Messages from the Radiation Zone
by Betsy Toll
Amid all the current talk about "oil independence" for America, there
is a growing chorus calling for an aggressive campaign to begin producing
"clean and safe" nuclear power. Building nuclear plants, as well as
resuming nuclear weapons testing, is high on President Bush's energy
and arms agenda.
“ The reality of life for those in the radiation
zone, which encompasses hundreds of square miles, is heartbreaking
to contemplate. ”
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Clean, safe nuclear power: the astounding and outrageous oxymoron
goes deafeningly unchallenged, even touted by erstwhile environmentalists.
Deadly lies
Decades ago, just after “duck and cover” went out of
fashion, we were told nuclear power would be so safe, plentiful,
and cheap they wouldn’t even be able to meter it. Babies could
play near the reactors. You could drink the waste water without
danger.
Those statements were lies forty years ago and they are still lies
today. Ask the people of Chernobyl. Nuclear power is neither clean
nor safe, and the willful ignorance or deadly arrogance of those
who claim it is must be challenged and refuted.
Grim anniversary
April 26, 1986 was the first blast of the nightmare that has continued
to unfold in relentless waves for two decades in the region around
Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, where a nuclear power plant
melted down. The apocalyptic legacy of Chernobyl continues killing
by the thousands each year. The reality of life for those in the
radiation zone, which encompasses hundreds of square miles, is heartbreaking
to contemplate.
Cheap power, indeed.
From Bryansk
These email messages came from Dr. Ludmila
Zhirina. Ludmila is a Russian biologist with Viola, a non-governmental
organization in Bryansk, Russia. Bryansk is within the contaminated
zone of Russia, though further away from Chernobyl than the city
of Novozybkov, where radioactive clouds dumped tons of toxic rain
in the days immediately after April 26, 1986.
Please read Ludmila's messages, and
read this article below them, published
April 25, 2005 in the Guardian Unlimited, from the United Kingdom.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine/story/)
The Russian and Belarus governments ignore or downplay the devastating problems
of that region. The people have been sacrificed and in many ways abandoned.
Solidarity
We must not abandon the people of the radiation zone. Any of us who value our humanity,
and especially we who live in the zones of Trojan and Hanford, must not condone the lies
and neglect. In the past two years, Living Earth has raised more than $5000 for the Novozybkov
Project to provide radiation education and dosimeters to the people of Novozybkov.
If you are able to give, please give. Every gift matters. Please send your contribution
for Viola to: Living Earth, PO Box 86960, Portland, OR 97286. Specify "Viola" in the message
line on your check; or send complete MasterCard or Visa information for your contribution.
Canaries in the coal mine
The people of the Chernobyl region are living test cases in the nuclear industry's gigantic
lab. They need our help. $45 will purchase one radiation dosimeter for a family to test their garden,
their clothing, their firewood, their groceries, and their housing. $100 provides educational materials
on safe cooking, gardening, and hygiene for a neighborhood or community school. Reports on the uses of
these funds will be on this website later this year.
Please contact your Senators and Congressional representatives as well as state legislators. Let them
know nuclear power is neither clean nor safe. And it comes at a price no nation and no planet can afford.
Contact:
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