The Indypendent, an online newspaper affiliated with the New York City Independent Media Center, has published an in-depth article on the public health consequences of the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in comparison with those following Chernobyl, extensively citing studies published by IPPNW-Germany and by Peter Karamoskos, a nuclear radiologist, public representative on the Radiation Health Committee of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, and member of the board of IPPNW’s Australian affiliate, MAPW.
The article by Mark Selden and Matthew Penney concludes that:
As the nature of the Fukushima crisis relative to Chernobyl continues to be contested, the important issue of radiation exposure of Fukushima school children remains at the center of public debate. To date, the Japanese government has failed to respond effectively to critics of policies that pose long-term risks to the nation’s children.”
What Price the Fukushima Meltdown? Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima
New data published today by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that eight states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan and Israel—possess more than 20,500 nuclear weapons, a drop of more than 2,000 since 2009. More than 5,000 of these nuclear weapons are deployed and ready for use, including nearly 2,000 that are kept in a state of high operational alert.
Modest cuts in US and Russian strategic nuclear forces were agreed in April 2010 under the New START treaty, but both countries currently are either deploying new nuclear weapon delivery systems or have announced programs to do so, and appear determined to retain their nuclear arsenals for the indefinite future. Meanwhile, India and Pakistan continue to develop new ballistic and cruise missile systems capable of delivering nuclear weapons. They are also expanding their capacities to produce fissile material for military purposes.
“It’s a stretch to say that the New START cuts agreed by the USA and Russia are a genuine step towards nuclear disarmament when their planning for nuclear forces is done on a time scale that encompasses decades and when nuclear modernization is a major priority of their defence policies,” said SIPRI Senior Researcher Shannon Kile.
The SIPRI Yearbook 2011, which also reports on global military spending, arms transfers, armed conflicts, peacekeeping operations, and other topics is available from SIPRI.
By Alex Rosen, Germany
Dear all,
It is true, there is now an official decision to phase out of nuclear power in Germany. But we must not forget that this decision has already been agreed on in 2004 and was toppled again by the same government which is now trying to show that it has “learned” from the horrible disaster in Fukushima. Still, their new “compromise” (which was unilaterally agreed upon by the two formerly pro-nuclear parties in government) excludes the more rational approaches offered by the green party or the social democrats, by environmental groups like Greenpeace and organizations like IPPNW Germany. In fact, it is seen by many in Germany as a foul compromise with a lot of back doors. So we are not happy with it and will attempt to have it changed until it hopefully becomes law – through parliamentary debates, broad public discussion and yet more demonstrations. We do not want to wait until 2022 for the last nuclear plant to shut its doors and we do not want to see another 180° turnaround once the political climate permits it. Read more…
IPPNW Aiming for Prevention leaders brought their expertise on health effects of armed violence to a recent series of strategic meetings on arms control held in cities from New York to Geneva. On May 12th Dr. Nidia Rodriguez of Ecuador spoke at the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms Meeting of Government Experts (see “Survivors of Gun Violence” post from May 12th) A few days later on May 17th Dr. Donald Mellman participated in a strategy session on “The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT): Crossing the Finish Line,” organized by the Arms Control Association and held at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC. It was attended by a wide range of groups including many from the faith community.
Across the Atlantic, Dr. Michael Schober of IPPNW Austria addressed the UN NGO Committee for Peace in Vienna, on the topic “The role of NGOs in the process of negotiating an effective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).” He shared the dais with Mag. Christian Brunmayr, Head of Arms Exports Control, Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Klaus Renolder also of IPPNW-Austria. At the same time in neighboring Geneva, IPPNW co-president Dr. Bob Mtonga participated in a key meeting organized by Saferworld and attended by dozens of government officials in preparation for the July 3rd PrepCom for the ATT to which IPPNW plans to send a delegation and actively participate and speak.
Read Dr. Schober’s presentation (PPT/flyer)
Read more about the Arms Trade Treaty here.
Militarist madness
Despite the vast rivers of blood and treasure poured into wars over the centuries, the nations of the world continue to enhance their military might.
According to a recent report from the prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), world military expenditures grew to a record $1.63 trillion in 2010. Middle East nations alone spent $111 billion on the military, with Saudi Arabia leading the way.
Arms sales have also reached record heights. SIPRI’s Top 100 of the world’s arms-producing companies sold $401 billion in weaponry during 2009 (the latest year for which figures are available), a real dollar increase of eight percent over the preceding year and 59 percent since 2002. These military companies do a particularly brisk business overseas, where they engage in fierce battles for weapons contracts. “There is intense competition between suppliers for big-ticket deals in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America,” reports Dr. Paul Holtom, Director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Program. Until recently, in fact, defense contractors scrambled vigorously to sell arms to Libya.
In numerous ways, the United States is at the head of the pack. Read more…
Hubris and the survival of mankind
Hubris and the survival of mankind
Lloyd J. Dumas: The technology trap. Where human error and malevolence meet powerful technologies. Praeger, 2010.
In the Greek tragedies of antiquity hubris is often seen as the most severe of human transgressions. “Hubris” is translated by Webster as “wanton insolence or arrogance resulting from excessive pride or passion.” It is often hubris which in the end causes the wrath and revenge of the gods, nemesis divina.
Carl Sagan, astronomer and famous TV personality in the 1980s, pondered upon hubris. He asked the question: Why is there no one out there in the universe who contacts us? There ought to be civilizations within surmountable distance able to send signals. We have not heard from them. This problem, the so called Fermi paradox, is evaluated in the Frank Drake equation, which is well explained in Wikipedia. Maybe any technologically advanced society by necessity carries within itself the seed of its own destruction and survives only for a short time?
For the first time in the history of mankind we have the power to annihilate ourselves. That could occur through malicious action, as in Kurt Vonnegut’s story Cat’s Cradle, by a dictator who wants us all to die with him. It could also happen by mistake, a simple human mistake. Read more…
Survivors of gun violence
An unusual “open-ended” Meeting of Government Experts (MGE) convened at the United Nations in New York this week, bringing together technical experts on small arms trafficking to discuss “challenges and opportunities” related to the International Tracing Instrument (ITI) that is part of the framework of the UN Programme of Action (PoA).
Aiming for Prevention activist Nidia Rodriguez of Ecuador (second from right in photo) is representing IPPNW at the meeting, and spoke today at a special panel organized by the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and sponsored by the Mission of Luxembourg, entitled “Survivors of Gun Violence: Strengthening the UN Programme of Action.”
“The human face of gun violence, Dr. Rodriguez said, “is a critical one that we must never forget. It can get lost in the policy debates and the statistics and legal terms and negotiations. But I can tell you that, as a physician, I never forget.”
I was asked to share a doctor’s perspective on small arms and violence in general, and in particular in Latin America and Ecuador, my home country. So I will speak for myself, but also for all the gun violence victims; those I have treated, those I will treat, those that my colleagues around the globe treat, and all their families and communities that are also affected. Thus, I’m here today to advocate for my patients.
“The most important aspect about gun violence is that every case is a face, a family, a world, and, sadly, a long journey of rehabilitation, negative life changes and a significant expense from the individual to the government levels.”
The full text of Dr. Rodriguez’s talk is available here.
To learn more about the MGE, go here.
Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: Lessons for Malaysia
by Ronald S. McCoy
[Dr. McCoy, a former Co-President of IPPNW, presented the following paper at a public forum called “Eleven Days After Japan’s Nuclear Fallout: Selangor’s Perspective,” organized by the Selangor state government on March 22, 2011.]
For the past eleven days, Japan has been reeling from an unprecedented human disaster of awesome proportions. First, a record-breaking earthquake, 8.9 on the Richter scale, off the north-eastern coast of the Japanese island of Honshu. Then, a towering ten-metre tsunami which killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed almost everything in its path, and wrecked the cooling systems of a nuclear power plant.
The earthquake automatically shut-down the six nuclear reactors of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. But it also knocked out the power grid, forcing operators to use back-up generators to keep coolant flowing into hot reactor cores. Then the tsunami swept in, knocked out the generators, cut off power, and finally knocked out the plant’s cooling systems. All at once, four out of its six nuclear reactors were in dire trouble from overheating and in danger of emitting radioactive particles into the environment. Three reactors are threatening a meltdown and a fourth reactor’s spent fuel storage pool on fire and threatening to release deadly radiation into the environment.
Latest reports indicate that significant levels of radioactive iodine-131 have been detected in Tokyo’s tap water and caesium-137 in soil 40 km from Fukushima.
Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of particles from the unstable nuclei of atoms, such as uranium. There are three main types of radioactivity, easily distinguished by their different penetrating powers. They are alpha, beta and gamma particles.
There are few environmental dangers more lasting or more fearsome than radiation from a nuclear accident. We have experienced such dangers at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The truth of Murphy’s Law has been revealed once again at Fukushima: “If something can go wrong, sooner or later it will go wrong.” Read more…
Peace Boat promotes Middle East NWFZ
A few weeks ago, members of IPPNW’s Mediterranean Commission, including Andi Nidecker of Switzerland, Maria Sotiropolou of Greece, and Hillel Schenker of Israel, joined peace activists from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, India, Japan, and the US aboard the Peace Boat—an oceanliner that makes two or three worldwide cruises each year under the auspices of a Japanese NGO of the same name.
The March cruise, called “Horizon 2012,” was in part a strategy meeting on ways civil society groups can support progress toward a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.”
Participants in Peace Boat's "Horizon 2012" cruise included Andi Nidecker and Maria Sotiropoulo (2nd and 3rd from left) and Hillel Schenker (2nd from right)
A Middle East NWFZ was a high priority recommendation of the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which called for an international conference on an agreement to create such a zone in 2012. No specific plans to organize such a conference have been made to date.
Peace Boat organizers report that “the main focus of the discussions was the general interest in the 2012 conference on a ‘zone free of weapons of mass destruction.’ In the conference meetings, members pondered how NGOs could potentially contribute successfully to the proposed international conference, including how to encourage respective government bodies to take action. Although the conference hopefully will indeed take place in 2012, political leaders have not begun preparing adequately for the meeting.”
Akira Kawasaki, a Peace Boat coordinator and a Vice Chair of ICAN—the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons—said that the NGO plans to organize a series of civil society roundtables that can engage professionals, academics, journalists, and others in efforts to build public support for the conference and to facilitate confidence building among different constituencies in the region.
Target Tallin
On April 24, at the conclusion of the European Student Congress, IPPNW medical students held another Target X installation in Tallinn, Estonia. Students and young doctors took to the streets of the Estonian capital, handing out leaflets about the ongoing dangers posed by nuclear weapons and reiterating our central messages: doctors have no meaningful medical response to a nuclear catastrophe and cities are not targets!
IPPNW students have organized a total of 56 Target X installations in more than 20 countries, including India, the US, Russia, France, the UK, Iran, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Reports and photos from all these events can be found on the medical student website.
Bimal Khadka
Bjorn Hilt
Charles K. Johnson
Gunnar Westberg
IPPNW
John Loretz
Lawrence Wittner
Maria Valenti
mollymcgint
Sue Wareham
Tilman Ruff
Tim Wright
Xanthe Hall
IPPNW peace and health blog 