Sailors exposed to Fukushima radiation one step closer to justice

Lawyers for U.S. sailors suffering illnesses associated with radiation exposure from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe presented oral arguments before the 9th circuit court in Pasadena, CA in September. This follows two victories before the district federal court in San Diego, CA and two legal appeals by TEPCO who is being sued for compensation in this first-of-its-kind case. Determination in this case is expected within 60 days.

Sailors' illnesses include leukemia, ulcers, gall bladder removal, brain cancers and tumors, testicular cancers, thyroid illnesses, stomach complaints, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, and still births and birth defects among their children. Seven people have already died including a child who was riddled with tumors. Currently, 400 sailors are in the lawsuit and additional plantiffs continue coming forward. For wonderful video and audio coverage of the sailors' plight, see EON and Nuclear Hotseat.  More

Lawsuit helps secure postponement of unprecedented shipments of highly radioactive liquid waste

In August, an environmental coalition, including Beyond Nuclear, launched a legal challenge against 150 imminent truck shipments of highly radioactive liquid wastes from Chalk River, Ontario, through multiple states to Savannah River Site, South Carolina. Such Mobile Chernobyls on steroids are unprecedented in North America. The U.S. Department of Energy has now agreed to delay shipments until February, until the legal proceeding is resolved. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Gillibrand and Representative Higgins (both Democrats from New York, the most likely border crossing) have urged DOE to undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Canadian and U.S. grassroots groups have written President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau, as well as the Great Lakes Executive Committee and International Joint Commission, calling for proper notification and an EIS re: such high-risk shipments, targeted to cross bridges spanning the Great Lakes, drinking water supply for 40 million people in eight states, two provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations. More

With Paris Climate Accord ratified, renewables take the lead

With the historic ratification this week of the Paris Climate Accord -- the global agreement on climate change -- its success will rely heavily on renewables and energy efficiency.  Meanwhile nuclear energy will play a minor role, given it is "unable to accelerate its deployment," predicts the 2016 World Nuclear Industry Status Report. Indeed, "more units might close than start up," it states. Unlike fast and flexible renewables, "it is highly unlikely that many, if any, countries will be able to increase their use of nuclear power over and above the level already included in their existing pledges, given the length of time that nuclear power takes to plan, license and build," says the report. More

Beyond Nuclear takes part in Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues in Las Vegas

Native Community Action Council logoBeyond Nuclear is honored and privileged to be invited by the Native Community Action Council (NCAC) to present at its Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues, taking place on October 10 & 11, 2016, at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV). See the event flier here, and the agenda/program here. Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), a leader of the resistance to the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline in ND, will take part. Beyond Nuclear has long worked with IEN, NCAC members, and environmental justice allies such as Honor the Earth, to oppose high-level radioactive waste dumps targeted at Native lands, such as Yucca Mountain, NV and Skull Valley, UT. 

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE DISMISSES MARSHALL ISLANDS’ NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT CASES WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE MERITS

Rick Wayman of the Nulear Age Peace Foundation reports:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court, delivered its judgments on preliminary issues in the Marshall Islands’ nuclear disarmament cases against India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK)...

Phon van den Biesen, Co-Agent of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, said, “We are pleased that the Court recited its unanimous decision of 1996 that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects. Likewise we are pleased that half of the judges of the highest court in the world confirmed, as the Marshall Islands alleged, that jurisdiction exists here. Nonetheless it is difficult to understand how eight judges could have found that no disputes existed in these cases when they were filed. So that is very disappointing. It is particularly worrying that the World Court cannot be unanimous on what it takes to establish a dispute in the context of nuclear disarmament.”...

David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and a consultant to the RMI, said, “In bringing these lawsuits, Tony de Brum and the Marshall Islands have demonstrated the courage and determination to act and speak, based on conviction and bitter, tragic experience, for the benefit of all humankind. De Brum and the Marshall Islands made the choice to act in a constructive manner to find a path to end the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons. With the lawsuits, the Marshall Islands challenged the nuclear-armed states to show good faith in meeting the universal legal obligation to pursue and conclude negotiations on complete nuclear disarmament. The Marshall Islands itself has shown good faith fulfilment of that obligation in a dignified, respectful way, through court action.”...

Official statement from the government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands:

“While these proceedings were initiated by a previous government administration, and have been carried forward, the Marshall Islands has - for decades - repeatedly reminded the international community that our own burden and experiences with nuclear detonation must never again be repeated - this includes Marshallese who petitioned the United Nations in 1954 and 1956 to cease the nuclear testing program during its status as a UN Trust Territory. Recent nuclear tests in North Korea are a stunning example of clearly unacceptable risks which remain with us all.  

While it may be that there are several political pathways to sharply reducing - and eliminating - nuclear risk, further progress on nuclear disarmament appears stalled. Without further flexibility and political will by all sides of the table, and with all necessary actors - and without common agreement on a way forward, it is as though there is no visible path to a world free of nuclear weapons, and the peace and security which accompany it. Such a lack of progress is no way to honor or respond to the lesson that Marshallese people have offered the world.

We look forward to studying closely the Court's opinion before commenting further.” More.