DOCSLIB.ORG

European Committee on Radiation Risk

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
European Committee on Radiation Risk PRM-20-28, 20-29, and 20-30 80FR35870 158 ECRR 2010 Recommendations of the European Committee on Radiation Risk The Health Effects of Exposure to Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation Regulators’ Edition: Brussels 2010 2010 Recommendations of the ECRR The Health Effects of Exposure to Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation Regulators' Edition Edited by Chris Busby with Rosalie Bertell, Inge Schmitz-Feuerhake, Molly Scott Cato and Alexey Yablokov Published on behalf of the European Committee on Radiation Risk Comité Européen sur le Risque de l’Irradiation Green Audit 2010 European Committee on Radiation Risk Comité Européen sur le Risque de l’Irradiation Secretary: Grattan Healy Scientific Secretary: C.C.Busby Website: www.euradcom.org 2010 Recommendations of the ECRR The Health Effects of Exposure to Low Doses of Ionising Radiation Edited by: Chris Busby, with Rosalie Bertell, Inge Schmitz Feuerhake Molly Scott Cato and Alexey Yablokov Published for the ECRR by: Green Audit Press, Castle Cottage, Aberystwyth, SY23 1DZ, United Kingdom Copyright 2010: The European Committee on Radiation Risk The European Committee on Radiation Risk encourages the publication of translations of this report. Permission for such translations and their publication will normally be given free of charge. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise or republished in any form, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The ECRR acknowledges support from: The International Foundation for Research on Radiation Risk, Stockholm, Sweden ( www.ifrrr.org) ISBN: 978-1-897761-16-8 A catalogue for this book is available from the British Library Printed in Wales by Cambrian Printers (Cover picture: XY projection of secondary photoelectron tracks induced in a 20nm diameter Uranium nanoparticle by 1000 natural background radiation photons of energy 100keV;in a water particle of the same size this exposure would produce 0.04 tracks in the same XY plane. FLUKA Monte Carlo code. Elsaessar et al. 2009) The ECRR acknowledges the assistance of the following individuals, including contributors to its 2009 Lesvos Greece International conference where the development of its 2010 recommendations was discussed: Prof. Elena Burlakova, Russian Federation Dr Sebastian Pflugbeil, Germany Prof. Shoji Sawada, Japan Dr Cecilia Busby, UK Prof. Mikhail Malko, Belarus Prof. Angelina Nyagu, Ukraine Prof. Alexey Nesterenko, Belarus Dr Alfred Koerblein, Germany Prof. Roza Goncharova, Belarus Dr VT Padmanabhan, India Dr Joe Mangano, USA Prof. Carmel Mothershill, Ireland/Canada Prof. Daniil Gluzman, Ukraine Prof. Hagen Scherb, Germany Prof. Yuri Bandashevsky, Belarus Dr Alecsandra Fucic, Croatia Prof. Michel Fernex, France/Switzerland Prof. Inge Schmitz Feuerhake, Germany Prof. Alexey V Yablokov, Russian Federation Prof. Vyvyan Howard, UK Mr Andreas Elsaesser, UK Prof. Chris Busby, UK Mm Mireille de Messieres, UK/France Mr Grattan Healy, Ireland The agenda Committee of the ECRR comprises: Prof. Inge Schmizt Feuerhake (Chair), Prof. Alexey V Yablokov, Dr Sebastian Pfugbeil, Prof. Chris Busby (Scientific Secretary) Mr Grattan Healy (Secretary) Contact: [email protected] Contents Preface 1. The ECRR. 1 2. Basis and scope of this report 6 3. Scientific principles 9 4. Radiation risk and ethical principles 19 5. The risk assessment black box: ICRP 36 6. Units and definitions: extension of the ICRP system 44 7. Establishing the health effects at low dose: risk 63 8. Establishing the health effects at low dose: epidemiology 75 9. Establishing the health effects at low dose: mechanisms 84 10. Risks of cancer following exposure. Part I: early evidence 107 11. Risks of cancer following exposure. Part II: recent evidence 121 12. Uranium 144 13. Non-cancer risks 163 14. Examples of application 173 15. Summary of risk assessment, principles and recommendations 180 16. List of ECRR members and other contributors to this report 183 All References 189 Executive Summary 239 Annex A: Dose coefficients 244 Appendix: The Lesvos Declaration 246 ECRR 2010 ECRR 2003 was dedicated to Prof. Alice M Stewart, the first scientist to demonstrate the exquisite sensitivity of the human organism to ionizing radiation. The Committee dedicates this present volume to the memory of: Prof. Edward P Radford, Physician and Epidemiologist “There is no safe dose of radiation” Radford was appointed Chair of the BEIR III committee of the US National Academy of Sciences. His BEIR report in 1979 drew attention to the inadequacies of the then-current radiation risk model. It was withdrawn and suppressed but he resigned and published a dissenting report. His career was destroyed. In 2009 the ECRR awarded the Ed Radford Memorial Prize, donated by his widow Jennifer and the Radford family in the USA to Prof. Yuri I Bandashevsky Physician and Epidemiologist Bandashevsky drew attention, through his scientific research and self publications in English, to the effects of internal radioactivity from Chernobyl on the health of the children of Belarus and was rewarded by arrest and imprisonment. 1 ECRR 2010 2 Preface The presentation in 2003 of the new radiation exposure model of the European Committee on Radiation Risk caused something of a revolution in the focus of scientists and politicians on the adequacy of previous scientific theories of the effects of radiation on living systems. This was long overdue, of course, since evidence has been available for more than 40 years that it was unsafe to use studies of external acute radiation to inform about risk from internal chronic exposures to evolutionarily novel radionuclides. Such a scientific paradigm shift is not easy: the course and direction of the nuclear, military, economic and political machine dedicated to the development of nuclear energy and its military applications is monolithic and has massive inertia. It was therefore surprising and encouraging that ECRR2003 received such attention, and effectively brought about a new and intense interest in the flaw in the then- current philosophy of radiation risk: the physics-based concept of absorbed dose. The support and encouragement for the new model, and its success in many court cases (where it was invariably set against the ICRP model) was perhaps assisted by the increasing evidence from Chernobyl fallout exposures and from examination of Depleted Uranium effects which were emerging at the time of ECRR2003. The success of the ECRR model is that it gives the correct answer to the question about the numbers of cancers or other illnesses that follow an exposure to internal fission products. This is immediately clear to anyone: to juries and judges as well as ordinary members of the public. It received powerful support from reports of increases in cancer in Belarus after Chernobyl and also from the epidemiological studies of Martin Tondel of cancer in northern Sweden published in 2004: Tondel’s findings of a statistically significant 11% increase in cancer per 100kBq/m2 of Cs-137 contamination from Chernobyl are almost exactly predicted by the ECRR2003 model. There have also been developments in laboratory science that can be explained in the new model but are quite impossible to explain in the old ICRP model. One of these is the understanding that elements of high atomic number, like Uranium (but also non-radioactive elements like Platinum, Gold etc.) have the ability to alter the absorption characteristics of tissues in which they are embedded. Uranium is the central element around which the nuclear fuel cycle revolves, and huge quantities of the substance have been contaminating the biosphere since early in the last century. It is therefore necessary to update the ECRR risk model and include consideration of these ‘phantom radiation effects’. The widespread dispersion of Uranium from weapons usage has made it necessary to add a chapter on Uranium weapons. Since its founding in Brussels in 1998, the ECRR has been joined by many eminent radiation scientists from many countries. It will be clear from this new revised edition that the pressure on politicians and scientists to change their understanding of the health effects of ionizing radiation is now too great to ignore. ECRR 2010 1 The ECRR 1.1 The background The European Committee on Radiation Risk is a spontaneous creation of Civil Society which was faced with clear and alarming evidence of the failure of its democratic institutions to protect it from the effects of radioactive pollution. Predictably, the engine which generated this development was the Green movement, the result of another and earlier Civil Society reassessment of the aims and ideologies behind the systematic exploitation and contamination of the planet. The ECRR was formed in 1997 following a resolution made at a conference in Brussels arranged by the Green Group in the European Parliament. The meeting was called specifically to discuss the details of the Directive Euratom 96/29, now known as the Basic Safety Standards Directive. This Directive has, since May 2000, been EU Law regulating exposure to radiation and to releases to the environment of radioactivity in most countries of the Union. The Euratom Treaty preceded the Treaty of Rome and so once the document had been passed by the Council of Ministers there was no legal requirement for the European Parliament to address it. It was thus cleared without significant amendment although, astonishingly, it contained a statutory framework for the recycling of radioactive waste into consumer goods so long as the concentrations of itemised radionuclides were below certain levels. The Greens, who had attempted to amend the draft with only limited success, were concerned about the lack of democratic control over such a seemingly important issue and wished for some scientific advice regarding the health effects which might follow the recycling of man-made radioactivity. The feeling of the meeting was that there was considerable disagreement over the health effects of low-level radiation and that this issue should be explored on a formal level.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Downloading Some New This No Longer Is an Adequate Description
    Volume 6 October 2013 Green industry in a post-industrial society www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu Contents 1. MAJOR: GREEN INDUSTRY IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY 3 From the green industrial revolution to the ecological revolution 3 Editorial Board – Benoît Lechat ‘Make Do and Mend’: industrial conversions and sustainability transitions 7 Molly Scott Cato and Jonathan Essex European industry needs to RISE! 13 Reinhard Butikofer Black tradition, green future 18 Adam Ostolski The aspirations of the green industrial revolution: a historical perspective 22 Patrick Verley – Damien Demailly Towards a Green renaissance of European industry 32 Natalie Bennett – Reinhard Bütikofer Government procurement: how the EU is giving away a fundamental industrial policy tool 41 Chiara Miglioli Cities as Eco-factories of the Future 47 Dirk Holemans Industry meets Green Economy: real potential for reconversion 55 Andrea Gandiglio II. MINOR: TOWARDS A GREEN WELFARE STATE 57 A sustainable welfare state 57 Jasper Blom Europe of Knowledge: Paradoxes and Challenges 63 Jana Bacevic 1. MAJOR: GREEN INDUSTRY IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY From the green industrial revolution Benoît Lechat to the ecological revolution Greening industry is crucial to our ability to combat climate change and maintain a prosperous society. But to achieve this, we need a whole new relationship with the environment. Food: the (agri)cultural revolution By the end of the seventies, many European Green Broader than measures of carbon intensity, the parties were created to counter the negative statistics on the Total Material Requirement (TMR) of consequences of industrialisation on the environment the EU take into account all material flows generated and on people.
    [Show full text]
  • Green Parties and Elections to the European Parliament, 1979–2019 Green Par Elections
    Chapter 1 Green Parties and Elections, 1979–2019 Green parties and elections to the European Parliament, 1979–2019 Wolfgang Rüdig Introduction The history of green parties in Europe is closely intertwined with the history of elections to the European Parliament. When the first direct elections to the European Parliament took place in June 1979, the development of green parties in Europe was still in its infancy. Only in Belgium and the UK had green parties been formed that took part in these elections; but ecological lists, which were the pre- decessors of green parties, competed in other countries. Despite not winning representation, the German Greens were particularly influ- enced by the 1979 European elections. Five years later, most partic- ipating countries had seen the formation of national green parties, and the first Green MEPs from Belgium and Germany were elected. Green parties have been represented continuously in the European Parliament since 1984. Subsequent years saw Greens from many other countries joining their Belgian and German colleagues in the Euro- pean Parliament. European elections continued to be important for party formation in new EU member countries. In the 1980s it was the South European countries (Greece, Portugal and Spain), following 4 GREENS FOR A BETTER EUROPE their successful transition to democracies, that became members. Green parties did not have a strong role in their national party systems, and European elections became an important focus for party develop- ment. In the 1990s it was the turn of Austria, Finland and Sweden to join; green parties were already well established in all three nations and provided ongoing support for Greens in the European Parliament.
    [Show full text]
  • Dear Ms Myles and Ms Valade Please Forward the Attached Documents
    From: Diane D'Arrigo <email address removed> Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 03:27 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]>; Valade, Marie-Claude: CNSC; Myles,Debra [CEAA] Subject: Radiation and Women briefing paper and fact sheet per presentation by D'Arrigo Sept 23, 2013 Dear Ms Myles and Ms Valade Please forward the attached documents regarding radiation and women’s health to the panel for consideration of addition to the record. I mentioned this briefing paper during my testimony and attach the 2 page summary as well. Thank you Diane D'Arrigo Nuclear Information and Resource Service <contact information removed> NUCLEAR INFORMATION AND RESOURCE SERVICE 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912 301-270-NIRS (301-270-6477); Fax: 301-270-4291 [email protected]; www.nirs.org NIRS Briefing Paper ATOMIC RADIATION IS MORE HARMFUL TO WOMEN A woman is at significantly greater risk of suffering and dying from radiation-induced cancer than a man who gets the same dose of ionizing radiation. This is news because data in the report on the biological effects of ionizing radiation published in 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 1 has been under-reported. It is more often acknowledged that children are at higher risk of disease and death from radiation, but it is rarely pointed out that the regulation of radiation and nuclear activity (worldwide) ignores the disproportionately greater harm to both women and children. 2 The goal of this briefing paper is to help the lay reader understand the data on radiation impacts to women presented in the NAS radiation report.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pit and the Pendulum: a Cooperative Future for Work in The
    Pit and the Pendulum Prelims.qxd 02/03/04 13:34 Page i POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN WALES The Pit and the Pendulum Pit and the Pendulum Prelims.qxd 02/03/04 13:34 Page ii POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN WALES SERIES Series editor: Ralph Fevre Previous volumes in the series: Paul Chaney, Tom Hall and Andrew Pithouse (eds), New Governance – New Democracy? Post-Devolution Wales Neil Selwyn and Stephen Gorard, The Information Age: Technology, Learning and Exclusion in Wales Graham Day, Making Sense of Wales: A Sociological Perspective Richard Rawlings, Delineating Wales: Constitutional, Legal and Administrative Aspects of National Devolution The Politics and Society in Wales Series examines issues of politics and government, and particularly the effects of devolution on policy-making and implementation, and the way in which Wales is governed as the National Assembly gains in maturity. It will also increase our knowledge and understanding of Welsh society and analyse the most important aspects of social and economic change in Wales. Where necessary, studies in the series will incorporate strong comparative elements which will allow a more fully informed appraisal of the condition of Wales. Pit and the Pendulum Prelims.qxd 02/03/04 13:34 Page iii POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN WALES The Pit and the Pendulum A COOPERATIVE FUTURE FOR WORK IN THE WELSH VALLEYS By MOLLY SCOTT CATO Published on behalf of the Social Science Committee of the Board of Celtic Studies of the University of Wales UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS CARDIFF 2004 Pit and the Pendulum Prelims.qxd 04/03/04 16:01 Page iv © Molly Scott Cato, 2004 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
    [Show full text]
  • Resettlement of Enjebi Island in the Marshall Islands
    ,. “a RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY 19!0JU125 Fii1’02 LIVINGSTON COLLEGE *GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ANTt+RO~LOGY July 18, 1980 NEW BRUNSWICK* NEW JERSEY 0S903. 201/932.2598 Mr. ‘Wallace O. Green Deputy Under Secretary of International end Territorial Mfairs Department of the Interior Office of the Secretary k’ashingt~n,E.C~ 20240 Dear Mr. Green: I haye been e.dvtsedby Mr. Clifford Sloan, Le@ slztive Assistwt for Cmgressna3 Sidney Yates, to forward along the enclosed information concerning the proposed resettlement of BIjebi Islmd in the Harshdl I~l~dsO I hope this information w511 prove to be of some use in malking your decision about the resettlement, and I must admit tnat I do not envy your position in having to make a determination about this most complex and difficult 1ssue. My involvement with the Marshall Islanders began In 1975 ~?henI was st~t~oned on tlt~r~kAtoll as a Peace Corts VO~UYlteero Despite my “official” ?eace Corps task of helping to initiate an a@cult Ur~ co- operative, as well as to teach school on the atoll, I soon reslized that the Utirik people had nore immediate concerns which stemmed from their irradiation during the BRAVO shot of March 1, 1954. Specifically, the Utirik COuncil articulated to ~e their complaints about the Srookhaven National Laboratory nedicel progr= in the ~~shell ss and the ‘Jtirikpeople were becoming increasin~ly suspicious about the nature of that program For example, the Utirik people could not under- stand the logic of a program which spent milllons of dollars annually~ and which neglected to treat numerous illnesses In their population not~lthstanding that these illnesses were admittedly unrelated to radiation and Its effects.
    [Show full text]
  • FINAL AGENDA AUTUMN ONLINE CONFERENCE 2-11 October 2020
    FINAL AGENDA AUTUMN ONLINE CONFERENCE 2-11 October 2020 9 1 CONTENTS Table of Contents 2 Section A (Enabling Motions) 10 Enabling Motions A01 Standing Orders Committee (SOC) Report 10 Enabling Motions A02 Amendments to Standing Orders for the Conduct of Conference 11 to enable an online and telephone Extraordinary Conference to be held in Autumn 2020 Enabling Motions A03 Enabling Motion for an Extraordinary Autumn Conference 2020 12 to be held online Section A – Main Agenda 14 A1 Standing Orders Committee Report 14 A2 Green Party Executive Report 37 A3 Treasurers Report 46 A4 Green Party Regional Council Report 47 A5 Dispute Resolution Committee Report 50 A6 Policy Development Committee Report 54 A7 Complaint Managers Report 57 A8 Campaigns Committee Report 58 A9 Conferences Committee Report 58 A10 Equality and Diversity Committee Report 58 A11 Green World Editorial Board Report 58 A12 Framework Development Group report 58 A13 Climate Emergency Policy Working Group Report 58 Section B 60 B1 Food and Agriculture Voting Paper 60 Amendment 2a 60 Amendment 1a 61 Amendment 2b 61 Amendment 1b 61 Amendment 1c 62 Amendment 1d 62 Amendment 2c 64 2 3 Section C 65 C1 Deforestation (Fast Tracked) 65 C2 Car and vans to go zero carbon by 2030 65 C3 Ban on advertising of high-carbon goods and services 65 C4 The 2019 General Election Manifesto and Climate Change Mitigation 66 Amendment 1 67 Amendment 2 67 C5 Adopt the Principle of Rationing to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Arising from Travel, 67 Amending the Climate Emergency and the Transport Chapters of PSS C6 Updating the philosophical basis to reflect doughnut economics 68 Amendment 1 69 C7 Self Declaration of Gender 69 C8 Animal Rights: Fireworks; limit use and quiet 70 C9 Access to Fertility Treatment 70 Section D 71 D1 Winning over workers is crucial to fighting climate change.
    [Show full text]
  • An Introduction to Theory, Policy and Practice Green Economics
    Dorling, D. (2009) Review of Molly Scott Cato’s: Green economics: an introduction to theory, policy and practice, Journal of Economic Geography, doi:10.1093/jeg/lbp028 Green economics: an introduction to theory, policy and practice Molly Scott Cato Green economics: an introduction to theory, policy and practice Molly Scott Cato. London: Earthscan, 2009. ISBN 9781844075713. pp. Price: £19.99 (paper back), £75.00 (hard back). Do you want to be liked? Do you want to be popular? Are you a little tired of students evaluating your courses in economic geography, spatial econometrics or most other kinds of human geography, and all of economics as, by implication, a little boring, not quite at the cutting edge, not as good as what the new young—popular—lecturers are doing? Do you retort ‘what do they know?’ but in your heart of hearts are coming to think that perhaps your lectures are getting a little jaded on ‘location allocation models’, ‘regional convergence’ or even ‘thick institutions’ (and I do not mean the stupid kind). Are you becoming a little sick of telling students that it's all very complicated and everything needs to be deconstructed? In your heart of hearts (again) do not you hanker after being able to tell them something that is a little less self-defeating? You might just be worried about your job now that university funding in all the countries where geography is taught is about to go negative. You might no longer care, but you know you need to become a little more popular. Alternatively you may be ever so principled, take your teaching ever so seriously, not concern yourself with student surveys but still be interested in trying to teach the students right, no matter how complicated the story.
    [Show full text]
  • Proquest Dissertations
    'RANDOM MURDER BY TECHNOLOGY': THE ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC AND BIOMEDICAL EXPERTS IN THE ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVEMENT, 1969 - 1992 LISA A. RUMIEL A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, ONTARIO AUGUST 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-54104-3 Our file Notre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-54104-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Importance of Politics to Nuclear New Build
    Grimston Nuclear Report_Cover_A4 1/12/05 10:34 am Page 1 ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME THE IMPORTANCE OF POLITICS TO NUCLEAR NEW BUILD Malcolm Grimston December 2005 The Importance of Politics to Nuclear New Build An examination of the relationship between political, scientific and public mindsets and its influence on decision-making in the scientific and technical field Malcolm Grimston REPORT December 2005 Chatham House Report – The importance of politics to nuclear new build © Royal Institute of International Affairs 2005 Published by The Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House 10 St James’s Square London SW1Y 4LE www.chathamhouse.org.uk (Charity Registration No. 208 223) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any other means without the prior permission of the copyright holders. Please direct all enquiries to the publisher. Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) is an independent body which promotes the rigorous study of international questions and does not express opinions of its own. The opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors. Chatham House Report – The importance of politics to nuclear new build ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My thanks to the many colleagues who have commented on various drafts of this paper, helping to clarify my thinking and put me in contact with materials I would otherwise have missed. They include: Jean-Paul Bouttes, EdF; Adrian Bull, BNFL; Dr Vincent Cable MP, House of Commons, London; Dominique Chauvin, Total; Rob Davies, Areva Framatome; Andrei Gagarinski, Kurchatov Institute, Moscow; Darren McGarry, European Commission; Mark Penfold; Isabelle Philippe, Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), France; Assaad Saab, EdF; Richard Tarasofsky, Chatham House and Andrew Teller, Foratom.
    [Show full text]
  • Nuclear Disarmament
    RESOURCE GUIDE ON nuclear disarmament FOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND COMMUNITIES RESOURCE GUIDE ON nuclear disarmament FOR RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND COMMUNITIES Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. — J. Robert Oppenheimer, Director of the Manhattan Project, which created the first atom bomb, quoting the Bhagavad Gita as he witnessed the atom bomb test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945 When scientific power outruns spiritual power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men. — Martin Luther King, Jr. Inside cover: Baker Test, Marshall Islands, July 25, 1946. Photo: US Department of Defense. CATASTROPHIC IMPACT OF NUCLEAR TESTS ON HUMAN HEALTH. Now we have this problem of what we call “jelly-fish babies.” These babies are born like jelly-fish. They have no eyes. They have no heads. They have no arms. They have no legs. They do not shape like human beings at all. When they die they are buried right away. A lot of times they don’t allow the mother to see this kind of baby because she will go crazy. It is too inhumane. — Darlene Keju-Johnson, Director of Family Planning 1987–1992, Marshall Islands, on the impact of U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Religions for Peace (RfP) would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to the Norwegian Minis- try of Foreign Affairs and Rissho Kosei-Kai for their years of generous support and partnership in RfP’s education and advocacy program to mobilize senior religious leaders and their constituencies around a credible, cohesive and bold advocacy and action agenda for peace and shared security, particularly in the area of nuclear disarmament.
    [Show full text]
  • The Unsustainable Legacy of the Nuclear Age 1
    The unsustainable legacy of the Nuclear Age 1 The enduring legacy of the Nuclear Age is incompatible with the terrestrial (and human) environment Angelo Baracca Retired Professor of Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Florence, Italy: [email protected] Keywords: Nuclear Age; Anthropocene; nuclear tests; radioactive contamination; health consequences; nuclear waste; spent nuclear fuel; plutonium; uranium mining. In the dispute on the beginning of the Anthropocene it has been proposed, among many, a precise date, July 16th 1945, when the Trinity Test exploded the first atomic bomb in the desert of Alamogordo2, which inaugurated the Nuclear Age. On the other hand, the almost contemporaneous Ecomodernist Manifesto proposed that, among other things, “nuclear fission today represents the only present-day zero-carbon technology with the demonstrated ability to meet most, if not all, of the energy demands of a modern economy.”3 I do not agree with either of these thesis. The Atomic Age has undoubtedly been a tremendous acceleration of the impact of human activities on natural environment, but in my opinion it joined, however it exacerbated, the trend embarked upon since the First Industrial Revolution, when Capitalism adopted radically new (scientific) methods to exploit and “commodise” Nature and its resources. This breakthrough kicked off the development of industrial processes carried out in physical and chemical conditions further and further away from the conditions of the natural environment on Earth surface,
    [Show full text]
  • Green Ideas for the Future of Europe in the Context of Germany's EU Council Presidency
    Green Ideas for the Future of Europe In the Context of Germany's EU Council Presidency Published by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, Brussels ' ' Green Ideas for the Future of Europe In the Context of Germany's EU Council Presidency Published by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, Brussels Published by: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, Rue du Luxembourg 47-51, 1050 Brussels, Belgium Contact: Zora Siebert, Head of EU Policy Programme, [email protected] Place of publication: https://eu.boell.org/, Brussels December 2020 Contributors: Dr. Jens Althoff, Katrin Altmeyer, Rasmus Andresen, Dr. Annegret Bendiek, Marc Berthold, Michael Bloss, Dr. Franziska Brantner, Reinhard Bütikofer, Anna Cavazzini, Dr. Christine Chemnitz, Florian Christl, Pieter de Pous, Karima Delli, Anna Depar- nay-Grunenberg, Bas Eickhout, Gisela Erler, Romeo Franz, Daniel Freund, Alexandra Geese, Sven Giegold, Céline Göhlich, Jörg Haas, Henrike Hahn, Martin Häusling, Heidi Hautala, Bastian Hermisson, Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Dr. Cornelia Hoffmann, Benedek Jávor, Dr. Ines Kappert, Walter Kaufmann, Martin Keim, Ska Keller, Dr. Lina Khatib, Alice Kuhnke, Dr. Sergey Lagodinsky, Joan Lanfranco, Katrin Langensiepen, Josephine Liebl, Hannes Lorenzen, Cornelia Maarfield, Erik Marquardt, Joanna Maycock, Alfonso Medinilla, Diego Naranjo, Dr. Hannah Neumann, Niklas Nienaß, Dr. Janka Oertel, Jutta Paulus, Michael Peters, Dr. Christine Pütz, Terry Reintke, Gert Röhrborn, Klaus Röhrig, Dr. Bente Scheller, Anna Schwarz, Dr. Daniela Schwarzer, Molly Scott Cato, Zora Siebert, Claudia Simons, Johanna Maria Stolarek, Patrick ten Brink, Petar Todorov, William Todts, Lisa Tostado, Malgorzata Tracz, Eva van de Rakt, Viola von Cramon, Richard Youngs, Clara Zeeh, Dr. Fabian Zuleeg. More publications: https://eu.boell.org/publications ISBN 978-9-46400744-2 D/2020/11.850/4 Table of Contents Foreword – Taking stock of Germany's EU Council Presidency 2020 9 1.
    [Show full text]