ISDE RESOLUTION ON NUCLEAR ENERGY
The Directing Board of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE)
Understanding there is a potential and imminent shortfall of fossil fuels (oil and gas) to power industry, homes and transport. 1,2,3.
And that there is an urgent need to reduce the use of all fossil fuels due to their global impact on climate change. 4,5,6,7,8,9.
Having appreciated that there has been a call by some sectors of industry and some governments to resort to increased use of nuclear (fission) power. 10,11.
And that it has been widely reported that plans are already being prepared in some countries for the construction of new nuclear power plants. 10,12,13.
Noting that:
(a) Uranium, like fossil fuel, is a finite resource and according to the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) at present usage rates reserves will be exhausted in 85 years. 10,14,15,16,17.
(b) The total current share of world energy production by the nuclear industry is 2.1 - 2.5% (16% of electricity supply). 10,16,19,20,21.
(c) The construction of nuclear power plants is slow, economically expensive and energy intensive and will divert funds from the development of truly sustainable safe energy sources. 16,18,19,22,23,34.
(d) The operating lifetime of nuclear reactors has been less than expected [average less than 17 years in many cases] and decommissioning is dangerous and expensive and requires the disposal of much high level radioactive waste. 19
(e) Uranium mining and refining is carbon intensive and damaging to the environment. 16,22,24.
(f) Nuclear power plants leak low level radioactive material to air and water during operation. 22,23,24,25,27.
(g) Nuclear plants produce high level radioactive waste which is highly toxic indefinitely, for all practical purposes. 19,23,25,26,27,33,34.
(h) No long term safe storage for nuclear waste has yet been devised. 26,27,28,33.
(i) Careful consideration of the energy balance indicates that the construction of new nuclear power plants can only marginally contribute to the reduction in carbon emissions, and is unlikely to be feasible in the time-frame necessary to significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. 20,23.
(j) The organisations which licence and control nuclear energy plants - the International Atomic Energy Authority [IAEA] and the various national liscencing authorities - are strong advocates for commercial nuclear power, thus creating a potentially serious conflict of interest. 18
(k) The World Health Organisation [WHO], charged with the protection of the health of humanity, is contractually bound to the IAEA so that it is effectively prevented from exposing or highlighting the health risks of nuclear energy. 35
Recalling that accidents can occur in any nuclear plant and that the consequences can be devastating and long-lasting for large areas and whole populations. 22,23,29,34.
Acknowledging that fission material from nuclear power plants can provide the material for nuclear weapons and can therefore promote their proliferation. 15,27,30.
Recalling that statistics exist that demonstrate that employment creation is greater and more widely distributed in the sustainable energy (wind, hydro, biomass etc.) industry. 15,27,31,32.
ISDE, representing 100,000 doctors in 40 countries around the world, therefore calls on governments and all relevant authorities, for Health as well as sound Social, Economic and Scientific reasons, to:
- Desist from the construction of new nuclear power facilities. All existing plants should be decommissioned at the end of their natural life, and re-furbishment or upgrading should be prohibited.
-Implement Energy Efficiency and Conservation measures.
-Promote a mix of solar (thermal and photovoltaic), wind, hydroelectric and biomass energy production urgently.
-Prevent wars due to the diminishing supplies of fossil fuel and uranium.
Dr Philip Michael 1 Mar 2007
Nuclear Energy: References
1 Global Environmental Outlook United Nations Environment Program [UNEP] ISBN 185383 5889
2 Hubberts Peak Kenneth F Deffeys Princton University Press ISBN 0-691-09086-6
3 The Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) Newsletters 1-21 4 Kyoto Protocols United Nations 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001 Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report;a Contribution of Working Groups 1,2, and 3 to the 3rd Assessment Report of the IPPC [Watson RT & the Core Writing Team (eds)] Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
6 Joint Statement by the Presidents of the Royal Society (U.K.) and the National Academy of Science (U.S.A ) 1992 Full transcription in Rachel’s Environment & Health Weekly issue 669
7 The Changing Climate Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 22 Report HMSO 2000 ISBN 0 10 147492X
8 Union of Concerned Scientists, U.S.A. 9 Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission Speech to EU Conference on the Hydrogen Economy 2003 The Energy Vector of the Future Brussels 16 June 2003 Ibid 342 & 343
10 Towardes a European Strategy for the Security of Energy Supplies , European Commission, Green Paper 29 Nov 2000, Com 2000 769
11 International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) International Conference on 50 years of nuclear power; The Next Fifty Years June 2004, Moscow, Russia Statement of the Director General of the IAEA Dr Mohamed El Baradei
12 IAEA International Datafile, IAEA Bulletin 2002 44(2), 59 13 IAEA Daily Press Review 20/11/06 14 Associated Press In US "Virginia gave conditional approval on 21/11/06 for Dominion Virginia Power’s proposal to build new nuclear reactors at it’s North Anna site".
15 Power Down: Options & Actions for a Post Carbon World Richard Heinberg 2004 New Society Publishers ISBN 0-86571-510-6 Ch 1 P 19
16 Before the Wells Run Dry Ireland’s Transition to Renewable Energy Ed Richard Douthwait FEASTA 2003 Olav Hohmeyer (Prof at University of Flensburg & Head of Dept of Environmental Economics & Management at the European Centre for Economic Research, Mannheim, Germany) Switching the European Economy to Renewables p 88-100 Also Ian Hore-Lacy (Head of Communications, World Nuclear Association, London, and General Manager of the Uranium Information Centre, Australia) Renewable Energy and Nuclear Power Distributors Lilliput Press 17 Nuclear Confusion David Fleming, Prospect Magazine, UK 24/6/05
18 Environmental Science: Towards a Sustainable Future 8th Ed Richard T Wright & Bernard J Nebel Pearson Education ISBN: 0-13-032538-4 p353-360
19 The Sceptical Environmentalist Bjorn Lomberg 2001 p 128 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-80447-7
20 Can Nuclear Address Climate Change Dr John R Coulter July 2006 Doctors for the Environment Australia on www.dea.org.au
21 JanWillem Storm van Leeuwen and Philip Smith on 22 Heat, How to Stop the Planet Burning George Monbiot with research assistance from Dr Matthew Prescott 2006 Allen Lane/Penguin Books hardback ISBN-13: 978-0713-99923-5 paperback ISBN-13: 987-0-71399924-2
23 Current Occupational & Environmental Medicine Joseph La Dou (3rd Edition) 2004 ; Lange Medical Books/McGraw Hill ch 38 p712
24 Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), USA Task Force to StudyTritium Leaks from Nuclear Power Plants Mar 20 2006 25 Dictionary of Environmental Science and Technology (2nd Ed) Andrew Porteus John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0-471-96075-6
26 Challenged Earth An Overview of Humanities Stewardship of the Earth Stephen F Lincoln, University of Adelaide, Australia Imperial College Press, London ISBN 1-86094-526-0
27 The Gaia Peace Atlas 1988 General Editor Frank Barnaby Pan Books, Cavaye Place, London SW10 9PG ISBN 0-330-30151-9
28 The New Gaia Atlas of Planet Management 2005 Eds Norman Myers & Jennifer Kent Gaia Books ISBN 1-85675-209-7
29 Silent Scourge: Children Pollution and Why Scientists Disagree 2003 Coleen F Moore Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-515391-X
30 Red Sky at Morning America and the Crisis of the Global Environment 2004 Yale University Press ISBN 0-300-10232-1
31 LTI Research Group (ed) 1998 Long Term Integration of Renewable Energy Sources into the European Energy System Physica-Verlag, Heidleberg
32 Deutscher Bundestag (ed) 1991 Protecting the Earth - a Status Report with Reccommendations for a New Energy Policy Third Report of the Enquet Commission to the11th German Bundestag Protective Measures to Protect the Earth’s Atmosphere Vol 2, Bonne
33 The European Dream How Europe’s Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream Jeremy Rifkin 2004 Jeremy P Tarcher/Penguin ISBN 1-58542-345-9
34 Keys to the 21st Century Part 2 The Future of the Species & the Future of the Planet: Towards a Natural Contract Energy Alternatives Benjamin Desus (France) & Amulya Reddy (India) UNESCO Publishing/Berghahn Books 2001 ISBN UNESCO 92-3103646-7
35 Agreement between IAEA & WHO signed 28 May 1959 Articles 1.3 and 3.1 & 2 Andre Larivie, Resau Sortir du nucleaire Jan 2007 www.sortirdunucleaire.org; andrelariviere@sortierdunucleaire.fr