INDIA, 10 JUNE 2008. Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) - MAPW's sister organisation and fellow affiliate of IPPNWi - have issued a press release welcoming Australia's decision not to sell uranium to India, and Prime Minister Rudd's announcement of a new international Commission to advance nuclear disarmament,

The Press Release reads:
In a statement released here today Dr.Livar Singh Chawla – Vice President IPPNW & President IDPD and Dr.Arun Mitra – General Secretary IDPD welcomed the statement of Australian Prime Minister Mr.Kevin Rudd not to sell Uranium to India.

The Uranium is directly linked to the production of nuclear weapons and its supplies to India could increase the nuclear arms race in the already fragile region of South Asia.

A delegation of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) had met Mr.Murray Harris, Counsellor (Political) and Head, Public Affairs, Australian High Commission, New Delhi on 15th May 2008 and submitted through him the view point of IDPD in this regard. IDPD has carried out a study on the Health Effects of Uranium Mining on people living around Jadugoda Uranium Mines and found alarming results. T

he IDPD further welcomes the statement of Mr.Rudd to create a nuclear non proliferation and disarmament commission which could be step forward for nuclear disarmament.

IDPD also welcomed the statement of Dr.Manmohan Singh – Prime Minister of India impressing upon the need to implement Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan for global nuclear disarmament and hoped like minded countries could come forward to meet this challenge.

 Dr Arun Mitra
General Secretary
Indian Doctors For Peace and Development (IDPD)
139-E, Kitchlu Nagar,
Ludhiana - 141001
Punjab (India)
Phone: +91 161 2300252, 2304360
Mobile: +91 94170 00360
 

• Two stories this week show the vulnerability and risks posed by both military and civilian nuclear facilities

Sweden: Men held over nuclear scare

SWEDISH police detained two men on suspicion of planning to sabotage a nuclear power station today after one of them was discovered entering it with small amounts of a highly explosive material. 22 May 2008, Herald-Sun (Melbourne, Australia)

China: earthquake concerns for nuclear installations

MAY 2008: IPPNWi has launched a medical campaign, as part of ICANi, to accelerate the global conversion of radioisotope-producing reactors from highly enriched uranium (HEUi) to low enriched uranium (LEU). The objective of the campaign is the passage of resolutions by medical associations around the world, in order to place irresistible pressure on those few producers who continue to use HEU needlessly.

 While it may seem like a small matter compared with the task of eliminating some 25,000 nuclear weapons from the world's arsenals, this is a proliferation problem in the medical profession's own backyard. Health care professionals have an obligation to hasten the phase-out of medical commerce in HEU and so terminate one of the most vulnerable pathways to the much-feared "terrorist bomb."

 IPPNW's International Council and IPPNW Board are asking all IPPNW affiliates to take contact their national medical associations and specialty associations, and to inform their leaderships of the the use of HEU in medical isotope production. 

• See our Nuclear Medicine page for more details including a fact sheet and draft policy for professional organisations
• These resources, plus a powerpoint presentation, are also available from the IPPNW website

MAPW's Northern Territory branch is supporting a public meeting on proposed uranium exploration at the Angela Pamela deposits, to be held Wednesday 7 May in Alice Springs.

The meeting will provide information on the implications of uranium exploration and mining, and discuss options for community response.

The keynote speaker will be Dr Gavin Mudd, civil engineering lecturer at Monash University.

Dr Mudd has active research interests in urban groundwater issues, groundwater management and assessment, especially with respect to climate change and sustainability. He has had extensive involvement in examining the underlying scientific issues associated with uranium mining in Australia, with detailed knowledge of the Australian uranium mining sector.

Other speakers include a representative from Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation, Dr Hilary Tyler from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and Natalie Wasley from the Beyond Nuclear Initiative.

Public comments on the exploration license application are due at the end of May. These comments must be considered by the NT Mines Minister Chris Natt in deciding whether to grant the license.

The uranium deposits are situated 25 km south of Alice, within the town water catchment boundary and in close proximity to planned and existing bore fields for drinking water supplies.

MAPW member and meeting organiser Dr Tom Keaney notes that “The potential economic benefits of uranium mining can not be divorced from the risks of local contamination from radioactive materials, the catastrophic effects of nuclear reactor dysfunction, the production of radioactive waste or the potential for reprocessed Alice Springs uranium to end up in a nuclear warhead. These risks have clear local, regional and global implications”.

Contact :

Dr Gavin Mudd 0419 117 494
Natalie Wasley 0429 900 774
Jimmy Cocking 0423 511 931
Dr Tom Keaney 0406 557 35
Dr Hilary Tyler 0419 244 102
 

LAX NUCLEAR SAFEGUARDS pose a key threat for Australia and the world, according to an opinion piece published in the Adelaide Advertiser on 22 April 2008; written by MAPW Vice-President Dr Bill Williams, with Professor Jim Falk.

The authors argue that nuclear proliferation is a key threat facing Australia. They ask us to consider the uranium export industry as uranium is not just fuel for electricity generation but it is also feedstock for nuclear weapons - the most destructive weapons ever devised. 

They note that only a fraction of safeguards-eligible nuclear facilities and stockpiles are actually inspected by the IAEA, and that nuclear materials sold overseas are never fully accounted for.