Appeal
On the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, we remember the tragedy of this, the worst industrial accident in human history. We recognize the dangers of using nuclear energy. We also recognize that using nuclear energy encourages nuclear proliferation. We therefore make the following appeal:
1. that nuclear energy be phased out as soon as possible;
2. that governments industry and the general public work together to dramatically reduce total energy consumption in the 21st Century; and
3. that the use of renewable forms of energy be expanded as rapidly as possible.
Overall Assessment
On the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, we call to mind once again the dangers of nuclear energy. Twenty years ago today, in what is now Ukraine, a run-away nuclear reaction caused an explosion and fire at the Chernobyl number 4 reactor. With this accident, the true nature of nuclear energy was revealed.
As a result of the accident, it is estimated that about 400 million Curies of radioactivity were released into the environment. The land within a 30-kilometer radius of the accident was declared permanently out-of-bounds for human habitation. The inhabitants abandoned the highly contaminated areas and 500 villages disappeared off the face of the map.
It is well known that the death rate from cancer and other diseases increased amongst the liquidators and those living in the most contaminated areas. It is also predicted that many people in less contaminated areas will die as a result of radiation-induced diseases. However, the effects of the disaster go beyond simple body counts. The general health of a much larger number of people has been adversely affected and the social disruption has been enormous. Those who left the highly contaminated areas have had great difficulty adapting and have faced discrimination in their new surroundings. The 600,000 liquidators, feted as heroes at the time, feel that they have been abandoned. It is said that a mere 10 percent of these people are in good health.
Due to the delayed onset of many radiation-induced diseases, the cloud of Chernobyl will hang over the Chernobyl generation, as the mushroom cloud has hung over the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for the duration of their lives. And while shorter-lived radioactive isotopes will eventually decay, others will remain in the environment effectively forever.
Effect on Japan
Radioactivity from the accident spread over the whole Northern Hemisphere. Elevated levels of radioactivity were also recorded in Japan. The food on our tables was contaminated. Even now, twenty years after the accident, there is still imported food reaching Japan which exceeds the regulatory limits for radioactivity.
Safety Myth Exploded
Nuclear fission was discovered during the 20th Century and used to develop nuclear weapons during World War 2. The atomic bombs which exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed a couple of hundred thousand people in an instant. The enormous nuclear energy demonstrated by these bombs was used to produce electrical power, but the difficulty of controlling this energy was proved by the Chernobyl accident. The myth that catastrophic accidents could not occur at nuclear reactors was exploded at Chernobyl.
Phase Out Nuclear Energy in Asia Too
Moves for a nuclear phase-out in European countries were boosted by the Chernobyl disaster. Germany passed a nuclear phase-out law. In Asia too, Taiwan is aiming to make its number 4 nuclear power plant, which is now under construction, its last plant and to phase out nuclear energy in the future.
It appeared that nuclear energy would die out with the ending of the 20th Century, but now there are signs that it is being resurrected under the guise of a solution to global warming. Programs to build nuclear reactors are particularly vigorous in Asia. There are plans for an extensive program of nuclear construction in China, plans have been announced to build more than 10 new reactors in South Korea, and Japan plans to build 13 new reactors. In Japan, there is also a program to use large quantities of plutonium. The Rokkasho reprocessing plant will separate plutonium for this program. The plant is causing concerns because of the potential for the plutonium to be diverted to military use. This is one factor contributing to tensions in north-east Asia.
Despite the claims made by its proponents, nuclear energy is not a solution to global warming. Rather, it perpetuates the trend to ever higher consumption of energy. The result is a net increase in CO2 emissions. This point is well illustrated by the fact that although two new reactors commenced operations in Japan in 2005, CO2 emissions set a new record.
The Chernobyl disaster clearly demonstrated the dangers of nuclear energy and, as long as nuclear energy is used, the problems of nuclear proliferation and global warming will not be solved. The only solution is to phase out nuclear energy. This applies to Asia as much as to any other region. It is perfectly possible. The only thing that is now needed is the will.
Citizens' Nuclear Information Center
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