Preamble

1. In 1945, when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the technological option of nuclear fission was announced to the world; humanity was obliged to live with the concrete possibility of deliberate destruction of life on Earth. The news spread faster than human knowledge, meanwhile the belligerent industrial countries built thousands of missiles carrying atomic warheads capable of destroying the planet several times over. All the attempts to accomplish arms reductions have been insufficient.

2. The Pacific population suffered nuclear bombardment, in the form of nuclear testing, which affected their lives tremendously, along with the lives of future generations. Indigenous populations in the United States, and other populations residing in test areas of the former USSR, live with similar problems.

3. With the end of the Cold War, the equilibrium of atomic terror was replaced by the uncontrollable arms trading in Eastern European countries. Peripheral countries, which had been prohibited from entering the "Atomic Club", today, more than ever sponsor nuclear projects with militaristic ends. The military still run a nuclear industrial complex unequalled in history. Hundreds of belligerent war ships, submarines, aircraft carriers, military satellites and reactors are spread all over the earth, though governments could end the threat of nuclear holocaust.

4. The nuclear race extends into the field of electrical energy generation. Instead of being regulated by the real consumer necessities of communities, the energy is generated to feed the electro-intensive industries and wasteful cities; while two-thirds of the population of the planet consume less than the acceptable minimum of electrical energy.

5. The generation of nuclear energy, subsidized by the military, produces over 10,000 cubic meters of highly radioactive waste and over 200,000 cubic meters of low and medium range radioactive waste annually, as well as the spent fuel rods from reactors.

6. Many industrialized countries in the Northern hemisphere, with populations conscious of the severity of nuclear plant accidents (such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl) decided to stop or abandon nuclear power generation. Meanwhile, these populations continue consuming more and more energy, mostly in products made by electro-intensive industries which have moved to the Third World. The hydro-electric installations in these countries, which have caused tremendous environmental and social repercussions, have nothing to do with the consumer needs of those populations. Some countries of the Third World also increased their electrical energy production with nuclear power programs, with little safety structure and poor security conditions.

7. Poor countries, who consume little energy, are "dumping" zones for thousand of tons of all levels of radioactive waste. The industrial model was sold in a neo-imperialistic manner to the Southern hemisphere, and is causing even more misery there; this leads to the greater generation of electrical energy and creates the same enthusiasm among their armed forces to possess a dominant force of atomic weapons.

8. The energy needs of poor populations cannot and should not be met through large-scale power generators, like the big hydro-electric or nuclear power plants. The social and environmental destruction and the risk from radioactive waste and accidents damage the energy producing countries and not the end consumers. Today the electrical energy generating subsidies constitute important factors of environmental and social degradation of poor populations, as well as intensifying the consumer paradigm of electricity use, which affects the richer populations of the Northern hemisphere.

9. This picture worsens with the new proposals for the future of nuclear power generation. The cycle of plutonium (Pu 239), an extremely toxic and longlived radioactive element produced in the core of the reactor, is intended to be the energy source of the future industrial societies. In addition to its principal use, as an atomic explosive, plutonium is the only abundant substitute available for the limited uranium 235, a rare element of nature which will be exhausted more rapidly than petroleum.

10. Plutonium can be produced in a vast quantities, but any society using plutonium producing reactors must also create a state police for its security. The extraction of plutonium by reprocessing has led to radioactive contamination of the atmosphere and many parts of the oceans.

Alternatives To The Nuclear Threat

11. The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned about the nuclear dilemma, united during the Eco 92 Conference at the International Forum of NGOs and Social Movements, present the following alternatives to the present nuclear threat with which all living species of our planets now live:

a. Immediate ending of all atomic testing and compensation for all damage to the populations and environments which were affected in the past; with state monitoring, decontamination and treatment for all victims

b. Dismantling existing arms and halting their production at a world level, as well as discouraging the nuclearisation of the armies of the world

c. Prohibiting the export of nuclear products and technology which could be used for military purposes

d. Prohibiting of the use of nuclear propelled naval ships and nuclear energy sources on military satellites

e. Ending the cycle of plutonium (nuclear fuel cycle) in all its phases, as well as in any of its forms

f. Terminating existing nuclear power programs and providing international aid to help countries which depend on this type of energy source, through restructuring programs of energy consumption

g. Re-structuring of industries and nuclear installations, with possible "recycling" of jobs for relevant and socially useful activities, with the intention of using the potential of the employees

h. Control of all civil nuclear activities, including finance, security, and radiation control

i. Community involvement in the control of the medical and industrial radioactive materials, as well as of any type of radioactive material present in the community

j. Establishing more definite methods to fight the exposure of the population to ionising radiation, when exposure exceeds natural background radiation levels

k. Providing special assistance to victims of radiation exposure and requiring that all nuclear industries be capable of covering the cost of safety, medical treatment and equipment

l. Adopting international compensation for all damage done by nuclear installations, as well as abolishing the Price Anderson Law which still exists in all countries

m. Establishment of a world fund for assisting victims of radiation exposure, keeping in mind the transnational effects of radiation exposure

n. Total prohibition of ocean dumping of radioactive waste

o. Treatment and storage of radioactive waste in the countries which produce them

p. Prohibiting mining of elements of radioactive potential

q. Substituting the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) with an international controlling organization which would provide information to all interested communities

r. Creating an international agency for renewable energy

s. Including information on the dangers of radiation and precautions pertaining to radiation exposure in educational programs at all levels

t. Abolishing food irradiation

u. Stimulating the creation of nuclear free regions in the planet

v. Discouraging research on nuclear fission, due to its high cost and its role in the creation and major concentration of energy producing industries, which result in high consumption of energy in industrialized societies.

Plan of Action

We will:

13. Create a world network of NGOs that address the nuclear issue, so as to make the group's efforts more effective

14. Construct an international data bank on current nuclear programs, new technologies of radiological protection, risk management, conversion of jobs in the nuclear industry to more pressing needs and attending to the victims of ionized radiation

15. Organize the commemoration of symbolic dates for the creation of large campaigns against the development of nuclear fission programs and support the initiative of Japanese NGOs, through the Appeal of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to obtain a billion signatures calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons

16. Plan international meetings, principally in countries that invest the most in nuclear fission programs, to strengthen the fights of NGOs and social movements against nuclear plants and nuclear weapons.