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Nuclear power leads to increased Doomsday risk

it is unwise and potentially futile trying to slow climate change in ways which increase the risk of nuclear war.”…“Achieving and sustaining a world free of nuclear weapons will be much swifter and more sustainable in a world without nuclear power,”

15 January 2010: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons (ICAN) is encouraged by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ (BAS) decision to move the famous ‘Doomsday Clock’ from 5 to 6 minutes before midnight.    However, ICAN believes there is still much to deliver on to halt the threat of climate change and forge a nuclear weapons free world.

ICAN Australia Chair, Associate Professor Tilman Ruff said, “The shift from 5 to 6 minutes to midnight on the doomsday clock reflects positive developments, however it is unwise and potentially futile trying to slow climate change in ways which increase the risk of nuclear war.”

“The Board of the BAS states “the world is not now safe for a rapid global expansion of nuclear energy”, and this advice from 19 Nobel Laureates and other distinguished scientists deserves to be heeded.”

“The Board notes that without solutions in place to control the dual process of uranium enrichment and eliminating reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium, proliferation risks will only increase.

“This aligns with the recommendations of the Australia-Japan sponsored International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, and demands a major re-think of nuclear policies, including in Australia and Japan.

“Achieving and sustaining a world free of nuclear weapons will be much swifter and more sustainable in a world without nuclear power,” concluded Associate Professor Ruff.

ICAN – International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
t: +61 (0)3 9347 4795
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w: www.icanw.org

January 15, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons