Nukewatch Quarterly Summer 2015
Over 500 participants from 20 countries joined the World Uranium Symposium in Quebec City in April. In its final communiqué, the gathering called for a worldwide ban on uranium exploration, mining, milling, and processing, and a halt to reprocessing of radioactive waste.
Reaffirming declarations made at conferences in 1992, 2006 and 2010, the statement demands that “Uranium and its associated radioactive substances must remain in their natural location.”
Pointing to “the growing awareness that nuclear power is not a cost-effective, timely, practical or safe response to climate change, and applauding the enormous expansion of the use of renewable energy and the significant strides made in recent years to phase out nuclear power,” the communiqué recommends that all governments, industries and Peoples “eliminate nuclear power generation and use, and dedicate themselves to the development and use of intelligent energy services based on sustainable, safe and renewable energy resources.”
The notice decries “the unique health, environmental and social dangers present at all stages of the nuclear fuel chain, from the exploration, mining and milling of uranium, to nuclear power generation, the development of nuclear weapons and the storage of radioactive waste.” The signers urged responsible parties “provide full, fair and equitable redress to all those harmed by uranium- and nuclear-related activities and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions and failures.”
—The full Communiqué is at: http://uranium2015.com/en/news/quebec-declaration-uranium.