Summer-Fall 2018, vol. XXX No. 2-3

WORLD INFORMATION TRANSFER’S 27th International Conference on Health and Environment Global Partners for Global Solutions Headquarters, April 27, 2018 Sustainable Energy: Legacy of Chornobyl Sustainable Development Goal 7

Left to Right: Honorable Carolyn Comitta, Ms. Margaryta Rayets, Mrs. Kateryna Pavlova, H.E. Volodymyr Yelchenko, Dr. Christine K. Durbak, Honorable Andrew Weber, Dr. Martha Linet, Dr. Peter Salk, Dr. Bernard Goldstein

World Information Transfer, sponsored by the Government of , held the 27th an- OPENING REMARKS: nual conference on Health and Environment with a focus on Sustainable Energy and the 2 Dr. Christine K. Durbak Legacy of Chornobyl. Honorable Carolyn Comitta used past legislation to highlight the 3 H.E. Ambassador balance between economic and social responsibility. Dr. Bernard Goldstein stated that Volodymyr Yelchenko healthy humans are vital to setting and achieving the sustainability goals. He emphasized that we sometimes think of sustainability as being an end goal, instead of a process, be- Honorable Carolyn Comitta 4 cause the world is always changing. Ms. Margaryta Rayets discussed how there is a lot of transformative legislation to pass to get the Chornobyl exclusion zone to its potentially KEYNOTE ADDRESS: positive future. Mrs. Kateryna Pavlova added to the discussion on the Chornobyl exclusion 5 Honorable Andrew Weber zone with examples of how the zone can benefit from solar energy development projects. Dr. Martha Linet presented the latest findings on the health effects of radiation exposure to PRESENTATIONS: children, drawing from the key studies, and emphasized the state-of-the-art lifetime per- 8 Dr. Bernard D. Goldstein spective on radiation risks and suggested ways to saolve them such as meditation. Honor- 12 Ms. Margaryta Rayets able Andrew Weber, the Keynote Speaker, talked about his experiences with programs se- curing uranium use worldwide. He said that we have made progress in countering weapons 13 Mrs. Kateryna Pavlova of mass destruction, but we live in a dangerous world where the line between conventional 14 Dr. Martha Linet and nuclear weapons is blurred. Dr. Peter Salk overviewed the biological history of humans 19 Dr. Peter Salk to provide context to the dimensions of our current issues, and suggested ways to solve them such as mediation, support of the SDGs, and capitalization of existing technologies. 23 Mr. Gilad Regev Mr. Gilad Regev presented a revolutionary idea about rewarding companies and people 25 Mr. Apurv Gupta for using renewable and clean energy with a new currency. He says this will only work if trust is built in the currency and everyone is included in the process. Mr. Apurv Gupta “Education brings Choices. concluded that the world needs to focus on the future leaders where there is energy and Choices bring Power.” passion to make the world better.

ISSUE available at www.worldinfo.org The World Ecology Report See WIT’s 27th Conference at is printed on recycled paper. www.youtube/user/WITConferences direction, according to Vox. But globally deaths from starvation Dr. Christine K. Durbak have been reduced to one six hundredth of the risk 60 years ago.

Conference Chair and This success is a result of establishing a global early famine warn- Founder, World Information ing system and humanitarian efforts around the globe. 2017 also Transfer Inc. saw fewer fatalities from natural disasters, according to the In- ternational Database, infectious diseases continuously decline Excellency, distinguished delegates, colleagues, ladies and gentle- globally, largely due to vaccination efforts. Solar power contin- men and students, we are most pleased to welcome you to our ues to expand as a source of energy with the Swindon geother- 27th annual conference at the United Nations on the topic of Health mal energy andfinally, progress in human rights have grown in and Environment, Global Partners for Global Solutions, which is all regions of the world, though certainly not in every country. co-sponsored by the , our co-sponsor since 1992 and, supported by the International Council of Women, the Focusing only on progress would produce an overly optimistic view NGO Committee on Sustainable Development New York and just as a focus on problems alone produces an overly pessimistic World Association of NGOs. Today I would like to begin with a perception of the state of our world today. Inspiration to improve quote, “progress isn’t in the eyes of the beholder” which began in the lives of others comes in part from the belief that progress is 1987 following the catastrophe in Chornobyl on April 26 1986. possible. Wars, one could argue, have to be expected and accept- With its mission of bringing scientifically relevant information ed as part of the human condition because anger derives from the to promote a healthy environment for all, we are grateful to the core element in the human psyche and the lack of attention to the government of Ukraine and His Excellency’s board for support- emotional and physical needs of every child born is still prevalent. ing our mission, and to to enlighten you this morning. “One billion people are added to our planet Our global population in sheer numbers is larger than at any point in approximately every twelve years since 1950” human history. One billion people are added to our planet approxi- mately every twelve years since 1950, which is challenging the Earth’s An evolutionary change would have to occur for war and child carrying capacity to sustain civilization. However, the average global neglect to disappear, yet limiting conflict and mitigating its re- family size has decreased and fertility rates have fallen in most de- sults have been achieved thanks in large measure to the efforts of veloped countries. People on the average are living longer, healthier, the United Nations. The UN itself represents human progress, and safer lives. There are fewer deaths from illness and starvation, symbolized by the ceiling in the ECOSOC chamber. The cham- and fewer extremely poor or illiterate people, and certainly more ber’s architect, Mark Ilyas, intentionally left part of the scene people connected by telephone, the internet, and transportation. unfinished as a reminder that the work of repairing the eco- nomic and social ills of the world will be ongoing. Achieving The tendency to focus only on persistent problems can blind those positive change and perceiving it as progress in any sector oc- who seek to repair the world, observing and supporting progres- curs over time and requires both patience, balance, assessment, sive change such as United Nations Sustainable Development and the willingness to change our perceptions and beliefs. Goals, SDGs. SDG 7, Energy, is on our agenda today. We’ll hear I would like to end with a quote from Charles Darwin, “Ig- about the transformation happening in Chornobyl, the origin of norance more frequently begets confidence than does knowl- why the World Information Transfer began, and how energy, or edge: it is those who know little, and not those who know lack of it, is transforming our world. Even where progress occurs much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will many ignore it. Across the globe 60 percent of people surveyed, in- never be solved by science.” Thank you for your attention. cluding the US, thought that their nation was moving in the wrong

World Information Transfer 2 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 in particular to the nuclear energy industry and its safe- H.E. Mr. Volodymyr guards. In modern the scale of the ca- Yelchenko tastrophe can be compared only to the Great Famine of Permanent Representative 1933 (), Second World War and the ongo- of Ukraine to the ing Russian aggression in Crimea and the East of Ukraine. United Nations For 32 years Ukraine has made every effort to improve the well-being of affected communities and revive the econom- ic potential of the affected areas. This catastrophe disrupted Excellencies, dear Colleagues, distinguished guests, the livelihoods of almost 2 million people in more than 2000 At the outset, let me thank Doctor Christine Durbak of the locations. Strengthening the resilience of affected commu- World International Transfer, Conference Chair and Founder, nities and restoration of their self-reliance is the foundation for being our supporter and partner for so many fruitful years. for their sustainable development and our absolute priority. And I would also like to welcome our distinguished speakers of In this regard, we are thankful for productive collaboration with today. I am pleased that Ukraine has a long lasting tradition of co- the United Nations. Supported by UN agencies, Ukraine has suc- hosting this essential open dialogue at the United Nations, that cessfully implemented a number of international projects aimed give us an opportunity to discuss a number of the most relevant at sustained recovery and development of the affected areas. items of the international, national and regional importance. . As Doctor Durbak already mentioned, this year our fo- “United Nations system must ensure cus is in conjunction with the UN 2030 agenda target- comprehensive consideration of security, the ing Sustainable Development Goal 7 - Ensure access to af- social and environmental aspects” fordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The approach of the new United Nation system must Dear colleagues, By all means, the shift from restoration ensure comprehensive consideration of security, social and of the area to its sustainable socio-economic development environmental aspects, particularly in priority areas such as can only take place if radiation safety requirements are ful- ecological safety, comprehensive environmental conservation ly met. Therefore, Ukraine places emphasis on converting and risk reduction management. Only such approach will fa- the Shelter facility into an environmentally safe system and cilitate sustainability and efficiency of the developing world. concluding the construction of the new safe confinement. This issue is of special importance for my country. As you all In November 2016 the New Safe Confinement was erected. know, yesterday the international community commemo- This construction project is unprecedented in the history of rated the 32nd year of the accident at the Chornobyl Nucle- engineering. Never before has such a huge structure been con- ar Power Plant, the largest nuclear disaster in the history of structed at a heavily contaminated site. The next step is the com- mankind that has led to the loss of human lives, huge irre- pletion of the construction and commissioning of the facility. versible health, environmental and economic consequences. Having completed this work, we will create all conditions for It occurred on 26 April 1986 near the city of Prypyat, in the implementation of another ambitious project - the instal- Ukraine, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the lation of a land-based solar panels in the Chornobyl exclusion central authorities of the Soviet Union. Before the di- zone. A month ago a preliminary feasibility study on the instal- saster the city had a population of about 50 000 people. lation of the solar panels was presented. The potential demand Now it is a lifeless shadow of the ghostly nuclear catas- for electricity is bigger than originally estimated, and can be up trophe, one of only two rated at a 7 on the IAEA scale. to 1.2 GW (gigawatts) of initial power. The study takes into ac- It had a serious political and security impact and changed count the features of the territory, the level of radioactive con- attitudes towards many aspects of the day-to-day life, tamination of the territory, where the planned location of solar

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 3 Summer - Fall 2018 energy facilities, the rules of radiation safety during the work. Hon. Carolyn Comitta Dear participants, Let me mention another important aspect of the topic we discuss now. As of today the global terrorist State Representative, threat within the peaceful nuclear development is an emerg- Pennsylvanian House ing international issue. Therefore, Ukraine welcomes the focus of Representatives of the international community on the physical protection of nuclear material. In this regard, the Chornobyl international PA’s Join Legislative Air and Water Pollution cooperation may also include aspects of the scientific and se- Control and Conservation Committee: 50 years curity infused cooperation under the coordination of the In- of Bipartisan Environmental Work ternational Atomic Energy Agency and other UN agencies. I would like to thank you for bringing us together for 27 years at the Health and Environment Conference, where Understanding the long-term nature of the implications of the we focus on shaping a healthy future for our children. I Chornobyl accident, we find it essential to continue collabora- also welcome students from Chester County Pennsylva- tion with the United Nations and other international organiza- nia who have been coming to this conferences since 1992. tions regarding the study and minimization of health, environ- mental and socio-economic consequences of the disaster. One I would also like to welcome and introduce Coleen Engval, re- of the primary lessons of Chornobyl was that the world should search analyst of Pennsylvania’s Joint Legislative Conservation stay vigilant and united facing such disasters – something that Committee of which I am a member. The work of this Com- was proved, for instance, by the Fukushima nuclear accident mittee is the topic of my brief presentation this morning. The in 2011. Despite the considerable progress in rehabilitation of Chornobyl nuclear disaster occurred seven years after a Penn- the affected areas, much remains to be done. The Chornobyl sylvania near nuclear disaster occurred at Three Mile Island, so legacy will linger for a long while. And we should never forget there is a connection between Ukraine and Pennsylvania. Let me about this. So I am convinced that we must continue to carry tell you a little bit about what we’re doing in Pennsylvania, and out various events within the UN just like you do right now. I hope it will be applicable to other states and countries as well. In this light, I would like to inform you that next week the

Permanent Mission of Ukraine will be hosting a photo se- This year is the 50th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s Joint Leg- ries exhibition featuring Volodymyr Dyagel, a talented young islative Conservation Committee, a small state agency that Ukrainian photographer. Some of his works are displayed you’ve probably never heard of. However I believe this organi- today on my right and left. The exhibition entitled “Chor- zation, which was operating at its peak during the Three Mile nobyl. Irreversibility” is dedicated to the 32nd Anniversa- Island and Chornobyl nuclear disasters, has valuable lessons ry of the Nuclear Catastrophe. With this in mind, I am us- for the modern conservation world. The committee on which ing this opportunity to invite you to the opening ceremony, I am now serving as a legislative member is bipartisan, serv- which will take place on Tuesday, May 1, 1.30 pm, by the ing both Democrat and Republican members of the Pennsyl- South Wall of the Conference Building on the first floor. I vania legislature. In today’s especially contentious political tried to shape the main ideas of the Ukrainian delegation climate, it might surprise you how much we’ve been able to in the United Nations on the issue and now I guess that it is accomplish. During the 60s and 70s the committee was instru- time to listen to the views and approaches of my colleagues. mental in remediating the dangerously polluted environment. Thank you.

Here are a few examples of the committee’s accomplish- "Chornobyl legacy will linger for a long while" ments. I’ll be focusing briefly on the Waste Tires Recy-

World Information Transfer 4 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 cling Act, and most importantly the Environmental Rights the local municipalities. In 2013 one of the first cases that cit- Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. The Waste ed the environmental rights amendment, Robinson vs. Com- Tires Recycling Act of 1996 was drafted by the Joint Leg- monwealth, challenged Act 13 and resulted in a decision by islative Conservation Committee to address the mil- the PA Supreme Court which gave municipalities the ability lions of illegally dumped tires which were littered across to use zoning to protect their citizens health and their natural streams and forests across Pennsylvania. The Act passed resources. In 2017 the amendment was cited again concerning both chambers unanimously and highlighted the ideal bal- drilling where the Supreme Court ruled that funds ance between environmental and economic responsibility. gathered from natural gas drilling must be used to mitigate the impacts of such operations - the funds had to be used for environmental purposes not just deposited into the general fund. As of today, the amendment has not yet been used in a broader context but we shall see how these developments evolve in the years to come. Environmental rights are vital to our citizens’ well-being. Laws and regulations can be amended or repealed, which is why a constitutional guarantee for access to healthy natural resources is vital for both the environment and the humans that depend on it. Thank you very much. or repealed, which is why a constitutional guarantee for access to healthy chiral resources is vital for both the environment Piles of tires prior to the PA Waste Tires Recycling Act of 1996 and the humans that depend on it. Thank you very much.

Perhaps the most notable achievement of the Committee Article 1 Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution is the ratification of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the Amendment in 1971. Article 1 section 27 of the Pennsylvania preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic State Constitution entrusts the protection and maintenance values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural of the environment to the Commonwealth for both current resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these citizens and for future generations. Just eight years after the resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain ratification of this amendment, Pennsylvania bore witness to them for the benefit of all the people. the nuclear accident and near disaster at Three Mile Island.

Seven years later in Chornobyl the International Com- munity saw a similar distrust and backlash after the hor- rific incident there. In places with strong democratic in- stitutions and citizens’ rights, environmental protections can help establish accountability as well as consequences.

Just recently, Pennsylvania has begun citing its own environ- mental rights amendment. Incredibly the first major use of the amendment was almost 50 years after its inception. Act 13 of 2012 established an impact fee and delegated most powers over natural gas drilling to the state government rather than

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 5 Summer - Fall 2018 weapons of mass destruction. Iraq was successfully denuded Hon. Andrew Weber of nuclear weapons of mass destruction in the first Gulf War. KEYNOTE And with UN efforts in the aftermath of that in the 1990s, the mid-1990s, Libya no longer has weapons of mass destruction. Former United States Assistant Secretary of Defense, Coucil on “...Nuclear weapons as a problem went away with Foreign Relations the Cold War .. unfortunately this challenge remains.”

Nuclear Energy, and Human That was an effort that was launched in 2003 and took over Health: Focus on SDG on Sustainable Energy ten years to accomplish, but successful. And today with the Thank you Dr. Durbak and Ambassador Yelchenko, our chaos in Libya we are happy that there are no weapons of Ukrainian colleagues. “D’akuju” (Thank you in Ukraini- mass destruction available there. Syria, an amazing interna- an). It’s a real honor to be here today, especially among so tional effort that I had the honor to participate in, success- many emerging leaders. So, I’m going to share a few of my fully removed and destroyed 1,300 tons of chemical weap- experiences, talk a little bit about recent history and the con- ons from Syria, Sarin VX, very dangerous nerve agents. tinuing threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear terrorism. And Iran with the nuclear agreement is prevented from attaining nuclear weapons. That’s a great achievement. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and it turned everything And the news today from the Korean Peninsula is extraordi- upside down. The day before this happened, we were con- nary because North Korea is the last of the remaining five so- cerned about a strong adversary, the Soviet Union. And then called rogue states that has nuclear weapons, chemical weap- after the coup against Gorbachev, where he lost command and ons, the largest chemical weapons deployed arsenal in the control of nuclear weapons, we became concerned about the world, and biological weapons. So, we can hope that we’ll make weakness, the chaos in the aftermath, that this enormous leg- progress in the near term to reduce that enormous remaining acy of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, that the ma- threat of state WMD programs. But in the last 12 months, just terials, the weapons themselves, the experts would proliferate in the last 12 months, North Korea used a chemical weapon and spread and be exploited by even small terrorist groups. and nerve agent VX in an assassination in Kuala Lumpur, So, two visionary American senators Sam Nunn and Richard Malaysia. Recently in Salisbury, England, the Russian gov- Lugar launched a program in 1991 called the Nunn-Lugar ernment operatives used a very advanced fourth generation Cooperative Threat Reduction program that was led by the chemical weapon called the Novacek agents in that assassina- United States Pentagon, Department of Defense. And I had tion that bungled failed assassination attempt. And we’ve seen the opportunity of spending much of my thirty-year ca- repeated use as in Syria as President Bashar al-Assad com- reer in government working on the program that they cre- mits crimes against humanity with chemical weapons, includ- ated. They had a vision that enabled , Ukraine, ing sarin gas. So, there’s much more that needs to be done. and Belarus within years after the collapse to be free of nu- clear weapons and assisted with that very historic effort. “In the last 25 years the number of countries that During the course of my career, we’ve made a lot of progress on have bomb quantities of highly enriched uranium countering weapons of mass destruction, be they nuclear chem- and plutonium has been reduced by more than ical or biological. We used to talk about five rogue states that half” had weapons of mass destruction programs. And one by one through international efforts we’ve denuded these countries of And in terms of actual nuclear weapons, we’ve made prog-

World Information Transfer 6 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 ress. There used to be 70,000 nuclear weapons in the world. low up these things and I said well maybe I’m interested. And Many of them 10 or even a hundred times larger than the this led to a series of events where I was introduced to the two that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 director of a factory in eastern Kazakhstan a place called Ust- to end World War II. There are nearly 15,000 nuclear weap- Kamenogorsk. His name was Vitaly Mette. Over a period of ons today. And some of you, younger people in the audience, months, I gained his trust. He told me that in his factory there maybe thought that nuclear weapons as a problem went away were 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium that had been with the Cold War but unfortunately this challenge remains. left over from a secret Soviet naval reactor, submarine reac- There are two paths to nuclear weapons. You need tor program. With the approval of President Nazarbayev, I either highly enriched uranium or plutonium for a nuclear was invited to visit the factory. This metal bucket filled with weapon. And there are two two ways that you can attain highly enriched uranium rods that are directly usable in those bomb materials. One is through theft or diversion nuclear weapons. There was enough material there for doz- from state programs that have these materials, and the oth- ens of nuclear bombs. It was protected by a good padlock. er is by having a legitimate peaceful use of nuclear power program, but then covertly pursuing military applications. Securing Nuclear Materials: Degelen Mountain And that’s where the IAEA, the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, plays a very important role in overseeing the peaceful use of nuclear energy to make sure that it’s not diverted for nuclear weapons purposes. And they’re on the ground in Iran ensuring that our agreement is implemented with full verification. So, we’ve made a lot of progress on reducing the supply of nuclear weapons materials around the world. In the last 25 years the number of countries that have bomb quantities of highly enriched uranium and plu- Soure: The Nunn-Lugar CTR program, Global Nuclear Security program tonium has been reduced by more than half from over 50 countries to less than 25 countries today. And that has been So we launched a secret project together with the government an international effort. President Obama launched the Nucle- of Kazakhstan to secure and remove this bomb material, so ar Security Summits that accelerated that work. But his vision it wouldn’t be available to Al-Qaeda. Or, at that time Irani- in the Prague speech of A World Without Nuclear Weapons, an agents were scouring the former Soviet Union for weap- we’ve made much less progress on arms control and disarma- ons of mass destruction, expertise, materials and weapons. ment. You see here a convoy of trucks carrying safely packaged for As a young man, a young United States diplomat, I re- transport, the six hundred kilograms of highly enriched ura- member in 1992 reading an article in The Wall Street Jour- nium, to an airfield in Ust-Kamenogorsk. In this, I remember nal about the opening of our new embassy in a country called like it was yesterday driving from the factory at 3 o’clock in Kazakhstan. It said, the headline read, “U.S. embassy in Al- the morning. In this convoy, there was black ice on the roads. maty looking for diplomats who find (Paris abore) .” And I The trucks were sliding and I didn’t want to have to report to thought that’s me, so I volunteered. I spent 10 months learn- Washington that one of them slid off a bridge and was now ing the Russian language. In the summer of 1993, I arrived floating down the Irtysh river. We made it to the airport. In in Almaty, Kazakhstan as an eager young diplomat. Within the longest military transport flight, nonstop flight, in history, the first month of my arrival, I was approached by an au- that material was flown to the United States where it was sent tomobile mechanic, who asked me if I wanted to buy some to Oak Ridge Tennessee and blended down for use in nuclear uranium. I was of course very skeptical, but you need to fol- power reactors. That project took this material off the market.

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 7 Summer - Fall 2018 It was followed up by many similar efforts that reduced the small battlefield nuclear weapons. And the other related nega- number of countries that have these materials. It was described tive trend is that, with the breakdown of the arms control trea- in a book by David Hoffman called The Dead Hand, and Cary ties, such as the intermediate nuclear forces treaty that Reagan Granat is now producing a movie about this Project Sapphire. and Gorbachev negotiated in 1987 and now the New START This is the Semipalatinsk nuclear weapons test site, treaty between and the United States. It expires in 2021 where the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear weapons tests. and it needs to be extended. But for the first time in 40 years And over a hundred and fifty of those were atmospheric or Russians and Americans are not negotiating a follow-on nu- above-ground tests. And the human toll and the surround- clear arms control agreement. So, we’re at the beginning of an ing populations was devastating. I’ve become friends with an unconstrained arms race and we’ve been there before and we artist who now paints anti-nuclear paintings. He has no arms shouldn’t go there. It will be costly. The United States plans to and legs because as a baby he was exposed to the fallout from spend over the next 30 years on nuclear weapons moderniza- these nuclear weapons tests. The area of this test site was as tion, including Donald Trump’s three new lower yield nuclear large as Belgium. And within it there’s an exclusion zone of weapons that were announced earlier this year. 1.7 trillion 300 square kilometers that can never be used. But we worked dollars, 1.7, that’s one thousand seven hundred billion dollars secretly with our Russian counterparts and Kazakhstani coun- on nuclear weapons modernization. And the same in Russia. terparts to secure several hundred kilograms of plutonium that were left over at this test site. That project took 17 years to “...One of the driving forces for this increased risk complete and was announced in Seoul by Presidents Medve- of nuclear war is the blurring of the line between dev, Obama and Nazarbayev in 2012 at the Nuclear Security conventional weapons and nuclear weapons.” Summit. There are two very dangerous trends now happening in the world related to nuclear weapons. The first is that the President Putin’s announcement in his speech to the Russian risk of nuclear war is the highest it has been in my lifetime. Federation earlier this year described more new nuclear weap- ons, including nuclear cruise missiles. And they’re the most “For the first time in 40 years Russians and dangerous and destabilizing class of nuclear weapons because Americans are not negotiating a follow-on nuclear you can’t tell if it’s carrying a conventional weapon or a nuclear arms control agreement.” weapon. There’s no way to discriminate. So, I’ve been working with governments in Europe and Asia to eliminate this danger- Indeed, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the so- ous class of nuclear weapons, nuclear-armed cruise missiles. called Doomsday Clock to just two minutes before midnight, So my message to you it’s really a request to the emerg- which is the closest to midnight it has been since 1953. And ing leaders in the room. As I describe, these threats of weap- one of the driving forces for this increased risk of nuclear war is ons of mass destruction are still with us. They’re growing and the blurring of the line between conventional weapons and nu- indeed the very survival of the planet is at stake. And so, I clear weapons. Both Russia and the United States are pursuing had the privilege in my public service career of 30 years of smaller, more usable nuclear weapons for nuclear war fighting working on trying to reduce these threats. And we made in a limited regional conflict. And anybody whose ever been to some progress. But much more progress needs to be made. Chornobyl or Fukushima, as I have, know that and the releases And as you embark on your professional careers, whether of radiation there were much smaller than even a small nucle- you pursue science or journalism or public and global ser- ar weapon. The devastation that would happen in even a small vice, I would ask that you work on these issues because nuclear war and the risk that would escalate to a planet end- it’s individuals like you that will be the heroes in making ing conflict nuclear exchange is too high, so we need to work the world a safer healthier and better place for our chil- against this trend of sort of the 1960s ideas that you could have dren and their children. So, thank you for your leadership.

World Information Transfer 8 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 Dr. Bernard D. “The world will always be changing; global climate Goldstein change will make that happen...if nothing else” Dean Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh, There will always be new technologies, as humans innovate. School of Public Health Dr Durbak in her opening remarks talked about the need to balance the potential value of innovation with the potential for adverse effects. The Policy Interface of Sustainable Power and Human Health With all of the disasters today we tend to speak more of resil- ience than of sustainability. What is the difference? Think of Thank you very much. It has been an honor to work with the figure of speech about the glass that a pessimist thinks is Dr. Durbak the past 27 years. I want to acknowledge her in- half empty and the optimist half full. But to someone inter- credible leadership and energy without which there would ested in sustainability, the glass is twice the size it needs to be. be no WIT. Great thanks to Ukraine and to His Excellency We do need the extra glass if we are going to be resilient, be- Vladimir Yelchenko for their sponsorship these many years cause the amount of fluid in the glass will not be stable- it will of the program. As a citizen of the Commonwealth of Penn- constantly increase and decrease. We need enough to be able sylvania I’m particularly happy to follow the honorable Car- to cover the inevitable perturbations – but how much more? olyn Comitta. Her election to our Assembly is one of the Resilient communities are particularly important; they antici- very good political events we’ve had occur in recent years. pate risk, limit impact and quickly adapt. We must be able to

deal with these issues, because we are going to have even more My talk aims at providing an introductory overview changes and adverse events, if for no other reason that we of the interface between sustainability, energy and hu- are losing the Earth’s buffering capacity to deal with changes. man health. The UN has had a very important role in

Sustainability. A key foundation document for Sus- The UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 contains a variety tainability, Agenda 21, came out of the UN in 1992. of sustainability goals put together as part of the Millennium It seems obvious that healthy humans are central to set- Assessment program. The 2017 report describes the extent ting and achieving sustainable development goals. But of progress in meeting energy goals and finds that for every when Agenda 21 was put together, there was quite a debate goal energy progress falls short. Meaningful improvements as to whether human health was an integral part of the 3 will require higher levels of financing and bolder policy com- legs of sustainability. Economy, Environment, and Social. mitments. This is something that we need to keep in mind Health generally has been subsumed under the Social leg. because when we do talk about new technologies, we’re also

talking about new potential threats to the environment and Energy is central to sustainability in part because sus- to human health. We have to balance benefits and risks. tainability requires consideration of future generations.

How will there be sufficient energy for a still growing One can consider the history of environmental protection in population and for global development, which means three stages. The first is Command and Control, which pri- more people with cars and energy using appliances? marily consists of controlling visible air pollution emitted We sometimes think of sustainability as being the end goal, from smokestacks, and dirty effluents released into water or as if the eventual steady state will be this wonderful world of soil. The second stage is Risk Assessment and Risk Manage- sustainable development. But Sustainability is a process, not ment. While we continue to control overt pollution sources, an endpoint.

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 9 Summer - Fall 2018 we realize that there are pollutants that we cannot see, smell, port of about 15% which is virtual energy independence. or touch, that harm the environment and humans. Now we must fully approach a third stage, that of sustainability. Un- This unforeseen response to new technology includes Is- der EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the National Academy rael and Egypt having energy deals because Israel has of Sciences was asked to look at how the US Environmental natural gas off its coast. How will that affect the whole -se Protection Agency could act in a sustainable fashion. While ries of security issues, including Hezbollah obtaining a the report detailed a variety of potentially helpful processes submarine? Another example of the worldwide impact and frameworks, it can be summarized as recommending of changing energy supplies was also evident at the lat- that the EPA should approach a potential environmental est NATO meeting when the issue of the EU obtaining problem by considering not only how to minimize risk but its gas supplies from Russia was very much in evidence. how to maximize benefits. That includes a broad consider- ation of the economy, the environment and social/health is- In addition to energy independence there are other pos- sues, including learning how to perform trade-off analyses. sible benefits of shale gas, including economic well-being and replacement of as a more polluting energy source. In the short time that I have let me use the example of shale But the new shale gas technology is not without problems gas and oil obtained through advances in hydraulic fractur- - local, regional and global. Significant local and regional ing and other newer drilling technologies. Let me start with problems include noise, truck traffic, release of air and -wa a positive. In 1973, at the time of the Arab oil embargo fol- ter pollutants, and diverse psychosocial and community lowing their failure to defeat Israel after their surprise at - impacts. All of these have been compounded by the indus- tack in the Yom Kippur war, President Nixon said within try’s attempt to obfuscate the issues, including actively mis- 10 years the US will never have this happen again because leading the public. Not all of the shale gas industry is guilty we will be energy independent. Instead we went from 30% of communicating falsely, but overall this fragmented in- of oil imported to a high of 65% of oil imported. Now, be- dustry lacks a peer structure that is responsive to 21at cen- cause of this new technology, the US is down to a net im- tury standards of public communication from industry.

Map of Basins with Assessed with shale Oil and shale Gas Formation, as of May 2013

Source: United States Basins from U.S. Energy Information Administration and United States Geological Sur vey; other basins from ARI based on data from Various published studies

World Information Transfer 10 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 And there’s the global issues. The industry has done a very US was highly related to a strong belief in property rights and good job of making the issue sound like methane produc- a concern that sustainability was a guise to take away these tion will more than offset the global climate change caused by property rights. In this era of global climate change it is an is- fossil fuels such as coal. However, methane that is deep un- sue that is growing more and more within the right wing of the derground is not involved in causing global climate change. US Republican party. In contrast, by studying EU right wing Once industry brings methane to the surface, the meth- party platforms and the comments of those supporting Brexit, ane is participating in the global climate change process. It we found that the issue of property rights in Europe related to should be industry’s responsibility not to just get below the environmental matters or sustainabilitysimply does not exist. global climate change forcing function of the amount of carbon dioxide produced by coal, but also to take responsi- The natural gas issue also illustrates the breadth of energy bility to decrease methane releases from their drilling and issues in other ways. For example, although the EU has its distribution of shale gas to as low a level as possible. They own shale gas now deep underground, and desires to free have not done so. Let me emphasize that not all of the shale itself from dependence on Russia, it has not drilled for gas gas industry adheres to avoidable harmful practices – but but instead asked for US guarantees of gas supplies. Presi- overall the industry has been focused on making money dent Obama came to Brussels in 2014 to basically argue that to the detriment of the public and to a sustainable future. the EU needs to be paying more for its defense by increas- ing its NATO expenditure. At the press conference he kept getting questions about the US sending the EU natural gas. His somewhat frustrated response was to say that the US had taken on some of the difficulties and challenges of -en ergy development and Europe is going to have to go through some of these same conversations as well. Another broad issues bought up by the natural gas experience includes the role of the precautionary principle. American industry has argued that precautionary principle precluded the EU oil in- Source: U.S. Energy Information Adminstration dustry developing the advanced technology to obtain deep underground shale gas because each step of the way they I had the honor of spending four months in in the would have needed to submit to intense EU governmental University of Cologne comparing the US and the EU ap- bureaucratic oversight. Yet another EU/US difference is the proaches to shale gas. Much of the difference is due to prop- complete unanimity of NGOs in opposition to shale gas in erty right issue. In the US property rights are a very important. the EU while at least some US NGOs, such as EDF, are will- Most property owners in the US own their subsurface prop- ing to cautiously work with industry to explore the potential erty rights, which is true in almost no other place in the world. value of shale gas as a bridging fuel. This is similar to the By owning subsurface property rights an American can obtain lockstep anti-GMO beliefs of EU NGOs as compared to the a fair amount of money. In Europe, the local property owner more nuanced approaches to GMOs within some US NGOs. can have no benefit and only risk from state-sanctioned shale gas drilling on their property as they only own surface rights. I will finish with a very positive picture of what Germany is doing in relation to global climate change. While driving Further, property rights are guaranteed in our constitution through Germany it is very impressive to see fields of solar and are particularly important to Americans. My colleague, panels and windmills. But you have to look very quickly if J. Hudak and I found that anti-sustainability activity in the you want to see them because you are driving about a hun-

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 11 Summer - Fall 2018 dred miles an hour. The Germans admit that this fast driving costs 13% of their automotive fuel with resultant increase in Margaryta Rayets carbon dioxide emissions. Culturally, Germans like to drive Head of Information very fast but to live in population dense cities. We tend to External Relations and drive much more slowly but like to sprawl in big homes with Public Relations large yards which has its own global climate change conse- of Ukraine quences. Similarly, German opposition to nuclear power has led them to close all of their nuclear power sites, but the en- From ‘Black’ to ‘Green” Point: Exclusion Zone ergy replacement is achieved largely through burning rather Transformation poor grade coal. That coal is adding to carbon dioxide re- Thank you. Dear ladies and gentleman, distinguished del- leases and causing lots of particulate pollution, which is of egates, my name is Magaryta Rayets. I work for the State greater concern in the US (think of the Volkswagen scandal). Agency of Ukraine on exclusion zone management. I am pleased to be here to shortly focus my presentation on the Let me conclude by asking all to respect these very important exclusion zone activities. So, as you may know, the exclusion cultural and geographical issues, while at the same time working zone is a huge territory contaminated with long-lived radio- within our cultures to achieve maximum sustainability through nuclides, as a result of the Chornobyl disaster. You may see developing and efficiently using appropriate energy sources. some numbers just to remind you of the catastrophic plan- etary scale. We often compare our exclusion zone to Lux- Germany Renewable Energy embourg, of course not by the territory took… occupied… of course by the territory it occupies, not by the welfare.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the functions of our agencies, it is important to know that we have four core tasks, such as exclusion zone management, Chornobyl nuclear power plant decommissioning and transforma- tion of the “Shelter” object into an ecologically safe system. Overcoming the consequences of the Chornobyl disaster and state waste management in all of Ukraine. Our activity is coordinated by the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resourc- es of Ukraine and is important to mention that the recent Source: Energy Transition, The Global Energiewende number of enterprises under our management fulfilling its own functions regarding to the exclusive zone maintenance The key trends of the reform and of the exclusion zone led “...Once the renewable energy infra- with success move from black point, through recovery to de- structure is built, the fuel is free for- velopment, and so-called green point. They are engineering, ever. Unlike carbob-based fuels, the construction and science which altogether provide for the wind and the sun and the earth itself positive changes. In this regard, it is vital to provide open provide fuel that is free, in amounts policy, create investment opportunities and change the sta- that are effectively limitless". tus of exclusion zone to “self-sustaining economic entity”. The main direction of practical exclusion on transforma- - Al Gore tion are as follows. The first one is the creation of the Chor-

World Information Transfer 12 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 nobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve. Next one is solar energy development, my colleague will touch Kateryna Pavlova upon this issue in the day later and infrastructure develop- Head of International Affairs ment. By infrastructure, I mean the state waste manage- of Ukraine on Exclusion ment facilities and others. By the decree of the President of Zone Management Ukraine, in order to preserve natural systems, provide ter- ritorial remediation and ensure the barrier function, the Alternative Step of Chornobyl to Green Energy Chornobyl Biosphere Reserve was created actually. Its im- portant to mention that the exclusion zone is open to visitors Thank you. Hello dear Colleagues, and guests and thank you Dr since 2010. The visited exclusion zone became very popular. Durbak to invite us to this possibility to inform about situation, about the Chornobyl exclusion zone. I will try to be short and clear but with concrete points about the solar park in Chornobyl.

The implementation and realization of the solar energy devel- opment project is considered a new stage in the organizations of consequences resulted from the accident of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. So what we have for today? We have huge territories, which are forever withdrawn from agricultural cir- culation. We also have very powerful electrical power trans- port, network capacity which is very important for investors to be sure that grid connection for future solar park, it will be pro- vided. Also we have Paris Agreement regarding of issue until Exclusion Zone Biosphere Reserve 2020, 11 process of with alternative source. Actually it is forbidden to touch animals in the exclusion zone but this fox, is a fox named Semyon, he is the symbol of exclu- sion zone. He is very friendly, he eats foods from your hands. Animals in the exclusion zone are very lovely and they are not afraid of people even wolves. Of course there is no end to development of the exclusion zone and we have an intention to just provide water tours in the nearest future, air tours and ecotourism for visitors and we welcome everyone in Chor- nobyl. Please come and see with your eyes the animals, nature reservation and our facilities. They are very huge and unique.

So to conclude my brief presentation, I’d once more like to stress that there has been a long way to the exclusion zone Source: State agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management transformation through legislation, many negotiations with stakeholders and mutual efforts with our international part- We also created territory by two parts. How my colleague said, ners. And the exclusion zone is a really unique polygon for it would be big reserve, natural reserve and it would be 10 kilo- us for scientific research, international cooperation and I am metres zone territory of special use, industrial use and exactly sure that it has a bright future. So thank you for your attention. on this territory, it would be the solar park. Our engineers and

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 13 Summer - Fall 2018 staff who work in Chornobyl NPP, they have found some spe- cial areas which are totally flat, especially for this big solar park. Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management. The calculation of the feasibility study for the project was carried out. Chornobyl Radiation-Ecological Biosphere Reserve In March 2018, according to the results of the calcu- lations of the flexibility study, the French company, ENGIE, concluded that from technical and economi- cal point of view, the construction of the Solar Park with a capacity of 1.2 GW in exclusion zone is possible. So problems faced by investors. One of the most im- portant issues investors face building alternative pow- er objects is the connection to the electricity networks. Second, is the investors’ concerns about performance features on radioactively contaminated territories.

Source: State agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management Global Irradiation and Solar Electricity Potential

As the territory is located on the same latitude as Germany and which meet their energy needs from alterna- tive sources for more than 10 years and we already, our agencies receive more than 60 applications for land lease.

Companies and potential investors are very interested about the zone and we received from France, Denmark, USA, , Germany, and also from Belarus and Ukraine. The potential interest for electricity is up to 1.2 GW. So this proj- ect is a big onel. On July 4, 2017, at a meeting of the Cabi- net of Ministers of Ukraine, a decision was taken of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, and Ministry of En- vironment and state agency of Ukraine on exclusion zone Source: PGVIS European Communities 2001-2008 management, with the participation of the state enterprise “NEC Ukrenergo”. This is to ensure the project development And the solution we see is to create state electric power for the construction of infrastructure for collecting and is- transport enterprise on the basis with the involvement of sue power. Grid connections pre-flexibility study. And the high qualified staff from Chornobyl NPP, who will be development of infrastructure construction project and interested in building alternative energy objects. We have a the result was already presented in December, 2017. lot of specialists engineers and other staff which can provide and service this project in the future. Provid- We also have a big initiative from international experts, for ing companies and investors with full range of services for example, ENGIE, a French company, initiated the feasibility construction and installation work. Services of operat- study on the solar energy project, funded y the Government of ing maintenance and other related services, meals, trans- France and close cooperation with Minister of Environment port, accommodation. So this project is also one of the and the Natural Resources of Ukraine and State Agency of future issue and future decision for exclusion zone and we will work hard to provide it. Thank you so much. World Information Transfer 14 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 preciated in workers, radiologists, radium dial paint- Martha Linet ers, and then with the atomic bomb survivors in .

Epidemiologist, Radiation Exposure Sources and Types National Institute There are three major sources of radiation exposure: medical, of Health, USA environmental, and occupational.

Radiation Exposure: Comparative (Effective*) Doses Effect of Radiation on Children The levels vary by orders of magnitude from a tiny dose Thank you for inviting me to this very interesting conference. for one transatlantic flight, low doses from diagnostic x-rays, somewhat higher doses from CT scans, moder- The goals of this presentation are to present the latest find- ate doses among young persons residing near Chornob- ings on the health effects of radiation exposure to chil- yl to very high doses to those undergoing radiotherapy. dren, drawing from the key studies, and to emphasize the state-of-the-art lifetime perspective on radiation Radiation Doses to Organs from Medical Procedures risks. Risk of radiation exposure cumulates through life. But effective doses are not biologically meaning- ful; it is doses to organs that are important biologi- cally. Organ doses also range by orders of magnitude.

Radiation Exposure Per Capita Radiation exposure has changed dramatically over time world- wide. Comparing 1980 and 2006 in the United States, natural background accounted for about 75% of the exposure in 1980, whereas 1/2 of population radiation exposures were from med- ical sources in 2006; CT scans were the largest source, but nu- clear medicine and interventional procedures also increased. Source: Dr. M. Linet, Epidemiologist, National Cancer Institute

The topics for this presentatio include: sources of radiation, why study children, and cancer and other health risks

Radiation and Health Outcomes – History Radiation was discovered more than a hundred years ago. Serious health effects from high exposure levels soon became apparent including cancer, reported within a few years. Source: Mettler et al Radiology 2009 Radiation Health Outcomes – First Systematic Studies The first systematic studies of large populations were car- Why Study Children? ried out in the 1940-s-50s. The main effects I will dis- So why study children? Children are the most sensitive to cuss are cancer, mental health problems cataracts and radiation - the foetus because of the very rapid organ and cardiovascular disease. Early health effects were first -ap tissue development; the child due to smaller body diam-

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 15 Summer - Fall 2018 eters and organ sizes, and they drink milk which can be In Utero Radiation and Cancer Risks post-Chornobyl contaminated by fallout; and adolescents resulting from In utero studies of cancer risk following radiation exposure growth spurts and tissues proliferation (such as the breast). from the Chernobyl accident (mostly from I-131 [fallout] instead of external exposure) among 2,600 mother-child Early Life Time Periods of Radiation Exposure pairs in Ukraine revealed an excess risk of 12-fold increase The main emphasis of the talk will focus on three periods: pre- (high, but not statistically significant, because of the very natal; childhood/adolescence; and preconception exposures small number of thyroid cancers, which is a rare condition. to germ cells. In Utero Radiation and Cancer in Techa river Residents In Utero X-rays and Childhood Leukemia Risks Another population that was exposed in utero was in the In epidemiology we measure risk by comparing risk in ex- southern Ural Mountains in Russia. This is a population liv- posed to risk in unexposed. In a very striking first report that ing in proximity to the Mayak plutonium refining plant, where appeared in the 1950s describing risks for women who un- during the 50s and the 60s radionuclides were dumped into derwent prenatal exams using x-rays (prior to the advent of the nearby Techa River. This study showed no excess of solid ultrasound), a very large study based on maternal interview or hematopoietic cancers with increasing in utero exposure. showed a 50% increase in risk of childhood leukemia was seen Because the women and then their offspring continued to among the offspring of women who underwent prenatal x- ingest the radionuclides from the river, risk rose with in- rays. Although the study was greeted with a huge amount of creasing postnatal exposures. This echoes the findings from scepticism, a Harvard study based on medical records found the atomic bomb survivors, where it looks like early child- the same result - a 50% increase at risk of leukemia among hood exposures may be more important than fetal exposures. offspring of women who had undergone prenatal x-rays. More recently a study in the again using Childhood and Adolescent Radiation Exposure medical records found a smaller increase in risk (about 35% Pediatric CT scans and Cancer Risks elevated), but the recent study was a mixture of offspring of In a study of pediatric CT scans and cancer risk in the Unit- women who had undergone prenatal x-rays and ultrasound. ed Kingdom that linked radiologic exams with cancer reg- Ultrasound, a form of non-ionizing radiation, is not linked istry data, a three-fold increase was seen for leukemia and with increased risk. In a meta-analysis carried out in 2008 for brain tumors with increasing red bone marrow dose and of 32 studies, overall the risk was about 30 percent increased. Exposures from in utero radiation are considered low-dose ERR/mGy= 0.036 (95%CI: 0.005 - 0.120) generally defined as about a hundred milligray or below. p-trend=0.010

In Utero A-Bomb Exposures and Solid Cancer Risks This is a paradigm- changing study of in utero that found that risk per dose of radiation increased about twofold. In com- parison, those exposed in early childhood under age six ex- perienced risk that was a little bit higher. What was striking was that elevated risks were not apparent following in utero exposures until 50 plus years after the atomic bombings. Also surprising was that the cancer risk per 10,000 person-years following the in utero exposure was considerably lower than Leukemia risks following early childhood exposure. Reasons are unclear. Source: Pearce MP et Lancet, 2012

World Information Transfer 16 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 brain dose, respectively. The absolute risk is estimated to be Cancer type Cases/Controls RR/mSv 95% CI P-value one excess case for 10,000 head CT scans. Studies are under- Lymphoid leukemia 7,267/9,571 1.13 1.02-1.24 0.01 way internationally to see whether these findings can be rep- Myeloid leukemia 1,316/1,737 1.05 0.87-1.28 0.60 licated. It is also important to point out that these CT scans may be life-saving, and cost-benefit needs to be considered. Other leukemias 475/604 1.25 0.87-1.78 0.40 Total leukemia 9,058/11,912 1.12 1.03-1.22 0.01 ERR/mGy = 0.023 (95% CI: 0.010 - 0.049) p-trend<0.0001 Source: Kendall GM et al Leukemia 2013

Manmade radiation and childhood cancer In studies of cancer risks from above-ground nuclear tests, the main effects have been thyroid cancer/thyroid nod- ules, because the main exposure is i-131, which heads to the thyroid gland but no consistent evidence of increased cancers. Studies of cancer risks among populations liv- ing in proximity to about 200 nuclear plants have found in- creased childhood leukemia near three, but no excess near 197. Reasons for the excess risks observed near the three

plants (two in the UK, one in Germany) are not known. Brain Tumors Source: Pearce MP et Lancet, 2012 The Chornobyl Accident, Ukraine, 26 April 1986 The main question was whether I-131 from fallout is as carci- Multiple childhood and adolescent x-rays for scoliosis and nogenic as external radiation. breast cancer mortality risks For children and adolescents with curvature of the spine Childhood/Adolescent Exposure to Fallout from Chornobyl monitored through multiple childhood and adolescent x- and Risk of Thyroid Cancers rays, an Increasing risk of breast cancer was seen with in- In follow-up of about 12,000 to 13,000 children in Ukraine creasing radiation dose many years after the initial x-rays. and about 12,000 in Belarus under age 19 at the time of the ac- cident, increases of thyroid cancer with increasing dose were Natural Background Radiation and Childhood Leukemia seen (based on 65 thyroid cancer cases in Ukraine and 85 in Be- larus). The increases in risk were similar about a two-fold ex- Do we need to worry about natural background radia- cess risk per Gray. Risks were higher for earlier age at exposure. tion since the doses are extremely low? We are all exposed. In the United Kingdom, an extremely large study was car- Ukraine Incidence, n=65 Belarus Prevalence, n=85 ried out that demonstrated a small but measurable excess ERR/Gy P EOR/Gy* P relative risk of childhood leukemia per millisievert of cu- Total 1.95 <0.001 Total 2.15 <0.001 mulative red bone marrow dose from gamma radiation. Age at exposure Age at exposure No excess risk was seen from radon exposure, which is much less 0-4 7.43 0.40 0-4 4.02 0.48 penetrating to tissue than natural background gamma radiation. 5-11 1.57 5-11 1.95 No significant associations were seen for other childhood cancers. 12-18 0.69 12-18 1.40 An enlargement of this study is underway. Brenner et al. Environ Health Zablotska et al. Br. J Cancer Perspect 2011 2011

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 17 Summer - Fall 2018 Childhood/Adolescent Risk of Thyroid Cancer after the Radiation and Outcomes Other than Cancer 2011 Fukushima Accident Now I will talk briefly on radiation and outcomes other than Because of the work done in Chornobyl, a lot was learned cancer. that helped influence what went on following Fukushima. In a study of 300,000 children who underwent ultrasound ex- Radiation and Mental Health Outcomes amination of the thyroid three years following the Fukushima Important mental health outcomes have been related to accident, 113 thyroid cancers were identified which the inves- radiation such as anxiety, depression, fear, somatic com- tigators reported to be a substantially higher rate than in un- plaints, behavioural problems and post-traumatic stress dis- exposed Japanese. Among the numerous criticisms: (1) ultra- order. In well-done studies, the overall excess risk is about sound examination detects clinically insignificant lesions, that 20% in the first year in exposed compared to unexposed may have just gone away just by themselves; (2) comparison of populations. Higher risks have been reported in mothers rates in screened versus unscreened is very problematic since of young children, and those with prior psychologic prob- what it is reported to Japanese cancer registries are restrict- lems. These studies suggest that more attention is needed. ed to clinically detected cancers; (3) there was no significant difference in rates of thyroid cancers between the screened • Mental health conditions long associated with disasters involving radiation exposures with low versus high estimated radiation exposures (if risk is • Conditions: anxiety; depression; fear; somatic related to radiation, there should be a significant difference complaints; social, thought and behavioral with those who had higher doses showing higher risks of thy- problems; other symptoms of post-traumatic stress roid cancer; and (4) based on the findings from the studies in disorder Chornobyl, the latency was way too short. For Chor- • Overall excess risk is 20% after first 12 months nobyl, the first thyroid cancers were not reported until • Increased susceptibility: females, mothers of young four to five years later. This is a survey done within three children, & those with prior psychological problems years, so overall there this study was quite problematic. • First long-term follow-up studies: after Three Mile Island and Chornobyl nuclear accidents Source: Hagan JP et al Pediatrics 2005; Neria Y et al Psychol Med 2008; Preconception Radiation and Cancer in Offspring – 1 Schonfeld DJ et al Pediatrics 2015; Preconception radiation exposure studies evaluate ef- fects in offspring of people who are exposed to radia- Radiation Exposure and Other Diseases tion. From studies have been carried out in radia- Other conditions associated with radiation expo- tion workers, no excess radiation has been seen in sure include non-malignant thyroid diseases, a.k.a hy- nuclear worker offspring, or in medical worker offspring. pothyroidism, cardiovascular disease at high expo- sures and a meta-analysis showing excesses at low to Preconception Radiation and Cancer in Offspring – 2 moderate exposures, and cataracts. But there has been rela- In studies of atomic bomb survivors followed up through tively little research on these long-term effects on children. 2009 (mean follow-up is 54 years) have shown no excess cancer mortality risks in offspring of the exposed survivors. Measures to Reduce Adverse Health Effects from Radiation Exposure in Children Preconception Radiation and Cancer in Offspring – 3 For diagnostic radiation, use something other than ionizing Studies of childhood cancer survivors (who have generally radiation for imaging, e.g. ultrasound and MRIs, etc. Radi- received high doses of radiation) have reported no excess ologists have developed and implemented appropriate algo- cancer in offspring. But the studies are not very large and rithms to optimize the strategy about whether an imaging small risks might not be apparent; larger studies are needed. exam is needed and to minimize dose to produce reasonable

World Information Transfer 18 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 images, but at much lower doses. Manufacturers have created software to reduce doses from x-ray equipment. Radiation Dr. Peter Salk oncologists have also developed algorithms to reduce doses President, Jonas Salk and improve use of blocking, Newer radiotherapy modalities Legacy Foundation have been developed to reduce radiation scatter to the sur- rounding issue. The major approaches for reducing radia- tion exposure from radiation emergencies include increasing shielding by staying indoors in rooms (preferably basements Enhancing the Prospects for Acheiving the with thick walls, decontamination by taking off all clothes and Sustainable Development Goals undergoing showers, potassium iodide taken immediately to reduce risk of thyroid cancer, and treatment to mitigate re- Thank you for the introduction. spiratory or gastrointestinal absorption and primary toxicity. This conference is a call to action on our part. We need to come to our senses and be more aware of our environment. Radiation Source Mitigation strategies We are sitting in this United Nations, which was created to • Alternate imaging: no ionizing radiation Diagnostic radiation help us guide our path through the world in a way that will al- exposure • Appropriateness algorithms • Optimization strategies low us all to relate to each other constructively and creatively, Therapeutic • Use of blocks rather than pursue the destructive paths that led to the cre- radiation • Newer radiotherapy modalities to reduce ation of this organization, following the two World Wars. radiation scatter to surrounding tissue • Alternate treatment Radiation • Acute radiation syndrome: decontamination; Three years ago, the United Nations created an agenda, a emergencies treatment to mitigate respiratory or fifteen year agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. gastrointestinal absorption, and primary toxicity • Reduce thyroid cancer risk: potassium iodide Looking around at the world, we see clearly the problems Sources: http://www.remm.nlm.gov, that confront us in terms of the environment; war, vio- http://fda.gov/drugs/emergencypreparedness/bioterrorismdrugspreparedness lence, the loss of life in the oceans, degradation in so many ways, and the inhumanity and inequality on our planet. In summary, I have described risks of radiation exposed can- Today, we are deal with one of the 17 Sustainable De- cer and other outcomes following prenatal radiation expo- velopment Goals, having to do with affordable and sures from diagnostic procedures. Those have been reduced clean energy, in the context of other 16 goals that re- with the advent of ultrasound, although pregnant women quire our attention. There’s so much that needs to be still do get x-rays, following injuries and other events. I have done in terms of creating a path for ourselves ahead. talked a little bit about the in utero A-bomb exposures that Although we tend to think in terms of the objectives that need to showed increasing risk with increasing exposure, but not be accomplished, what I want to do today is to focus on another clinically observed for decades after the bombings. We talk- dimension, another element, which is the human dimension. ed a little bit about childhood and adolescent radiation ex- All of the things that we deal with in the world to- posures. From multiple monitoring x-rays for patients with day have to do with us as people. Our ability to achieve scoliosis, and exposures during early childhood from CT these noble goals depends on our ability to inter- exams, the atomic bombings and the Chernobyl accident. act creatively and constructively with each other. We discussed the absence of findings to date on preconcep- tion radiation exposures for offspring of radiation work- “Looking around at the world, we see so clearly the ers, A-bomb survivors and cancer childhood cancer sur- problems that confront us!” vivors. Finally, we discussed measures to reduce exposure.

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 19 Summer - Fall 2018 My father, Jonas Salk, was known for his contributions in next stage of evolution, which is what we usually think about. the field of health, in the middle of the 1950s. He and his But, we are in a different phase of evolution right now. Hu- research team, in the University of Pittsburgh, created the manity has dominated the planet and we are in a phase first vaccine against polio, a devastating disease which crip- that my father considered to be meta biologic evolution, pled children, adults, and affected over a half million people which is not with evolving difference physical character- in the world each year. Polio today, as a result of that vac- istics like the number of fingers on the hand. It has to do cine is almost gone. There are fewer than a hundred cases with the evolution of our minds, of our cultures, of our so- of Serket Polio, caused by circulating polio viruses in the ciety, of the products of our thinking. We look at the world world. We are on the brink of success. But, we are still be- around us and this is what dominates our situation today ing hampered by the fact that we can’t get the vaccines in war and that’s where the evolutionary issues are taking place. torn countries and some political and religious objections that are preventing a complete success in eliminating polio. If we look at world population growth through history, its rather remarkable that for millions of years the human My father also wrote four books on humanity and its fu- population was relatively stable and only in the last 2 to ture. One was called Survival of the Wisest, which is a 3 hundred years, as the population shot up because of our play on words that are attributed to Charles Darwin and increased ability to master the issues in our environment his concept of survival of fittest. Another book was writ- with the Industrial Revolution, the Scientific Evolution, and ten with my youngest brother Jonathan, which was called the Agricultural Revolution. Look what has happened to World Population and Human Values: A New Reality. the population on our planet. Where do we go from here?

And what I want to do is start to look at some of the thinking that my father proposed and put forth in his writing and in his talks that give a perspective on our situation as a species. He looked at things from an evolutionary perspective. We tend to think of evolution as Darwinian in terms of biolog- ical evolution, the evolution of one species to another. He looked at evolutionary progress over time, starting from the first appearance in the world of fundamental particles and at- oms and molecules, their coalescence into stars and galaxies and planets. And this was a phase of pre-biologic evolution.

This is before considering anything having to do with life but the universe was evolving, and I am giving us a scientific Source: Peter L. Salk, M.D., Jonas Salk Legacy perspective. One could think of things in religious terms. I think that these are very compatible in many different ways, The first line, which is the dotted line A, just shows what has but I’m just going to use the language that I am familiar with. been happening: unlimited exponential growth but it is clear So, the second phase of evolution is the biologic phase that that cannot persist. We live on a finite planet. There is only so we tend to think about ordinarily, which has to do with the much room for people. There are only so many resources. It’s appearance of living organisms, individual cells, multicellular certainly within the possibility for humanity that we misuse organisms, and then ultimately from our personal perspec- our resources and we get to a tipping point, where we can no tive, the appearance of humans on the scene. So, that’s the longer survive. Also, as a result of a nuclear war, curve A.

World Information Transfer 20 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 Much more desirable is the curve labeled B, which shows the nal restraints. We wanted to grow. Growth was the predomi- population growth slowing, still increasing, but the rate going nant driving factor whereas in epoch B. Where we find our- from an up turning rate to one where growth is beginning to selves now, our task is to impose self restraints. The sky is not slow and plateau. That, if we are to be successful in moving the limit. We have to recognize that we have to take control of into this future. As we look back, that should be the curve that ourselves. In epoch A, competition was the driving force. Who we will have followed. wins? Who creates? This is what drove the progress. Now, in this epoch, what is much more important is cooperation. “Change resides within ourselves and our We have to begin to work together. In epoch A, the domi- consciousness" nant driving force in a sense was selfish; myself, my family, my community, my country. Whereas if we are going to sur- My father’s conceptualization of this kind of S-shaped curve, vive in this age what is going to be most important to em- which you see in nature very frequently. He recognized, there phasize will be mutuality. We have to see how we can ap- are two different epochs to this curve. The first epoch, which proach a win-win attitude where everyone gains from the he called epoch A, had to do with continually increasing rate of outcomes that we want to see. And to move from a state of growth. I was born into an epoch where the sky was the limit. mind which is limited in scope, to one which is broader, My father, Dr. Jonas Salk, saw that there was a second phase of long-range thinking, and seeing a universal context in which this potential outcome of epoch B, where the growth will begin our own actions are taking place. So this is a transition that to slow and plateau. And what he recognized is that there are we need to make, all of these different attributes are natural two different realities, one epoch A and a different reality in for the human being. They’re all part of our genetics, to be epoch B. We are facing different issues, people who are being selfish, to be generous. But, the emphasis needs to change born now are being born in a different reality on this planet. as we make the transition to this new aspect of our reality. n epoch A, we were focused as a species on overcoming exter-

World Population Group Through History

Source: Peter L. Salk, M.D., Jonas Salk Legacy

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 21 Summer - Fall 2018 at the deepest level of nature and can have a positive effect. “Our ability to achieve these noble goals depends on our ability to interact There have been some studies undertaken, looking at creatively and constructively with each other.” the influence of practicing mediation techniques, on, in this case, the civil war in Lebanon the night in the mid The important change resides with ourselves, our conscious- 1980s. And there were three groups that were brought to- ness, where we have to make the advances if we are going gether during that period and in each case this is a War to succeed. We look around us in the world, we read the Peace Index, pieces in the upward direction. Wars in the newspapers and we see consciousnesses being disordered, downward direction and coinciding with these three dif- consciousness being narrow. We all know what it’s like not ferent groups, some at great distance from Lebanon. to get a good night’s sleep. And you wake up in the morn- There was an improvement in the war that was ongoing at ing and things are blurry and it’s hard to make decisions that point. The next figure, looking at seven such groups and what ends up happening when consciousness is not during a two and a half year period during that war, and in functioning clearly. You end up with the disordered con- each case you saw that in comparison to the 10% of the 90% sciousness with these things being thrown together. What of the time when nothing was taking place and then these we’d much rather see is clear consciousness when we wake 7 different interventions, covering about 10% of the time, up feeling good and clear in the morning and whatever we a reduction of the conflict in the war in Lebanon and a re- can do to help clarify our consciousness create the kind duction in war fatalities. You cannot get a more solid hard of broader comprehension and broader understanding. statistic than that, a 71% reduction in fatalities in Leba- There are many approaches to human development. The idea non by group in association with groups brought together that meditation as a concept is a way that one might be able to as far away as Iowa, Washington, and the Netherlands. draw on these deeper aspects of our own existence and make use of it, not only for ourselves, but also for society. And the “We Live on a Finite Planet. There is Only so Much concept that this group is being brought together with people Room for People" practicing these techniques can have an influence that spreads

Civil War in Lebanon June 1983 –August 1985

Source: Peter L. Salk, M.D., Jonas Salk Legacy

World Information Transfer 22 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 The photo below is recognizing the relationship with Ukraine. Gilad Regev I just wanted to point out that there was a summit held in Kiev, a global union of scientists for peace, looking at me- Co-managing Partner of diation as a way of intervening for soldiers with post-trau- 910 Partners and CEO, matic stress syndrome, quieting their minds, having good Moneta Bank effects. And with these kinds of programs being introduced, there is a possibility of increasing peace. President Porosh- enko of Ukraine met with David Lynch, a famous American Rewarding Sustainable Behavior film director who is helping to fund programs of this type. Thank you very much, Dr. Durbak, your Excellency, for invit- ing me to speak here in front of you today. I agree with Dr. Goldstein that sustainability is a process, but as an impatient entrepreneur, I believe that that process should be accelerated. So, we all know about the very important decision that took place in Paris. I want to remind ourselves that it took over two decades to reach such a global target. Reality check provides that we are on the target of reaching this goal but we are go- ing in the other direction. What you see here is a very im- portant indicator ppm of CO2 that should be reduced to 350 globally, but actually continued rising to frightening heights.

As we can see, oil and products consumption has con- tinued to rise, as according to international climate agency, it will start to decline 22 years from now—that is, 2040. Astonishingly, according to Bloomburg, in- vestments in renewables are on the decline, globally.

We are faced with opportunities to use technologies of all sorts to improve our lives. In addition to the outside tech- nologies, external technologies, and internal technologies. My father’s, when he received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1977, acceptance ad- Source: Gilad Regev, Moneta Bank dress was titled with a question: Are We Being Good An- cestors? I think I would like to see us take the kinds of ac- In 2016, there was a decline of 23 percent of an investment in re- tions that would allow our children and our children’s newables, and 2017 was not much better. Ironically, this decline children to look back upon us and answer that question: YES. is that renewables became more efficient, and as a result, govern- Thank you.

World Information Transfer World Ecology Report 23 Summer - Fall 2018 ments stopped supporting them and we can see the sad reality. We are not a sophisticated technology designated only for geeks or techies, nor are we trying to create any sort of system trying to make anyone reach overnight. We are developing a monetary system that is accessible to and useable by anyone. Even my mother — she is 85— even she understands that and she doesn’t have to break her savings or become a rocket sci- entist in order to use the system. So how are we going to do it? Very simple: we are simply going to issue curos to anyone who produces renewable energy. I want to emphasize that we are not going to buy renewable energy. People producing the energy can still do whatever they want with it — sell it to their Source: Short-Term Energy Outlook, March 2018 neighbors; sell it back to the grid — instead, we will reward them with issuing an amount of the currency based on the size These are the numbers that IMF is predicting as a result of of the renewable energy they produce, and according to loca- climate change. We are talking about 3 million deaths per tions. To those of you who do not know there are between 1.5 year as a direct result of climate change, and in the short pro- and 2 billion people who are living in what is known as energy cess of my talk, there will be losses of more than $100 billion poverty. So, what we are going to do, is Moneta Bank is plan- as a result. So we can see that innovation and technologies ning to pay three times more per unit of energy produced in are not really working. We are innovating and then we are this region. We are going to change the market of renewable abandoning the technologies that we are developing, I don’t energy. In the next stages, we will cover other necessary sus- suggest that we should stop technological development, but tainability requirements, such as transportation, food, and re- based on history, rewarding behaviors give better results than cycling. For example, we will pay for anyone who walks, uses punishments. And what have really not been working are a bike or public transportation. This vision requires certain carbon credits, because polluting countries and entities are policy guidelines, and it is important to realize that everyone simply paying out and continuing to pollute. What we really needs to be included, and that the currency needs to be trusted. need is to recreate the system, so that we reward a sustain- able behavior: a system that is not dependent on regulations, as they are too volatile and slow; a system that is not depen- dent on Wall St., as it is only interested in the bottom line; what we really need is a simple system that can provide for the masses who are interested in sustaining their bills more so than sustaining the world. So what we are doing: we are creating a new global sustainable bank, Moneta Bank, and our mission is to facilitate with massive acceleration, sustainable behavior, by simply rewarding it with a dedicated currency. We call it the curo. We turn renewable energy into money. Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance The way I see it that’s actually energy preservation, and this mission will only succeed if we can all build up trust in this I am an entrepreneur and investment banker, who currency and all of us will be dedicated. I want to emphasize, has been dreaming of developing this vision for over that we are not a feel-good movement that is calling people five years, and now with my team, with my colleagues, to go hug trees. I like to hug trees, but that’s not the purpose. you are all invited to join. Thank you very much.

World Information Transfer 24 World Ecology Report Summer - Fall 2018 start a renewable energy venture in India, that amalgam- Apurv Gupta ates solar thermal systems with fossil fuels, guided by his Youth Representative personal philosophy, that, at least when the sun is shin- and Board of Directors, ing, fossils need not be fired. Or, even Terri Gonzales Gar- World Information cia, a young woman from Mexico, who has started a global Transfer Inc. movement to repurpose plastics and soda bottles to create sustainable light sources, called Litre of Light, and has be- A Future to Look Forward to: Sustainable come a global icon for ecological and low-cost lighting so- Energy and Youth lutions for underprivileged communities around the world.

Thank you Dr. Durbak. Your Excellencies, ladies and We have gathered here today in resolute, determined to gentlemen, distinguished delegates, and most of all, fel- find solutions and remedies for global environmental chal- low students. We have heard some brilliant insights to- lenges, but I request: let our voice not only reach world lead- day from the faculties on the various efforts being under- ers from the United Nations today, but also future leaders. taken to transition our world from a carbon-intensive energy sector, to a greener, more-sustainable future; how- “The voice of the future is unanimous” ever, let there be no doubt: our voyage to such a future has just begun, and our generation will inherit a colossal crisis. We must be in service of their fight, and the fight of the many other unsung heroes around the world, who have Globally, 1.1 billion people do not have access to electric- used their compassion and knowledge in ways that bet- ity. In India, although progress has been made, about 240 ter the health of their communities and the earth. million people in the country continue to live in the dark, Yet, young people remain burdened by the wheels of in- quite figuratively. One-third of the world’s population— action, fighting an uphill battle for quality education that’s 2.5 billion people—rely on the traditional use of sol- and decent employment, facing restrictive legal poli- id biomass to cook their meals, and heat their water. Even cies on becoming entrepreneurial, and remaining mar- by the most optimistic estimates of the Paris Agreement to ginalized by capital flows and financial incentives. curb CO2 emissions, the challenge continues to be huge. But the future that I am looking forward to is one that We have gathered here today to discuss energy cri- is being silently fought by the many inspiring men and sis, but Dr. Durbak, I want to invert that, and I want women working in their communities, to increase energy to say that in this crisis, there is energy; there is pas- efficiency, and to make the future more palatable. sion; there is unwavering commitment by young people, and we must ensure that this energy is allowed to grow, “young people remain burdened by the wheels of and that innovative solutions for the future can be- inaction, fighting an uphill battle” come a possibility. The voice of the future is unanimous: we are a generation that does not play the blame game. A young man, like fifteen-year-old Kevin Do from Si- We are a generation whose conviction is not curbed by erra Leone, who taught himself engineering by col- political incorrectness. We are a generation whose pas- lecting trash and scraps, and by the age of thirteen, sion is not dwindled by bureaucracy. We are a genera- created batteries to power lights in nearby homes. tion whose courage is not weakened by inaction, and we A young social entrepreneur, like Siddarth Malik from New are a generation whose resolve is not wavered by apathy. Dehli, who left an illustrious career in the United States, to This, is the future we are looking forward to. Thank you.

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