www.ippnw-europe.org | en | Nuclear Energy and Security
Sonntag, 20. Mai 2012
Just in case you missed it, here’s why radiation is a health hazard
07.04.2011 The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and complicating nuclear crisis throw into sharp focus concerns about exposure to ionising radiation. What is it, how is it harmful, how much is too much? Inside a nuclear reactor, the radioactivity is increased about a million times as some of the uranium or plutonium is converted to a cocktail of hundreds of different radioactive elements.
Greek anti-nuclear activists want the closure of Kozloduy NPP and the ‘freezing’ of Belene
Interview with Maria Arvaniti Sotiropoulou
31.03.2011 GRReporter: >>The world anti-nuclear movement is gaining strength and it believes that the time has come for humanity to realize that nuclear energy is not so safe and to focus on alternative energy sources. Since its establishment in 1980, the association International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War has the sole purpose of "creating a more peaceful and safer world, free from the threat of nuclear destruction." The federation, which has affiliates in 63 countries, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. The Greek Medical Association for the Protection of the Environment and Against Nuclear and Biochemical Threat is the Greek branch of the world federation. GRReporter interviewed its President Dr. Maria Arvaniti - Sotiropoulou.<<
25 Years After Chernobyl – 28 Days after Fukushima
24.03.2011 The aftermath of the nuclear reactor catastrophe in Chernobyl and Fukushima, and the fates of the people suffering from nuclear contamination worldwide, are the focus of this international congress in Berlin, April 8 to 10. 25 years after the Chernobyl disaster, our planet is currently witnessing yet another vast nuclear tragedy which underlines dramatically the risks of nuclear technology. Nuclear energy kills. Join us to hear information about and discuss the dangers of the nuclear chain.
Radiation might effect Japan's youngest
Interview with Dr. Winfrid Eisenberg
18.03.2011 After the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, the world was shocked by babies born with deformities and the high rate of prenatal defects in the affected areas. How dangerous is the situation in Japan for children? In this article, IPPNW physician Dr. Winfrid Eisenberg tells Deutsche Welle that unborn children are most at risk from radiation.
IPPNW Germany demands shut down of nuclear reactors worldwide
At the annual meeting of the German IPPNW affiliate this weekend in Frankfurt/Main, physicians passed a resolution calling for all nuclear plants worldwide to be closed down. The catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear installation was a central topic for the 100 doctors over the weekend, who organised a spontaneous demonstration in central Frankfurt to protest against continued use of nuclear power. IPPNW experts on nuclear safety, radiation and health were called upon to give numerous interviews to the media and appear on nationwide television.
Independence for WHO
Appeal by health professionals
The World Health Organization (WHO) works towards the resolution of public health problems and to this end, it is mandated "to assist in developing an informed public opinion" (WHO Constitution, 7 April 1948). However, since the WHO/IAEA Agreement (WHA12-40) was signed on 28 May 1959, the WHO appears to be subordinate to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As health professionals, we support the request that WHO, in line with its constitution, recover its independence in the area of ionising radiation.
Childhood leukaemia and nuclear facilities
Meta-analysis of Baker P.J. & Hoel D.G.
In response to the cluster of childhood leukaemia reported near the Sellafield nuclear site in Great Britain in 1984 there have been numerous studies assessing the possible risk of childhood leukaemia due to irradiation from nuclear sites. While many studies have found positive associations, few results have been significant. Although there is little doubt that exposure to radiation increases the risk of developing leukaemia there is disagreement as to whether the amount of exposure received by children living near nuclear sites is sufficient to increase risk.
Chernobyl
Looking back to go forwards
Hardly noticed by the public, the Chernobyl Forum of the United Nations was founded in 2003 as a strong-man act. On 6 and 7 September 2005, the results of its working groups were presented at a conference organised by the IAEA in Vienna. The purpose of this complex co-operation over several years was to formulate official versions with regard to the twentieth anniversary of the disaster on the highest possible level, namely that of UN organisations and governments, to conclude all research projects about Chernobyl and to propagate the thesis that the main problem of the region was poverty, not the Chernobyl disaster.
Health Effects of Chernobyl
20 years after the reactor catastrophe
05.04.2006 The Chernobyl catastrophe changed the world. Millions of people were made victims overnight. Gigantic stretches of land were made uninhabitable. The radioactive cloud spread all over the world. An understanding of the dangers of the use of nuclear energy grew in a countless number of minds. Even in Germany, people became sick and died due to the radiation they incorporated into their bodies through eating and breathing. An analysis of the effects of Chernobyl is massively handicapped by the number of very varying levels of facts. Essential data on the course of events of the catastrophe and its health effects are not publicly available.
Health of Liquidators
Symposium in Bern, Switzerland
The Swiss affiliate of PSR / IPPNW has held a Symposium "Health of Liquidators (Clean-up Workers), 20 Years after the Chernobyl Explosion". With the support of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Berne, they organized a scientific program, dedicated to the effects of artificial radioactive radiation in 800.000 clean-up workers, the so-called liquidators. These were mainly younger adults (mean age 33 years) who were enrolled and had to decontaminate heavily contaminated areas, close to the exploded Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Half of them were military personnel from all republics of the Soviet Union, the others were civil technicians, miners, pilots, drivers, healthy young men and also women.