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Chernobyl Day Action: Wed 26 April

From the newswire: "REMEMBER Chernobyl Day - 20 YEARS. Wednesday, 26th April. Meet on the lawn in front of Art Gallery, near Perth train station overpass, at 11:30am, Wednesday 26th April." Read More... Chernobyl - a timely reminder: The 20th Anniversary of the nuclear power plant disaster at Chernobyl is an opportunity to oppose the nuclear industry. Greens Dr Deb Foskey says: "The catastrophic health impacts of the Chernobyl disaster are only now being understood... We don't need an industry that creates poisonous waste that lasts for thousands of years." The link between the nuclear power industry and nuclear weapon proliferation is irrevocable. The expansion of the Australian uranium market only compound this danger. The uranium industry erroneously flout climate change as an excuse to revitalise their multi-billion dollar corporate campaign for nuclear energy. Dr Foskey says: "We need to reduce our energy consumption and develop renewable power sources, not create new problems" . Reports estimate a total death toll of 93,000 but cite that in Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine alone the accident could have resulted in "an estimated 200,000 additional deaths in the period between 1990 and 2004." In Perth: Remember the 1986 Chernobyl disaster on Wednesday 26 April. FANG invites you to meet on the lawn in front of the WA Art Gallery, near Perth train station overpass at 11:30am... Phone 0422 99 00 40 for more information. CHERNOBYL BACKGROUND: On April 26th 1986, technicians at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power station in the Ukraine carried out a controlled experiment in the fourth reactor. They deactivated several major safety systems that would have shut down the reactor in case of accident. But the experiment went wrong. Explosions blew the top of the reactor off and started a fire in the core that burned for many days blowing a cloud of deadly radioactivity into the surrounding environment. The Chernobyl nuclear accident was the biggest nuclear accident ever. The wind carried the radiation cloud over Belarus where 70% of the radiation fell, where more than 2 million people once lived, the ground now heavily contaminated for many thousands of years. The population carried out their daily routine, unaware of the potential death raining upon them. * At present almost 2 million people live in radioactive contaminated territories. * Only 5% of children in the Chernobyl region are left healthy. * There is an alarming increase in bone marrow and brain tumours amongst children. * More children are suffering from malignant tumours of the mammary glands, lungs, bladder and kidneys. * There is a 40% increase in malignant tumours amongst men and 29% amongst women. * Children are particularly susceptible to radiation-induced illnesses. Many have Leukaemia, cancer of the thyroid and other cancers. Brain tumours are also now greatly increased. Stomach ulcers are also commonly found in children due to the poor diet. Babies are born with many different deformities. READ MORE/Comment...

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