A- | A | A+
Print   Tip

You are here: www.ippnw-europe.org

Fukushima: Medical and environmental aspects

Nuclear power plant meltdown

03/09/2012 

Total atmospheric emission of iodine-131 in the first three to four days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster amounted to about 20% of the total iodine-131 emissions and 40-60% of the total caesium-137 emissions of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In addition, strontium-90, xenon-133, plutonium-239 and more than two dozen other radioactive substances were also emitted.5 79% of the fallout occurred over the ocean, 19% over Japanese mainland, including the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

more ...[Effects of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown on environment and health]

Study of IPPNW Germany

Fukushima: The Tsunami Myth

03/06/2012 

Following an earthquake on March 11th 2011 a nuclear disaster took place in the Japanese nuclear plant at Fukushima. All over the world credibility has been given to the myth that the tsunami following the earthquake was the sole cause of this nuclear catastrophe. Why? Because Tepco and the Japanese government publicly portrayed the tsunami as being more to blame than the earthquake. This attempt at historical revisionism – obviously motivated by self-interest – has little to do with reality. This can be seen if one carefully analyses the events that actually took place.

more ...[Download study]  [Download flyer]  [IPPNW-bulletin "Fukushima: Put an end to the nuclear age"]

Global Study Reveals Who’s Financing Nuclear Arms Makers

03/05/2012 

A groundbreaking report released today (5 March 2012) by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) identifies more than 300 banks, pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers in 30 countries with substantial investments in nuclear arms producers. The 180-page study, Don’t Bank on the Bomb: The Global Financing of Nuclear Weapons Producers, provides details of financial transactions with 20 companies that are heavily involved in the manufacture, maintenance and modernization of US, British, French and Indian nuclear forces.

more ...[Study "Don´t Bank on the Bomb"]

February 6th, 2012

Stop the violence in Syria – prevent war!

Appeal to the Syrian government and the armed opposition as well as to their international supporters

As members of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) we are deeply concerned about the large and growing number of victims of violence in Syria, including a great many individuals not directly involved in the conflict. Numerous physicians, as well others contributing to the care of the injured, are affected. We, as the German section of the IPPNW, also want to raise the alarm about an additional danger. A Western military intervention could set a process in motion that would involve other countries, such a Iran, and thereby lead to a conflagration in the whole region – and one which borders directly with Europe. If NATO becomes involved, this could even result in an open confrontation between the nuclear superpowers.

Read in [Persian]  [Spanish] [German]

more ...[Please support this appeal by your signature]

No military action will prevent nuclear proliferation

IPPNW statement

08.02.2012 

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) opposes all military action against Iran’s nuclear program.  Attacking Iranian facilities will cause widespread devastation, increase the risk of nuclear proliferation, and halt the chances for peace in the region. IPPNW urges all nations, and Israel and the United States in particular, to refrain from launching military strikes against Iran, and to work with the international community to resolve, through the many diplomatic and non-violent pathways that remain open, the legitimate concerns that Iran may be developing a nuclear weapons capability.

[Read more]

Press Release IPPNW Germany

Escalation of Violence in Syria – Draft Resolution on Syria

Prevent further militarisation of the conflict in Syria.

In view of the increasing violence in Syria, the physicians' peace organisation, IPPNW, asks the German government, in the Security Council to work for deescalating measures and towards dialogue between the Assad government and the Syrian opposition. The international community should urgently insist on the absence of violence in the demonstrations, as well as that the government resist responding with violent means. The export of weapons of war and other armaments to the region should be stopped immediately.

more ...

15.12.2011

Calling All Health Professionals!

Sign IPPNW’s Petition to Help Pass a Global Arms Trade Treaty to Save Lives, Protect Health

15.12.2011 

If you are a medical or public health professional we need you to add your health voice to our new Medical Alert on Armed Violence petition to the United Nations to call for passage of a strong global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). A delegation of IPPNW medical professionals will deliver the petition to the key negotiators at the UN during the ATT Review Conference in 2012.

Our goal is 25,000 health signatures and you can help.

[sign the petition]

Ankara Declaration on IPPNW Middle East Core Group Meeting

Strategies for Peace and Health in the Nuclear Free Middle East

12.12.2011 

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) representatives from Israel, Iran, Egypt, United States, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary and Turkey met in Ankara, Turkey, on December 8th to 10th 2011 to address the issues of peace, health and weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

[full text of the declaration]

01.12.2011

Call for the abolition of nuclear weapons

Red Cross/Red Crescent movement calls for abolition of nuclear weapons

November 26: In an historic decision, the Council of Delegates of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies adopted by acclamation a resolution calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons and calling on all national societies to conduct educational campaigns about the unique, catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear war. The resolution was first proposed by the national societies of Norway, Japan, and Australia, and has been the subject of intense internal debate within the Red Cross movement for the better part of the last year.

[more information]  [video]

No war on Iran

Online campaign of IPPNW Germany

21.11.2011 

The german section of IPPNW has launched an online campaign, addressing Catherine Ashton, European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The signatories call on Ashton, to start extensive diplomatic efforts with Iran, to prevent further escalation: "This includes on the one hand, the involvement of the USA, Russia, China and the Arab League, and on the other hand the implementation of such a strategy in the European Union itself." Take part in the campaign and send an email to Catherine Ashton.

[Email to Catherine Ashton]

Press Release IPPNW Germany

Spikes of radioactive emissions during inspection and refuelling

Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Station, Bavaria, Germany

11/14/2011 

In September 2011, Gundremmingen NPP  located between Ulm and Augsburg in Southern Germany emitted  much larger amounts of radioactive noble gases during inspection/refuelling  than are emitted during normal power operation. According to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in Germany, the normal emission concentration during the rest of the year is about 3 kBq/m³, but during inspection/refuelling (in the afternoon and evening of September 22nd) this concentration abruptly increased to ~700 kBq/m³ with a peak of 1,470 kBq/m³.

more ...

PRESS RELEASE, October 27, 2011

Fukushima: 2.5 times more radioactive xenon than Chernobyl

Study: Release immediately after earthquake – before tsunami

10/27/2011 

An international team of researchers from Norway, Austria, Spain and the United States concluded in a study, published on October 21, that the amount of the noble gas xenon 133 released during the Fukushima disaster was a factor 2.5 times higher than released in Chernobyl. According to their report, there is “strong evidence“ that the start of the release was on March 11 at about 3 pm (Japanese time) and therefore before the tsunami hit the coast. This leads the scientists to believe that the earthquake at 2.46 pm may have led to “structural damage” of the reactor.

more ...[Study: Radionuclide release from Fukushima nuclear power plant]

News Release

Turkish doctor wins medical peace work prize

International Medical Peace Award

Sebnem Korur Financi10/16/2011 

The 2011 International Medical Peace Award has been given to Prof. Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci for her courageous opposition to torture and human rights abuses. Dr Fincanci, who is a coroner, high school teacher and president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey received the award in recognition of her outstanding medical peace work.

more ...

PRESS RELEASE, September 29, 2011

Switzerland decides phase-out of civil use of nuclear power

The Swiss chapter of the physicians for social responsibility / for the prevention of nuclear war (PSR/ IPPNW, Peace Nobel prize 1985) has taken, with satisfaction, notice of today’s vote by the the council of states, promoting the definite phase-out of civil use of nuclear power at the end of the lifespan of the existing 5 powerplants.

more ...

PRESS RELEASE, 20 September 2011

Setting official radiation value limits for foodstuffs does not offer enough health protection to the population

foodwatch and IPPNW Germany call for drastic improvement

09/20/2011 

Current radiation value limits for contaminated foodstuffs in the European Union and in Japan do not offer enough health protection since they permit the population to be unnecessarily exposed to high health risks. This is the conclusion reached in the report, Calculated Fatalities From Radiation: Officially Permissible Limits for Radioactively Contaminated Food in the European Union and Japan, released in Berlin today by the consumer advocacy organization foodwatch and the German Section of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). The report is based on a study by Thomas Dersee und Sebastian Pflugbeil (German Society for Radiation Protection).

more ...[Download report]  [Background information]

PRESS RELEASE, September 19,2011

Fukushima warning: protect the population from nuclear hazard

Alliance declares its solidarity with today´s mass demonstration in Tokyo

An alliance of anti-nuclear initiatives supports protestors in Tokyo today in their call for an end to civil use of nuclear energy in Japan. Six months after the nuclear disaster the Japanese government refuses to deliver the help still urgently needed by the people in the area of Fukushima. There is still no state program for the evacuation of the people living in areas more than 20 kilometers from the damaged reactor.

more ...

Think outside the bomb

Nuclear Abolition Day

06/21/2011 

Nuclear Abolition Day is an annual global day of action for a treaty to outlaw and eliminate all nuclear weapons. It is coordinated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The date changes from year to year depending on significant events. The first global day of action was held on 25 June 2010 in response to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which had just concluded.

more ...[More information]

Tilman Ruff on the increase of radiation dose

Children of Fukushima need our protection

Increased allowable dose of ionizing radiation for children in Fukushima Prefecture

26.04.2011 I was dismayed to learn that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology earlier this week increased the allowable dose of ionizing radiation for children in Fukushima Prefecture. The dose they set, 3.8 microsieverts per hour, equates to more than 33 millisieverts (mSv) over a year. This is to apply to children in kindergartens, nursery, primary and junior high schools. Let me try to put this in perspective.

more ...

Nuclear’s Health Risks on Chernobyl Anniversary

Physicians for Social Responsibility Cites Flawed Evacuation Zones

26.04.2011 Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) today cited gross inadequacies in evacuation zones around nuclear reactors and underscored the ongoing health risks of nuclear energy to the public.  The 25th anniversary of Chernobyl and the continuing crisis at Fukushima—both Level 7 nuclear disasters—are clear reminders that standard evacuation zones cannot protect the public from a nuclear accident.  One-third of the population of the United States (over 111 million people) lives within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor. Given the consequences of the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, PSR is calling for a major reassessment of contingency plans for nuclear accidents, as well as a full and fair accounting of the data on the impact to public health and the environment.

more ...

ippnw bulletin

Fukushima: Put an end to the nuclear age, 4 page leaflet, download as pdf file.


The Health Legacy of Chernobyl, 4 page leaflet, download as pdf file.

Animated Short Film about DU by IBUW and PaxChristi

click to watch the video in IPPNW's youtube channel