On the Chernobyl disaster's 16th anniversary (April 26th) over a million concerned Irish citizens will blitz Tony Blair with postcard protests against the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. The campaign has been masterminded by Ali Hewson (Bono's wife) and is supported by stars such as The Corrs and Ronan Keating. Prince Charles and the chairman of the British Nuclear Fuels Lobby Norman Askew will also receive postcards.
Jean Lambert MEP, Green MEP for London, welcomed the campaign, saying "The government cannot go on ignoring these risks to the health and safety of its citizens at home." She added, "UK citizens have a right to know about the risks posed by Sellafield, and this postcard campaign should achieve just that".
The blitz begins as citizens from all over Europe express their views on a damning report which outlines toxic dangers from nuclear reprocessing plants in Sellafield and La Hague. The report, entitled Possible Toxic Effects from the Nuclear Reprocessing plants at Sellafield (UK) and Cap de la Hague (France) paints a harrowing picture of the disaster which could follow an accident in the high level waste tanks at the reprocessing plants, as well as the tragic health risks posed by the two plants' day-to-day activities. Citizens from across Europe will be attending the hearing at the European Parliament this week.
The report finds that the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at Sellafield and La Hague constitute the world's largest man-made releases of radioactivity into the environment, corresponding to a large-scale nuclear accident every year. It also found that accidental releases could be twice as great as in the Chernobyl disaster, leading to massive health problems. "Even taking into account the margin of error, this is an unacceptable level of risk" said Jean Lambert. "In all this talk about energy futures, has Mr Blair thought about the waste implications of the nuclear option?
" Tony Blair must start dealing with the sores in his own back yard" said the London MEP in the run-up to the campaign. "The UK has international obligations to its neighbours - highlighted especially by protests from Ireland and Norway - that it must fulfil. It's all very well signing treaties but this must be followed by action, especially in the run-up to the Sustainability Summit in Johannesburg later this year".
Other participants at the press conference:
*Nuala Ahern MEP (Green-Ireland) long-term anti-nuclear campaigner
*David Lowry, co-author of the controversial report presented to the European parliament;
ENDS
For more information contact Gemma Stunden at the Office of Jean Lambert MEP
on 020 7407 6269
Note:
The report is available to download from Nuala Ahern's website www.nualaahern.net.