nuclear power or it will kill us. As it is many of us are already doomed because we have been exposed to too much Cesium-137 in our food or because we have lived too near a nuclear power plant.   

We have been lied to big time. Please Pass it on.