Four weeks to recall of Chernobyl [4/25-26/1986] —

U.S. president pushes nuclear power

Re-reporting, editing by Carolyn Bennett


Nuclear power creates massive quantities of radioactive waste. There is no way to put it on earth that’s safe. As it leaks into the water over time, it bio-concentrates in the food chains; in the breast milk; in fetuses, that are thousands of times more radiosensitive than are adults. One x-ray to the pregnant abdomen doubles the incidence of leukemia in the child. Over time, nuclear waste will induce epidemics of cancer, leukemia and genetic disease, and random compulsory genetic engineering. Moreover, we are not the only species with genes, of course: it is plants and animals. This is an absolute catastrophe, the likes of which the world has never seen before. —  Dr. Helen Caldicott —

HELEN CALDICOTT still calls nuclear technology “madness,” “an obscene technology.”  She appeared today in debate on the Democracy Now program. This is some of what she said.

“A new report from the New York Academy of Sciences has just translated 5,000 papers from Russian into English. … Up to a million people have already died from Chernobyl, and people will continue to die from cancer for virtually the rest of time.

“What we should know is that a millionth of a gram of plutonium, or less, can induce cancer, or will induce cancer. Each reactor has 250 kilos, or 500 pounds, of plutonium in it. … There’s enough plutonium in these reactors to kill everyone on earth.”

Nuclear

“…If you inhale a millionth of a gram of plutonium, the surrounding cells receive a very, very high dose. Most die within that area, because it’s an alpha emitter. The cells on the periphery remain viable. They mutate, and the regulatory genes are damaged. Years later, that person develops cancer. Now, that’s true for radioactive iodine, that goes to the thyroid; cesium-137, that goes to the brain and muscles; strontium-90 goes to bone, causing bone cancer and leukemia.… “

Coal

“Coal is a deadly substance and we must stop burning it. We must also not go from the global warming frying pan into the nuclear fire. … This is an obscene technology. Seaborg, who discovered plutonium, said it’s the most dangerous substance on earth. Each reactor has 500 pounds of plutonium, lasts for half-a-million years, causing cancer after cancer.”

Renewables

“…There’s enough renewable technology now, right now, which is relatively cheap, to supply the whole of the U.S.’s needs by 2040 without any carbon and any nuclear. We just need to have the politicians to get out of the pockets of the nuclear companies, the coal companies, the oil companies, and start funding renewable energy. Why isn’t there a solar panel on every single house in America, solar hot water systems, windmills everywhere? You know it would increase the GDP and employ hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world. This is the way to go — it’s the prescription for survival.”

Fukushima Daiichi-Chernobyl blow back, propaganda campaign  

On March 25, Dr. Caldicott wrote, “As I write this from Ottawa, two weeks since the earthquake and tsunami and the calamity that has befallen the Fukushima Nuclear Plant No 1, the situation has grown increasingly grave.…

“What we have also seen is a second tsunami of a different kind — a tidal wave of blow-back from the nuclear industry around the world, which has been rocked back on its heels by Fukushima but is now regrouping. There are claims that radiation is good for you; that nuclear power is still the only answer to global warming; and that fears about the safety of nuclear power are unwarranted and panic-stricken.

“…  There are billions and billions of dollars at stake for the nuclear industry, which has … managed to bamboozle governments around the world, much of the press, and many ordinary citizens into believing that nuclear power is green and clean. Nothing could be further from the truth. [However], the industry will not walk away from that money without a fight.”

Sources and notes

“‘Prescription for Survival’:  A Debate on the Future of Nuclear Energy between Anti-Coal Advocate George Monbiot and Anti-Nuclear Activist Dr. Helen Caldicott,” March 30, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/30/prescription_for_survival_a_debate_on

“A Medical Problem of Vast Dimensions,” posted March 26, 2011, http://www.helencaldicott.com/

HELEN CALDICOTT

Helen Caldicott, MD, physician, author, speaker

Medical and Nuclear Education/Public Advocacy United States

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR): Founder and President, 1978-1983; President Emeritus, 1983-Present

Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND): Founder, 1980

Nuclear Freeze Voter Initiative Campaign: Co-Leader, 1980

STAR (Standing For Truth About Radiation) Foundation: Co-Founder, 1997; President, 1999-2000

Nuclear Policy Research Institute: President, 2001- Current

Australia and New Zealand: Initiated movement against French atmospheric tests, 1971-72

Led education campaign among Australian labor unions about medical and military dangers or uranium mining, 1975-1976

Led public New Zealand education campaign, with Dr. William Caldicott, resulting in the official New Zealand nuclear-free policy, 1982

Founded Green Labor, a new section within Australian Labor Party, 1988

Ran as Independent Candidate for Australian Federal Parliament, 1990

Founding Patron, Parents Protecting Our Children Against Radiation, Lucas Heights, NSW, 1998

Founder, Our Common Future Party (OCF), Australia 2000

http://www.helencaldicott.com/about/cv/

Glenn Theodore Seaborg (b. 1912 Ishpeming, Michigan, U.S.; d. 1999, Lafayette, California) — American nuclear chemist best known for work on isolating and identifying elements heavier than uranium. With coworkers, Seaborg added (1940–55) 10 new elements that encompass atomic numbers 94–102 and 106, of which plutonium (94) is the best known because of its use as a nuclear explosive and for nuclear power.  Seaborg was chair of the Atomic Energy Commission (1961-1971); the American nuclear-power industry developed rapidly during that time. [Seaborg, Glenn T.  (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica]

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