Dear colleagues,
We commend your efforts and congratulate you on organising the Global
Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World!
This will be a tremendous event with one key message: The time to
break away from nuclear power is now!
History of horrific consequences caused by nuclear power and nuclear
weapons should not be repeated, let us be responsible for the future
of the young generations world-wide.
Warmest greetings from the Western Balkans,

I wish you well in your discussions on considering how to mobilise civic society and public bodies in the cause for a nuclear-power free world. The Nuclear Free Local Authorities was established in 1980 to seek, within the powers of local government, to call for a nuclear weapons free world and the long-term phasing out of nuclear power. Our NFLA Forums in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales have been an important organisation in educating councillors, national politicians and civil society of the risks and concerns with the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear weapons proliferation. Last year’s incident at Fukushima, where 4 of 6 nuclear reactors were badly damaged and suffered meltdown, has led to an environmental catastrophe which cannot simply be ignored. We are working hard to challenge the UK Government of the folly of building new nuclear power stations and promote the real benefits in developing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. We fully support the Scottish, Irish and Welsh Governments who
oppose new nuclear build. We will shortly be joining with KIMO International and Greenpeace International to raise concerns over the pollution issues of Fukushima at the OSPAR Commission’s Radiation Substances Committee, and raise additional concerns over the proposed UK new nuclear build programme and the development of floating nuclear power plants in Russia. We have worked on an international basis on these issues over the past 3 decades and know the great value of international co-operation for the aims of a nuclear free world. I hope you have a productive conference and look forward to developing greater co-operation with you in the future.

Dear Friends,

Please accept our warm greetings and congratulations for organising this conference.  It could not come at a better time.  Pleace accept our message of support for the conference::

The entire nuclear fuel cycle has environmental and economic justice problems. The consideration of the full costs of nuclear power plants is rarely taken into consideration- the insurance costs alone are more than any energy company can take on, and state guarantees are required for initial construction.  The carbon footprint associated with the transport and enrichment of uranium are rarely included in assessments of how climate friendly the technology might be.  There is currently no solution to the waste problem either, with proposals for deep geologic storage currently being considered in Finland.  However, there is already such an accumulation of waste from the reactors that even the Finnish proposal may not be enough to handle what exists in the world.  At the front end of the cycle, uranium mines are nearly always located in economically disenfranchised communities and the tailings piles (wastes) next to the mines leave a radioactive legacy of their own (although sometimes some of these materials are diverted for use in so called ‘depleted’ uranium weapons).  From the mines, to the bombs, the nuclear fuel chain poses severe security risks which could be prevented or eliminated through appropriate international agreement and domestic criminalizing legislation.  Even with such legislation in place however, the hundreds of thousands of years of potential harm require a security and safety approached with the precautionary principle at its core.

IKV Pax Christi also recognizes the historic bargain contained in the NPT which entails that states promised not to acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for full access to peaceful nuclear technology. However, we believe that nuclear energy is not the future. Nuclear energy generation jeopardizes the health and security of populations locally and jeopardizes international security. It increases the risk of proliferation of nuclear materials that can be used as weapons by states, but also by non-state actors. Not only the rods used in the power plants, but also the rods that need to be stored indefinitely create an accumulating security risk for all of us. Nuclear power powers the bomb. In combination with the problems with uranium mining, it is fair to say that nuclear power is wrought with problems, from cradle to grave.

Sincerely,

Now is the time to change. Let’s leave nuclear power to the past, and move into a brighter future.  Let’s work towards creating a sustainable society.  I want to inspire your hearts with the hope that the small changes we make, though they may start as ripples, can grow into surging waves.   Let us live and work together in this time after 3.11.

I can hear cries.
It is the outcry of an atom being ripped apart and broken. To threaten others’ lives on top of being torn apart itself… it must be intolerable.  How long do we aim to revel in their pain? The cries of atoms are the outcries of all life!

This important event is a turning point in history.  Information that hasn’t been widely reported by the media, perspectives from abroad, and other important knowledge are all coming together at this event. To learn is the equivalent of waking up; it is to free yourself from the limits of conventional wisdom.  Now is the perfect time to acquire new knowledge, think for yourself, comprehend, and express your own ideas to the world.

Japan is a country with many earthquakes.  To continue to use nuclear power in such a country is incredibly insensible and self-destructive.  If another earthquake strikes and causes an accident at a nuclear reactor, Japan may never be able to recover.  Taking this into consideration, abolishing nuclear power generation should be our only option!  Leaving a negative inheritance for the next generations is extremely irresponsible; it is like making your children and grandchildren pay back the debts you have accumulated from gambling.
In the midst of this crisis, I heard that Japan is planning on exporting nuclear power plants overseas.  Selling nuclear power plants abroad when we haven’t been able to stop our own reactors in Fukushima is like selling bicycles with no breaks while insisting that they run well.
I think Japan should take this incident as a lesson learned and move towards developing natural energy and abolishing nuclear power abroad.
Economic development is important, but please try to stop and think for a moment: Who is this economic development for and why?
What is wealth and abundance?  What does it mean to be truly happy?
I would like people to rethink what is truly important from the fundamentals.

To live or  die.
To want to live or  want to die.
I want to live.
I want to live happily.
I want the next generation of children, including my daughters, to live a life filled with laughter.
That’s why I felt I needed to make a change.

In 2011 the Italian movements for a nuclear-energy-free world, supported
by the movements for the abolition of nuclear weapons, called for a
National Referendum in order to forestall the Government’s attempts to
launch a Nuclear Revival in Italy. (The Italian people had already
ensured by a popular vote in a Referendum in 1987 the closing down of
all nuclear power plants in Italy.)

The information campaign, leading up to the vote on 12-13 June 2011,
garnered the support of organized civil society from all sectors. The
results of the Referendum were an extraordinary success: 94.05% of
voters confirmed that nuclear energy had no role in their vision of the
future of our country.

Please accept our heartfelt solidarity and a warm message of support and
friendship to all participants in the Global Conference for a Nuclear
Power Free World, Yokohama, 14-15 January 2012.

It is time that we correct the age old adage that humanity never learns from its mistakes. Already it is too late for those in Hiroshima, Nagasaki and that of Fukushima. Not only do we owe it to those who were affected by these tragedies but also to those countless generations and other life forms who will be affected by the results of these mistakes.
It is time that we take confidence in our efforts within the renewable energy sector and concentrate on developing such technologies in order to build a stronger, stable and sustainable future.
It is most encouraging to see that the Japanese Peace Boat is taking the leadership in this matter of great concern once more and I wish to convey my warmest wishes for the success of this conference.

One of the greatest challenges humanity now faces is the challenge posed by nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. Each of these in its own way can result in irreparable damage to the environment for untold generations whilst also carrying the danger of a total destruction of civilization.
These threats are not sufficiently appreciated in the corridors of power and in the board rooms of the multinational corporations that profit from them.
Citizens throughout the world need to be alerted to the dangers these pose to themselves, their children and their children’s children and all the values which they cherish.
Peace Boat can contribute uniquely towards spreading this knowledge, especially amongst future leaders and I give my fullest support to its programmes aimed at spreading an awareness of the dangers involved and the total violation of all the fundamental principles of international law which results from these activities.

My name is Severn Cullis-Suzuki, and I send you greetings from the　westcoast of Canada.
I am far away, but very much linked with you. We share the same vast, fantastic Pacific Ocean.
An ocean that keeps　our climate regulated, and our bellies fed with fish.
We also share　the same atmosphere. An atmosphere that joins us to all other creatures around this planet.
About a month after the the tsunami and　subsequent events, local tests showed radiation in our rainwater, in some of the most pristine wilderness on Earth.
I am not with you at Yokohama, as I am here in the city of Vancouver, awaiting the birth of my second child (due January 27).
As a parent, I share with you, the hopes and dreams of our children.
Together, we are creating, propagating and promoting the future.
As the current generation of parents, we have the sacred tasks of providing for the future, ensuring a safe, strong future for our children.
Japan suffered terrible natural and human disasters this past year.
Around the world, we watched.  We felt your plight was our plight.
The world proudly reported the strength and resilience of the Japanese people, the humanity and caring and heroism that people showed in that terrible time.
We took pride in the human response of individual Japanese people.
Now we must translate the terrible events into something meaningful and powerful for the whole planet.
We must learn from what has happened!  We must take it as a warning call!
We must identify the great risks and price that our modern energy consumption and use can take.
We must take a stand for change, to take great leadership in the face of pressure to return to the status quo.
We must ensure that the events after 3/11 are not for nothing!  We must learn from our choices, and change.
We hold the future, together.  I am inspired and hopeful to know that you are holding your gathering for a nuclear-free world, hopeful for the world, and for the future of my unborn child.

For half a millennium humanity has been fouling its global nest by steadily pumping carbon into it, and for over half a century we have toyed with forces that threaten our survival in even more immediate and cataclysmic ways.
We have staved off the ultimate catastrophe, but scarcely reduced, but less eliminated it, and the earth that sustains us groans under the weight of our failures.
Our generation faces a challenge greater than any that preceded it: to find a way beyond carbon and beyond uranium.
We must not fail. We will not fail.

Nobody believed the announcement saying  that the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has been restored to its normal state. Everything is based on a hypothesis saying that “if the accident at Fukushima Daiichi can be controlled.” However, if we are luck enough to put a stop to that monster and all the nuclear power plants are eliminated from this country, there could still be a possibility for our future. We should do it.If we lost our loved ones or children, we would have nothing left. Then, there would be nothing to care for. In Japan, there will never be a Jasmine Revolution like this. Let’s spread a positive message to people in the world.

I expect this conference will be a step towards shutting down nuclear energy power plants and nuclear fuel cycles in Japan.
I also expect that messages to abolish nuclear power will spread to the world from Japan, where the worst nuclear power accident has occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
From a global perspective, the Japanese government should be accused of promoting “the export” of nuclear energy facilities to other countries amid the ongoing accident.
I hope many participants will be straightforward when discussing these issues with each other.
Although I will not be able attend the the conference in person, I will continue to work hard and do what I can in Fukuoka, Kyushu.

Nuclear power can never guarantee safety. “It was unexpected” should never be an excuse. We shouldn’t tentatively keep using it with the issue of radioactive waste still unresolved. If we are using electricity which is generated by nuclear power, each one of us should also make an effort to save electricity in our daily lives.

After the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the energy policy in Japan is about to reach a big turning point. Therefore, we should now aim to develop areas with a sustainable environment and economy. Let’s rediscover the importance of managing energy in each area and consider how we can use energy wisely. Let’s also make effectively use plentiful natural energy sources and strive for local energy development.

I wish you all success! I think nuclear energy is an issue that has to becarefully examined from all sides in a balanced and responsible manner.

Perhaps the best way of harvesting nuclear energy is developing technologythat will enable us of making better use of the nuclear reactor we witness every day over our heads:)

We cannot stop progress. Our destiny as human beings is to learn and explore, to expand our capabilities through knowledge and wisdom.
But we often lack the wisdom to make wise decisions regarding the proper use of the capabilities that knowledge provides us with. Nuclear power is one of such examples.

I remember the days that I was in military service in the USSR in the mid 80’s.
I was stationed at an infantry unit in Ukraine.
One morning as we were receiving our weekly “political lesson” a warrant officer came into the room and said that the near-by Chernobyl nuclear plant has exploded and our drivers were being sent to evacuate people from the surrounding areas.
However, this warrant officer was well known not to be the most truthful person.
In fact we wondered if he could survive a day without telling a lie. Thus our first reaction to this news was skeptical.
Unfortunately, this happen to be the rare occasion he was telling the truth…

It is clear that we cannot live without energy.
And most of the energy sources available today come with a significant cost for our nature and our well-being.
When we discuss the future of nuclear energy it is important to think outside of the paradigm of comparing it to other traditional energy sources, such as coal or natural gas.
We may endlessly debate what is better ? polluting our air with CO2 or creating more stockpiles of radioactive waste and living with the risks of  Fukushima ? level accidents, but the truth is that both paths lead to a dead end.
It is important to come out with serious and realistic recommendations for moving outside of the traditional energy sources.
And I wish all success to the upcoming conference, which could become a step in that direction.

Japan is one of the countries most prone to earthquakes in the world, however the government and Tepco failed to provide necessary safety measures and implement security policies in case of emergency before the nuclear accident occurred. Now the government not only denies the heavy responsibility of being the regulating authority but in their “government announcements”, they have even covered up the fact that they were the perpetrators.

The government has taken advantage of people reliant on “the country protecting its people”. Furthermore they conceal vital information for emergency situations and intentionally cover up information against them. This way they keep us in a constant state of anxiety.

What has this country, as a perpetrator been doing together with Tepco, another perpetrator? Instead of protecting the people as their priority, they have taken advantage of their legislative position to apply laws in an arbitrary manner for their own convenience. For example, they’ve raised the radiation exposure limits (temporary safe limits), which had been in effect for many years. Obviously this has torn down any security standards and created an irrevocable chain of disorders.

While the truth is kept from most of us , everyone accepts the government’s declaration of safety without questioning, blindly believing that “if the government says so it must be true” or “the government will take care of us”. This is a strange phenomenon. They’re actually saying, “I trust what the criminal says”. However, the truth is this country and Tepco are both perpetrators who have neatly glossed over their actual position. It is an undeniable fact that they are violating the constitution and continuously exposing people to dangers.

Moreover, words such as “ownerless property” are recently flying around Twitter and the news. Fortunately, an advocate, who belongs to a law firm where the legal team defending Tepco is formed, is currently under dispute for another lawsuit with the Victims Association For Corporal Crimes which I represent. In this case he is claiming compensation for defamation and deletion of an incriminating report by the victims who spoke up and were fighting for the legitimacy of the report.

From this nuclear accident we can easily imagine how many lives could have been saved by speaking up and telling the truth. If this lawsuit succeeds their goal of creating a trial case in which witnesses of accidents and concealment activities as well as witnesses and victims of criminal acts are not allowed to raise their voice, it will directly lead to violation of the right-to-know.

My role is to raise my voice and protect human rights such as freedom of expression and speech and right-to-know, which are our legal rights. As I’ve decided to support the GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCELAR FREE WORLD until it is achieved my activities will remain within the legal field. Music and art will be put aside for the time being.

The Japanese people have been the sacrificial victims of the Atomic Age, both in its military and (pseudo)civil applications.
Their sacrifice must turn into a firm commitment for every civil consciousness to put an end to the applications of nuclear energy, now and forever all around the world.
It’s now or never! Tomorrow it could be too late: nuclear accidents, nuclear tests, and radioactive pollution are irreversibly and irresponsibly poisoning the Planet, undermining the safety and health of humankind.
Nuclear proliferation is uncontrollable. The danger of a nuclear holocaust is always ominously impending!

The opposition against nuclear power is growing all around the world.

Nuclear power is absolutely unmarketable, and only sustains itself on scandalous public economic support, and limited liability for the tremendous damages it causes.

Important countries have decided to phase out nuclear power.
The Italian people have pronounced twice a definite NO to nuclear programs.

The decision by Japan to definitely close its nuclear programs will be a deadly stroke to nuclear power.
At present only six nuclear plants out of 54 are working in Japan, and this has not caused any serious trouble.
The closed plants must not be reopened! Japan has a big future in renewable energies.
In any case, a reduction and rationalization of energy consumption all around the world is a necessary choice for the survival of the Planet, and also for healthier ways of life.

Together we can! May the conference bear many fruits!

The referendum which last June gave the thumbs down to nuclear energy in Italy has shown how important people’s participation and the role of social movements are in changing the current model of development.
The challenges mankind will have to face over the next few years are enormous, starting from the tragedy of climate change, which risks presenting us with a different planet to the one we know.
The model of development based on markets, the commercialisation of ‘commons’, and indefinite growth is absolutely incompatible not only with the concept of sustainability and social justice, but also with life itself on Earth.

Nuclear power is a false solution to a dramatic problem.
It does not lead to any significant reduction of gases causing the greenhouse effect, nor in the exploitation of primary materials for energy, with all the consequences linked to international tensions and local pollution.
On the contrary, it adds a terrible inheritance: nuclear waste, which today is practically impossible to deal with except through the use of costly deposits, and is the cause of similarly costly processes of decommissioning at the end of a facility’s lifespan.

Last June we wanted to send a message from Italy to the whole world:
there is a model of development which needs to be reconsidered, and nuclear energy is not the solution, but a problem to eradicate.

Power from the people!  Our collective actions will decide whether our future will be bright or bleak.  Will we move away from dirty and dangerous sources of energy to a cleaner, greener and more prosperous sustainable energy economy?  Fukushima has reminded us of the hubris of those who say, “An accident can never happen.”  Fortunately there is another way forward.  A path where individual residents, communities, government and industry contribute to a more resilient, effective and efficient renewables based energy system.  The power of the future will come from the people.  I look forward to joining with fellow actionists at the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World as we share best practices and lessons learned.  This tragedy has brought the people of the world together.  It is now time for us to use our power to change the world for the better.

I want many people to know that the mechanism of the nuclear power plants issues is the same as the US base issues in my hometown Okinawa.
We have to rethink the way we have lived ? the one in which we let others and the state decide for us and consequently unfairly threat the lives of some.
We have to change the way we live ? to the one in which we sincerely think through how we want to live and pursue freedom.
Japan has done too much of demonstrating the fear of radiation to the world. We have done it during the war through Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We have done it again in Fukushima when we exposed precious children to the radiation.
It is up to us and our responsibility to change this tragic situation to a hopeful future.
Let us start a new way of living from the “Global Conference for a Nuclear Free World”!

Radiation spreads and persists beyond borders and generations.
The beautiful fields and mountains in Fukushima are still there. But the radiation has made them incompatible with life. I am truly saddened.
This tragedy must not be repeated.
We want to work hand in hand with people across borders, to achieve our goal to get rid of nuclear power plants from Mother Earth.
That is why I will participate in the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World.

Please ask me why I object to nuclear power plants
It is because nuclear power conflicts with life
It is because such technology is loveless
We exist in space, on the surface of this miraculous planet Earth, breathing with countless other living organisms. It is our responsibility to recreate a world full of love, with technology based on human charity.
Change is there, just around the corner.

My friend once told me after visiting Chernobyl…
“Radiation cannot be seen. Even in contaminated mountains, forests and grasslands, flowers beautifully blossoms and endless greenery ? as if nothing has happened. Invisible contamination is difficult to believe ? perhaps we purposefully refuse to believe such a thing. But as a result, evacuation is delayed and secondary disasters are triggered. Contaminated but beautiful mountains and forests are, in a sense, more dreadful than the scenes of devastated lands.”
Twenty five years have passed since then. Who could imagine the same thing would happen in our country? We must never disbelieve that technology that too dangerous for humans to control can be controlled.

No one needs an explanation
About the fear of nuclear power plants
We just have to imagine
A safe energy supply without nuclear power plants
Imagination always leads to creation

I wonder how much is known about the damage of the radiation as it continues to spread? Earthquakes at nuclear power plant sites not only harm our bodies but it also destroys the local economy, divides local communities and creates suffering. Moreover we dont know and we cannot see how far it will spread and for how long.  We cannot feel radiation through our 5 senses.
If we fail to face this reality again, we are bound to repeat our mistakes again. We Japanese swore “not to repeat the mistakes again” at the cenotaph for victims of the Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima, but it was so easily “repeated” in  Fukushima.

Time to say goodbye to the old self.
I who believed I couldn’t live without vending machines, hot water, toilets and electronic kettles.
I who believed nuclear power plants produced clean energy
I who only cared about us human beings and forgot about other forms of life
I who only looked at  land and not the oceans
I who was concerned about national interests and neglected people in the other countries
I who only thought about cities and overlooked the countryside
I who was preoccupied with myself and blind about the future generations
I who was convinced that more oil and nuclear power plants were needed for economic growth
I who somehow thought Chernobyl and Minamata were somebody else’s problems
I who preferred money over nature and love
I who was confident that after everything, nothing would happen to me
I who regarded myself as powerless to have an impact and change societies
I thank but say goodbye to my old self.
And I start walking with my new ‘self’.

I went to Fukushima. There was a lot of “sadness”.
“I am not a lab animal!” ? said an old lady through desperate tears.
A dairy farmer looked despondent in front of his family grave ? “I don’t think I can possibly live on this land I inherited from my ancestors ever again.”
A 15-year-old-girl who remained in the village for two months, not knowing about the high contamination level in the village, asked ? “I am Hibakusha. Can I have a baby in the future?”
The dosimeter in my hands continuously warned me of an explosive level of radiation.
The social system keeps sacrificing some of the population, so the wealthy life of some others can be maintained. Technology destroys nature.  Nuclear power is not necessary.

Mankind is facing global challenges that threaten the existence of our globe. One of the most dangerous of these is nuclear power. Whereas natural disasters?such as the terrible earthquake in Japan?cannot be prevented yet, we have the technological means to abandon nuclear power and to replace it with alternative safe, clean and sustainable energy production. The nuclear catastrophe of Fukushima must be the last warning  for the sake of our future. Germany and other European countries have decided to put out of service all nuclear power plants within the next decade. This is a responsible step which must be followed up by all other countries that use nuclear energy. We have the power to push them ? let’s use it.

The Fukushima nuclear accident confirmed the danger of nuclear energy and countries around the world are facing the challenge to fundamentally review their current energy policies. At this important time, the?Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World will provide a meaningful opportunity for the international community to accelerate efforts to make changes in energy policies in individual countries and to join forces to address the issue.
The nuclear meltdown in Fukushima sent a shock wave to the international community not only because it occurred only 25 years after the Chernobyl disaster but also it made us woken up to a harsh reality that even with the latest technologies there were few things we could do to contain the catastrophe. The myth of a safe nuclear energy turned out to be false and the world, though it wanted to turn a blind eye on pretext of promoting low carbon technologies, has no choice but to face an uncomfortable truth of nuclear energy.
Increasing number of countries around the world is moving their energy policy focus from nuclear to renewable energy sources. Japan, which has one of the most advanced nuclear energy technologies in the world, scrapped plans to construct new nuclear power plants and announced a new energy vision to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to 20 % for the next 10 years.
Germany is drawing keen attention because of its ambitious plan to shut down all the 17 nuclear power plants by 2022 and bring the share of renewable energy to 100% by 2050. The world’s most advanced economies are swiftly shifting their energy policies because they believe that a safe and sustainable energy system will determine the fate of their country in the near future.
Regretfully, however, the Korean government stands against the international trend provoking continued backlashes. The nation’s energy import is more than its export of ships, automobiles and semiconductors. Korea’s energy consumption is increasing faster than any other OECD member country and per capita green house gas emission has long exceeded that of Japan, the U.K., and Germany, whose per capita income is at least twice or three times higher than the country.
Nevertheless, the Korean government is expected to rely on nuclear energy arguing that the nation’s energy demand will rise substantially in the future. However, it will bring us nowhere near to a sustainable, safe as well as highly efficient and low carbon society.
Fortunately, in 2012, the Koreans have two important political choices to make which can change the current situation: general elections and presidential election. Whether to maintain nuclear dependent energy policy or not will be one of the most important game changers.
Democratic Unity Party, the largest opposition party to which I belong, has made a pledge to reconsider nuclear power policy from the perspective of sustainability and peace of humanity.
Realizing a sustainable energy vision is technologically and economically possible. It’s a matter of choice of the people and political will. The Fukushima nuclear accident gave us a chance to make a choice between a nuclear dependent, energy-gulping society or a sustainable society based on effective energy demand management and renewable energy.
I congratulate this significant gathering again, and hope that the meeting will serve as a catalyst to promote sustainable and peaceful energy policies.

It is time for us to determine what our planet should be in the future. Have courage and hope to make a good choice. We must have earnest conversations and come to grips with each problem, for it is our role to decide the future of our planet earth. I support the GROBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER FREE WORLD. Let’s work together hand in hand.

There was just one prefecture in Japan which put forward a proposal to the government to object to U.S. attacks on Iraq.
It was Fukushima and that’s why I love this prefecture in Tohoku.
The reason why the Japanese Government supported the Iraq war was given in a statement by the former prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi.
“To support actions of the U.S. and other countries contributes to the national interest”, he said in the Diet on March 20, 2003.
What on earth did he mean by “national interest”? What did Japan get in exchange for lives of more than 100 thousand Iraqi citizens?
Such kind of war violates the United Nations Charter and of course according to the Constitution of Japan, there should be no possibility for Japan to support any wars.
They say nuclear power contributes to the national interest, applying the same logic as the Iraq war.
What profit in the world can we have after making people in Fukushima suffer?
How can they say “Nuclear power is safe. Let’s export our nuclear power plants to other countries” after causing such a disastrous accident?
It’s fine to pursue the national interest, but can we ignore the voices of people who have suffered as a result of our doing it?
Absolutely not. Now is the time to think and act by ourselves.

Give back the mountains
Give back the rivers
Give back the ocean
Give back Fukushima
Give back Japan
Give back the children’s future
Give back a world without radiation

I feel that we must somehow make 2012 a year to send the message of breaking away from nuclear power from Japan to the world, and change Japan.
Please participate in the Global Conference for a Nuclear Free World!

Some people say, “On March 11, 2011, the entire world changed.”, but regrettably nothing has changed in Japan even ten months after the accident. The Navajo’s radiation exposure due to uranium ore mining, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the nuclear testing in the Pacific, the use of depleted uranium shells in Iran and Iraq and the inevitable disaster of nuclear power plants are all linked together. However, no-one has thought this way.
Our lives have changed 180 degrees and we all have to take  responsibility for the upturn that this country has experienced, from a nuclear victim to a nuclear perpetrator.
An elder of the Ainu taught me, “There is nothing in the world that has no role.” Maybe God laid the uranium in the ground in order to exterminate the world when we become arrogant enough to think we are superior. It is our choice whether to use it or not.
It is not too late. Humans may only be a spec of God’s many  creations, but I want to believe in them.

We hope the conference will be a huge success.
The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, has taught us that  nuclear energy is only one step away from irredeemable danger.
We, as “an active company for social contributions”, considered the actions we could take, and put up a message on our website which read “A safe society without nuclear power plants”.  We also carried out a wide range of actions to save electricity and energy within our company, and have been actively promoting and supporting local businesses to save electricity and energy.
We will switch our electricity contract for the main office and branches, from TEPCO that relies on nuclear power plants, to a PPS that utilizes natural energy and surplus power in the private sector beginning in January 2012.
We were moved to tears when our client SMEs co-developed household power-saving products.
I believe that we can stop nuclear power plants if each and every one of us start to have ideals and aims, and to continuously do what can be done to achieve them, no matter how small that step may be. Let us come together to create a safe society where we don’t have to depend on nuclear power plants!

Let us make a shift to natural energy using our money sensibly and wisely.
It will encourage  local areas to see that they are full of natural energy resources, in turn, bringing about societies that can support themselves.

We must get rid of nuclear power from Japan.
We must get rid of nuclear power from France.
It takes about a million years for nuclear wastes to become harmless.
If we go back by that amount of time, we have to go as far back as the days of Australopithecus.
Having found no feasible solution to safe storage and management of nuclear waste, continuing to run nuclear power plants means even more radioactive wastes, leaving the future generations with a negative legacy.
Nuclear power technology was developed in the 1950′s and is now out of date.  It is not ppossible for humans to police and control it properly.
After working for 60 years, it is time for nuclear energy to retire.

Ten months after the catastrophic nuclear accident in Fukushima, the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World in Yokohama will serve to remind Japan and the rest of the world that nuclear power is not the answer to energy sufficiency or climate change.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown was a disaster waiting to happen. The seeds of the accident were sown very early in the history of Japan’s nuclear programme. The nuclear industry, with its vested interests, has invariably shunned transparency and carried the stamp of secrecy, like a birthmark. It has a long history of making misleading statements, avoiding open debate, and concealing nuclear mishaps and minor accidents. Nuclear energy is not cheap, safe or clean.

Fukushima could be a game-changer. It is a wake-up call for all 30 countries operating 441 nuclear power plants and for those planning to build new nuclear reactors. Chernobyl and Fukushima prove that there is no such thing as nuclear safety or a fail-safe nuclear power plant. Human error and other unpredictable events are unavoidable. Once again, Murphy’s Law underlines the reality that when something can go wrong, in time it will.

Policy-makers the world over and the nuclear industry must now seriously review, distil and learn the lessons of Fukushima. It has forced many countries to review the safety of their nuclear facilities, their nuclear options, and future energy policies. Many have decided to phase out nuclear energy, suspend plans for new nuclear reactors, and develop renewable energy.

Radiation is invisible, impalpable and odourless. Once released into the environment, it cannot be recalled or neutralised. There is no safe level of exposure to radiation. Ionising radiation damages the cells of the human body. At high-dose exposures, severely damaged cells will die. At low-dose exposures, late effects such as cancer and congenital malformations are known to occur. The assertion that low-level radiation is not harmful is a figment of ‘military science,’ created during the Cold War to deceive civilians about the dangers of testing and producing nuclear weapons.

The nuclear age is not only about nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear war, but also about nuclear energy and the health, security and environmental risks of nuclear waste, nuclear accidents and nuclear terrorism.

The world is largely shaped by political and economic forces. There is a great need for global civil society to be actively involved in tempering the excesses of politics and economics. For humankind to survive in an environmentally challenged, nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed world, past mistakes must be heeded and all nuclear threats eradicated. There must never be another Chernobyl or Fukushima. We owe it to the victims to abandon and phase out nuclear energy, and exorcise the curse of nuclear fission.

Greetings to all participants of this important Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World. It is crystal clear that nuclear power and nuclear weapons are intrinsically linked, and both continue to pose a great danger to humanity. It will be difficult to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons as long as nuclear power is promoted and perceived as an inalienable right. We need to dispel a dangerous myth which continues to prevail in the minds of too many after decades of disinformation campaigns: that we need nuclear power to meet the energy needs. We must let the truth surface: that renewable energy is available in abundance. Thank you for your important contributions. Best wishes from Brazil.

What are we to do after the nuclear accident which caused a type of pollution that cannot be undone? Japan needs to end nuclear power and stop selling it to other countries. By doing so, Japan will lead the world to take the step towards denuclearization. We the Japanese people should be the ones to raise our voices and connect with the world in order for this to become a reality. In addition,  I earnestly hope that the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World 2012 YOKOHAMA will become the foundation of continued activity so that we can protect children who still suffer from radiation immediately. I hope that we will become the main constituent of denuclearization and not just the people that call for it.

The earthquake and nuclear disaster of 3/11 have taught us that “Nuclear power cannot exist in an earthquake country”. The radioactive materials that were dispersed into the atmosphere, ocean and earth will surpass space-time and severely affect the young people of the future. No one from our generation will be able to take responsibility for that.
I have been involved in environmental and peace activities with the intention of  “Handing over earth to our children where they can live healthy”. We’ve had enough with nuclear power, war, nuclear explosion and environmental destruction.  Since Japan underwent an unprecedented human evoked disaster, I am dreaming of Japan’s recovery by conserving energy and creating natural energy, as well as leading the way to create a sustainable global society.  Let us get rid of not just nuclear energy, but also nuclear weapons and wars! I am praying for the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World 2012 YOKOHAMA to be the impetus of regeneration and end to destruction.

Japan is now paying for the standstill for thinking and leaving problems to be solved by others.
It wasn’t impossible. Japan never tried to learn, and never confronted the reality that it didn’t want to see. And on that note, I am just as guilty.
The payment and consequence was too high.  This is enough. If we don’t change Japan now, when will it ever change?

Coexistence of nukes and homo sapiens is impossible despite all the pompous talks!
As adults, our responsibility is to at least decommission the nuclear reactors of Japan and of the world today. Let us begin the work!

Let’s build a safe and secure world by eliminating unstable energy sources.

Let’s create clean and sustainable lifestyles by using energy sources that are safe and reliable.

The nuclear mafia of this country manipulated information, aggressively built more than 50 nuclear power plants despite the extremely unstable ground conditions, and monopolized their rights and profits. They plotted together and deceived their consumers, the people of this nation. It’s a SERIOUS crime has been committed by the communities of electricity industry, politics, business, administration and mass media. We’ve got to bring them down!!

We kept our eyes closed to “hibakusha” all this time although they were always in front of us.

Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have lived in your town. Nuclear fall outs of the nuclear bomb tests destroyed brains and cells of people who lived close by and crossed the ocean increasing the cancer mortality rate of Japanese children.

Beautiful yellow rocks dug out of uranium mines in Australia not only eroded the bodies of Aboriginal workers but also brought about children who were born with deformities.

Workers of nuclear power plants have developed leukemia or cardiac infraction from uranium which is used for nuclear power generation  . They wiped up highly radioactive waste with  cleaning cloths.

Uranium which could not be used for nuclear power generation turned into depleted uranium shells. They produced all types of cancer in Iraq and gave returning  American  soldiers the “bura bura disease.”

There was Three Miles and Chernobyl… Nevertheless, Japan did not stop nuclear power plants and stayed on the path. Now, we all have become “hibakusha.” Death ashes showered down on the ocean, sky and earth. All plants and animals are suffering.

Now, it is time for all of us, “hibakusha,” to come together and break this devastating cycle of death which has been dominated by the nuclear mafia. We would like to pass a better future on to our grandchildren.

In 2012, WAPA is also going to advocate for peace and human rights of “hibakusha” through art to create another warm and caring world. Those who are interested in joining us in the fight, please get in touch with us!

In the areas, such as Falluja, which were fiercely attacked during the Iraq War, there has been a recent and rapid increase in children who are born with various types of congenital deficits or who later develop cancer. It has been suspected that these abnormalities have been caused by internal exposure from the depleted uranium shells used by the U.S. military. Medical doctors think this is beyond the law of nature. UN and WHO have started their data collection and research on this issue.
I have been involved with providing support to a 6-year-old boy. He was born without an anus and cannot move his lower body; however, he always has a beautiful smile on his face. There are twin boys who were born in Falluja the other day with deformities. When they cried out for the first time, they sounded so precious as if they were crying with all their strength to live. They survived a separation surgery and have been stable and growing steadily. Another girl was once told that she would have only 7% chance to live. However, she underwent cardiac surgery and is now doing well.
At this point, we cannot determine with absolute certainty that the suffering of these children were caused by internal exposure, but I still would like to say NO to depleted uranium shells which contaminate nature and lead to internal exposure. Now that the land in Japan is contaminated by radiation, it is possible that some sort of abnormal phenomenon could happen in the near future. However, Japan has many things that Iraq does not have? protective masks, radiation counters and measuring rooms, knowledge about radiation exposure and highly advanced medical care. We may experience various health hazards induced by the nuclear disaster down the road; we would like to be the people who can bless and embrace all life. I believe that our strong wish for a nuclear power free world is deeply rooted in our love for life.

The lessons from Fukushima revealed that human beings cannot coexist with nuclear power. Nevertheless, the lessons have been ignored among the nuclear industry, and they continue to try  and advance toward expanding nuclear power to more countries. This is why it is most important for us, all the participants of anti-nuclear and nuclear-power-free-world movements around the globe, to unite and fight for the cause. I wish you every success for the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World to expand the global solidarity movement as well as to achieve complete abolition of nuclear power on the earth.

We are children of the the Association Bayti Morocco, children in difficult situation; we send our moral support to all people and all children who suffered this drama.
Best to you.

Everything we do, we do for life.
Electricity is one of them. It’s not that we use electricity therefore we live. We use electricity to have a better life.
However, nuclear energy, its existence itself jeopardizes our lives.
It is a simple story, and it is just wrong.
We already experienced what it is first hand.
If we use nuclear energy any longer, we will become “perpetrators.”
I oppose nuclear energy.

Say it aloud when something feels wrong.
If you cannot do it, don’t raise your hand when everyone else does.
If you cannot do that whisper something.
If you cannot even do that, keep silent and shake your head.
The current situation is the responsibility of the adult’s who did not take action despite their uneasy feeling.
I am one of them. So I think and I think and then say it loudly.
Let’s stop it.

Nuclear power is at the core of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.
I have been taking action to abolish nuclear weapons in the world where cold war continues despite the awareness that nuclear power could cause devastating damage once there is an accident.
Japan has gone through three Hibaku experiences including Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Daigo Hukuryu Maru (a Japanese fishing boat, which was exposed to and contaminated by a nuclear fallout on Bikini Atoll, in 1954). Despite this, Japan is still scattering radiation in the world. I deeply regret that I was not more active against nuclear power plants.
From now on, I will plead to people that “human and nuclear power, be it nuclear energy or nuclear weapons, cannot co-exist.”
Furthermore, it is unbelievable that Japan is actively selling nuclear energy technology to Vietnam and other countries, despite the suffering of the people in Fukushima!!
The Japanese government should stop exporting projects that have the potential to produce the same nuclear radiation to people in those countries.
I hope that people will start sending out similar messages from Japan for the Global Conference For A Nuclear Power Free World, 2012 Yokohama.

Japan is the country most prone to earthquakes  in the world. The frequency of earthquakes in Japan is more than 100 times the world average. Nuclear power plants in Japan are the most dangerous in the world. That is why other countries around the world should pressure the Japanese government to give up on nuclear energy. Radiation knows no borders.

I was so naive. I underestimated the potential danger of nuclear power thinking that the accidents of this extent would never happen.
66 years after the war, I realize with horror that I have been made to believe that nuclear issues are about nuclear weapons and nuclear energy is a peaceful use of nuclear power. I feel extremely sad and ashamed as someone who was born and bred in Nagasaki city where a nuclear bomb was exploded. A nuclear power plant is a set up to make nuclear weapons. We should all be aware that there is a national policy, a “hidden agenda” to possess nuclear weapons behind the message and policy to promote nuclear power plants.
“Abolition of nuclear energy” is “abolition of nuclear weapons.” We should all know that nuclear energy and nuclear weapons are like twins. This is the most important lesson we have learned from the Marth 11th.

Dear all,

My name is Stefania Divertito, an Italian reporter specialized in
environmental issues. During 2011, the discussion about “nuclear energy”
was important in Italy because of  the decision by Berlusconi’s Government
to build new nucler plants.

As you know, in 1986 through a democratic referendum Italy said NO to
Nuclear Energy.
But, ignoring it totally, the Italian Government has in recent years
entered into business with French companies. This is why it was
necessary to  hold a new referendum last June.

Unlike 1986, this time the debate was more absorbing, also for ordinary
citizens.
A new way was found to discuss the question. Not saying a simple
“Yes” or “No”, but the real question was “Why”. Why choose one or
the other? Why spend so much money if now we can have solar energy and
energy from other renewable sources now?

Really, don’t we have any alternatives to nuclear energy?

The most powerful lobbies tried to affect the debate through newspapers,
magazines, advertisements and other media. But, the anti-nuclear activists
used the web to comunicate their reasons for voting “Yes” (which meant
“No”). And they worked extremely hard.
To tell the truth, the accident at Fukushima was fundamental for the
anti-nuclear struggle: the common fear about the dangers of these kinds of
plant increased because of it.
The conditions of European nuclear plants was taken into consideration,
too.

I can say that the stories that emerged from Japan helped the anti-nuclear
campaign. So, Italians voted NO to Nuclear Energy once again.
I am sure that cooperation and a strong link between worldwide
anti-nuclear activists is very very important and I will support it
always.  The pro-nuclear lobbies are working on new strategies and they
never give up.

So, we’ll never give up, either.

I am looking forward to the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power-Free World and a visit to Fukushima. I would like to understand the pain of, and express solidarity with, the victims of the serious accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power station and other nuclear installations. I think India can learn many lessons from Japan, which should convince our citizens that a safe world must be free of nuclear power generation.

I have been critically studying nuclear power since 1978, and have written two chapters on it in my just-published book The Politics of Climate Change and the Global Crisis: Mortgaging Our Future (Orient BlackSwan, Delhi). I am convinced that nuclear power is inherently and unacceptably hazardous. It is fraught with releases of radiation, causing cancer and genetic damage, at each stage of the so-called nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining to fuel fabrication, reactor operation and waste handling to spent-fuel reprocessing.

Reactors routinely release, even without accidents, effluents and emissions containing radioactivity, which enters the food chain, eventually affecting people. Scientific studies covering 136 nuclear sites in the West and Japan show abnormally high leukemia rates among children, and higher incidence of cancers of the bone, thyroid and lungs, congenital deformities, organ damage and reduced immunity.

All nuclear activities produce a variety of wastes, which remain hazardous for thousands of years. Science hasn’t yet found a safe way of storing, leave alone neutralising, nuclear wastes.

Worst of all, all reactor types can undergo a catastrophic accident, including a core meltdown like Chernobyl or Fukushima. The death-toll from Chernobyl is conservatively estimated at 34,000 and still climbing. So persistent is the radioactive contamination around Chernobyl that 25 years on, 300,000 people cannot go back to their homes. The Fukushima disaster still hasn’t ended in nine months, and it will take 40 years to decommission the Daiichi reactors.

A reactor is a barely controlled nuclear bomb, where a runaway chain reaction is only just prevented by circulating water and using multiple safety devices. But each of these can fail. Lack of cooling can easily produce a catastrophe as the fuel gets relentlessly heated up.

That’s what happened at Fukushima. The reactors couldn’t withstand the Magnitude 9 earthquake, belying the designers’/operators’ claim. The tsunami knocked out the backup generators, precipitating a station blackout, the proximate cause of the loss-of-coolant accident, which led to the meltdown. In addition, highly radioactive spent fuel, stored in water pools in the reactor buildings, got exposed as the water evaporated, adding to the radioactivity release. A station blackout can occur because of any number of factors in any reactor, with unpredictable but uncontrollable consequences, including a meltdown.

Going by actual experience so far, the world’s 430-odd nuclear rectors could undergo an average of one core meltdown every eight years. This is simply unacceptable. I hope the Japanese campaign against nuclear power will succeed, so that it can set an example for the world, especially India and China, which remain addicted to mindless promotion nuclear power.

The nuclear industry continues to present problem after problem.? From the places where uranium is mined to the spreading of contamination, from where it is used in nuclear power stations and ?the testing of nuclear weapons,? there are concerns? about its safety.
I support the 2012 Yokohama Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World and I look forward to participating in the many important events planned.
Thank you to the organisers and all supporters of this conference. I am a part of a small delegation from Australia. It is of utmost importance that globally we can discuss and take action for a nuclear free future together.?
In Australia there is a strong movement saying ‘no’ to uranium mining and ‘no’ to the export of Australian uranium that fuels reactors overseas. We now know that Australian uranium was used in the Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
I am sure that this conference will see the formation of many great friendships and networks, what a great way to start the year.

The Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World to be held in Yokoham offers an important opportunity to share stories of those hazards experienced around the world. I hope that the conference will contribute towards Australians building a better understanding of the threat our uranium exports pose, and that the recent compounded disaster in Fukushima can provide a catalyst for the world to move away from nuclear power.

The Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World represents acritical opportunity to focus on future energy options.
The nuclear fuel chain has major health risks, and leaves a toxic legacy both now and for many future generations.
It is also inextricably linked to the development of nuclear weapons.
Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous and expensive.
For our children’s sake, we must work together to replace nuclear reactors with safer, cleaner energy sources.

To our dear friends from around the world and especially to all people in Japan.
For you affected by the 11 March 2011 testament to one of the worst mistakes of the human race ? the promotion of nuclear energy, we send our heartfelt regards and congratulations for organising this important event that will bring together people from around the world to give voice to the only sane path ahead ? the immediate and comprehensive termination of nuclear energy.
We have six generators in Taiwan currently operating, generators that are well known to be among the most dangerous in the world, generators that are operating withing within fifty kilometers of nearly half of Taiwan’s 23 million people. Our island nation is a small one, a nuclear incident could mean extinquishment of our entire human population.
We are having national elections just at the time of the conference and so many of us will be unable to attend as the issue of nuclear energy is one of the key issues in the election. From all of us, our hearts and minds are with you, and we wish you every success.

I support the 2012 Yokohama Global Conference for A Nuclear Power Free World.
The harm of Nuclear accident on human beings and the environment is devastating. At present, all the nuclear accidents which have happened in the world cause our attention to this problem. Mankind can not only care about the interests of the moment and ignore deep hidden trouble . The world will be more secure and sustainable without nuclear.
China is positive to develop nuclear power industry, but citizens don’t understand nuclear energy and nuclear science. So China’s NGO workers need to do more work, to help people understand the nuclear science and its harmfulness, supporting the government to make more rational nuclear development plan.

Social and environmental disasters, such as the Fukushima earthquake and Tsunami, should motivate us to think deeply about finding ways to develop an harmonious interaction with Mother Nature. Development should not be conceived as a synonymous of economic growth, but rather as a process that brings peace and stability with the environment and the society, in that respect the use of resources should not threaten the wellbeing of people and nature, which is what happens with the use of nuclear energy but instead it should empower local communities ro satisfy their material and spiritual needs.

Time and again it has been proved how fatal nuclear power plants can be. First Chernobyl, and then, Fukushima. There also had been some minor accidents before. Each one caused tragic loss in human lives and immense suffering. Loss to material wealth and infrastructures was also immeasurable. But it seems the old saying dies hard, that is, we learn from history that we learn nothing from history! It also shows the frailty of human nature, and also one dark side of our present world? the corporate greed.

The tragedy that happened in and around Fukushima during the last Sunami should be a real eye-opener. The lesson is, a nuclear power plant is not a plaything. We must not, and should not be at all complacent that a nuclear power plant can be accident-free. Rather these dangerous power plants are very much accident-prone and are a continuous risk for humanity. Terrible things can happen due to some small human mistake or due to nature’s fury as manifested lately, in which the people of Japan had suffered so much. Time has now come for the world leaders and policy-makers to realize that there is nothing called a RISK FREE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT! And also how dangerous it can be to live with this menacing sleeping giants. Once the disaster was experienced by the Russian people, and then recently, by the Japanese people again. Like a de ja vu it has shocked the whole world.

My country Bangladesh is backward in economy and aspires to be an industrialized nation. The need for, and urge in Bangladesh now, is?energy. And with no oil, and very limited supply of natural gas and hydro-electric potency, the policy-makers of Bangladesh are now toying with the idea to make nuclear power plants as the future source of energy. To our chagrin they have even signed an agreement with Russia to establish a nuclear power plant in the South-West of Bangladesh. The civil society and the conscientious people of Bangladesh are opposing it, but I am afraid, not with enough conviction. To pay our homage to all the lives lost in Japan, we the civil society activists, artists and other sensitive people of Bangladesh vow to do away with all kinds of nuclear power plants of the world, and we express our deep sympathy and solidarity with the people of Fukushima and all of Japan.

The Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World to be held in Yokohama is of great importance. It comes at a crucial time: the aftermath of a terrible nuclear disaster that could and should have been avoided. Japan is at a critical crossroads.

Will the people of Japan move decisively to put behind them the unprecedented existential dangers of nuclear weapons, and the uncontrollable toxicity of radioactivity spewing out across borders and generations? Will Japan continue to be the only country without nuclear weapons to accumulate vast quantities of weapons-usable plutonium? Will the people of Japan set a course to a sustainable future of energy conservation, efficiency and benign renewable energy? Will Japanese politics be renewed?

Will the still-powerful vested interests of nuclear companies, monopoly electricity companies, and corrupted officials and agencies again take charge? Or will the people of Japan decide to take the mortally wounded and dangerous nuclear dinosaur off life-support and build a safe, sustainable future for their children?

I am distressed and ashamed that uranium mined in Australia fuelled the Fukushima Daiichi reactors and now is contaminating Japan and far beyond with indiscriminate and persistent radioactive fallout.

I hope you can make the Yokohama Conference a milestone in our shared task to end the era of the intertwined twins of nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

There are letters from children in Fukushima, saying “Can we have an ordinary baby?” If many people start having such an idea as a group, it would create a concept of eugenics, which justifies discrimination in society and could kill much more people than radiation does. What should we say to children about it? Movements for abolishing nuclear energy are obviously necessary, but they must not generate discrimination. I look forward to the results of the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World.

This autumn, elementary schools in Fukushima City had their sports festivals only for two hours.

What are the politics that force children to spend only two hours a day outside?

What we have to do now in order to abolish nuclear energy is to come up with a concrete policy as a counter proposal. Japan is actually one of the few countries in the world, with great resources of natural energy. We have earthquakes very often and that means we can develop geothermal power quite easily. If geothermal power was properly developed, it could generate electricity equivalent to that of twenty whole nuclear power plants. If we developed wind power appropriately, it could generate electricity equivalent to that of forty nuclear power plants. We should use a large amount of money, which has been spent to develop nuclear power, for the development of natural energy instead.

Some say that we definitely need electricity in the middle of summer, but we could have one-month summer vacation just like people do in Western countries. Let’s take this as a great opportunity to make a big change in society.

If only we did not have nuclear energy, there would be no accidents.
If there is a shortage of electricity, we can think about alternative energy.
If there is a shortage of electricity, we can try to think of the situation together.
It is impossible for the economy to keep developing forever.
If only we did not have nuclear energy, there would be no accidents.
For children and future,
Crossing the borders of thought and countries!

“3.11” made it clear how we are connected to energy, which supports our life. Until now we have tended to think that we can just leave matters relating to energy to the government or those in the energy industry, but now more and more people believe that we have to think about it and create a favorable future by ourselves.

Is it a dream to have energy that:
Never emits any radiation no matter what happens,
Emits no CO2, either,
Is not affected at all by international affairs in terms of supply quantity and price,
Does not cause an outflow of countries’ wealth abroad,
Generates local employment and income,
Leaves no debts to future generation, and
Helps the earth and world to be sustainable?

You can leave matters related to energy to someone else, but let’s think about it more, individually, and exchange our opinions. Let’s imagine “what we want energy in Japan to be like 30 years later or 50 years time.” Society will move in the direction we citizens want it to.

Twenty five years ago the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine,
taught us that nuclear fallouts do not respect political borders. A
large region was affected, including all Western Europe. We learned
how dangerous radiations can be, both at the peak of an accident and
in the continued exposure. Today again the disaster in Fukushima,
Japan, in possibly the most technologically advanced country in the
world, tells us how inherently unsafe the nuclear power industry is.
The Italian citizens voted twice against resuming the production of
nuclear power, in ’87 and again this year. Today I wish to express
sympathy to the Japanese, and we hope we can join hands to put an end
to this deadly industry

We were saddened by the terrible loss of life in northeastern Japan following the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011. The natural disaster was compounded by the man-made nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, with widespread radioactive contamination severely hampering relief efforts and posing a major long-term threat to public health. Doctors from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) have endeavoured to provide the public with vital information about the health dangers of radiation exposure. Our campaign has also organized vigils as a sign of solidarity with the people of Japan.
As Australians, we have made efforts to highlight our nation’s involvement in the catastrophe at Fukushima. We find it deeply disturbing that Australian uranium was found to be in all six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant at the time of the accident. We have urged our government to put an end to uranium mining because of the unacceptable dangers is poses in terms of both accidents at reactors and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. We wish you well for the conference at Yokohama. Now more than ever we need an effective, united global movement for a nuclear-free future.

In 1986 the Chernobyl catastrophe slowed down the enthusiasm for nuclear power. The Fukushima accident should mark the beginning of a new energy era without nuclear power.

In the EU there had not been a new nuclear power project for 20 years after the Chernobyl disaster. Since then only France and Finland decided to build one new reactor each. After Fukushima Germany, Switzerland and Belgium decided to phase out nuclear and in Italy more than 90% of the voters in a referendum said ‘NO’ to the use of nuclear power in their country. The majority of EU citizens oppose nuclear power and are not willing to take the risk of another nuclear catastrophe anymore.
Today no one can deny that nuclear power is connected with unrulable risks. But in contrast to the time after Chernobyl, today we have the technologies available for a safe, secure and clean energy future. Instead of clinging on to yesterdays energy solutions, we should invest in energy savings, energy efficiency and renewables. Our future energy system has to be based on intelligent and efficient use of clean renewable energies instead of wasteful consumption and dangerous and dirty technologies.

Ten years ago, I met with workers at Fukushima Daiichi. They were required to do their job very quickly to minimize exposure to radiations. Now a huge area of Northern Japan has turned into a “controlled zone”, just like in a nuclear plant. People who remain there, should they live quickly as possible to minimize their exposure to radiations? That would be nonsense! But that’s it: even without catastrophe, nuclear plants are just big nonsense.

On behalf of all members of the Green Parliamentary Group in the German Parliament, I would like to express once again our deepest sympathy with the Japanese people who lost their loved ones, their jobs and homes in this terrible catastrophe last year. Please be sure that your German friends are with you and support you in your commitment for a nuclear-free world.

Be a part of this change! With this conference you make an important contribution to the fight for a nuclear-free world.

I wish to congratulate you on your important initiative in holding a Global Conference for a World Free of Nuclear Power. As should now be obvious given the great fanfare when nuclear energy was first promoted as the solution to our energy problems way back in the 1950s, it has actually emerged as perhaps the single greatest failure in the history of modern industrialisation! It has proved to be grossly inadequate, extremely expensive and profoundly unsafe as well as being tied to a pattern of high energy intensive economic thinking about production and consumption needs that is ecologically unsound, indeed should no longer be considered acceptable. It is particularly important for us in India to show our solidarity with your Conference since India is one of the few remaining countries which is determined to go full steam ahead in building more and more nuclear reactors despite the many courageous local struggles in various parts of the country against all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle from uranium mining areas to the proposed places for reactor building and waste disposal. We are all now part of a global struggle to do away with this dangerous and unwanted technology which is bad in itself is and is also a necessary corrollary to preserving and promoting nuclear weapons. All the more reason therefore to wish your Conference all success in raising global awareness against the twin evils of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons.

We are all downwinders from Fukushima.  Time for a Nuclear Free World?no Fukushimas, no Hiroshimas.  Congratulations to the Japanese people for working for peace and clean, safe, sustainable energy.

I represent people living far away from Japan, on a border between Belarus,the Ukraine, and Russia. People in our countries have the same problem asian Japan ? the contamination. We do not know which nuclear power plant will　explode the next. Now it’s time to think together about the safe future for　our children. A future without nuclear disasters.

Nuclear power, whether as energy or weapons, does not provide for a
more　secure future. As we have seen, it can lead to radioactive
catastrophe, leave us with unsolved nuclear waste, huge debts, and
contribute to nuclear weapons proliferation. Japan’s terrible
experience,through Hiroshima, Nagasaki and now Fukushima, is pointing
the way for the world. We, the Nobel Peace Laureates of the Nobel
Women’s Initiative, firmly believe that if the world phases out its
current use of nuclear power, future generations of people everywhere
will live in greater peace and security.
The Yokohama 2012 Global Conference for a Nuclear Power-Free World is
a chance to take action for change!

NUCLEAR = NO CLEAR
Global Conference on Nuclear Free World is an important agenda for all countries to look back on its nuclear program. Nuclear Disaster at Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011), is a portrait of the failure of technology in ensuring the sustainability of human life. In Indonesia, people with civil society organizations and non-government organization has voiced out loud to reject the plan of the Muria nuclear power plant in Jepara, Central Java. Not only in Jepara-Central Java, but on Madura Island (East-Java) and Bangka Belitung Islands (Riau Archipelago’s Province). Through this global conference, all components anti-nuclear organizations and people in Indonesia called on all parties to collectively say “from Fukushima say No to Nuke forever”

As an MD and radiologist I am aware of the beneficial effects of diagnostic radiation and radiation therapy for my patients. Eachone of them has the risk of his disease, which has to be balanced with the risk of a radiological exam. Power production by nuclear plants, however, is a different story. It potentially affects an entire population in case of an accident. As radiologist I am acutely aware of the serious harm acute radiation accidents can cause. Furthermore I have become interested in learning about the longterm effects of chronic low level and incorporated radiation, which also can have serious consequences. I am therefore motivated to give the audience my arguments, why electricity production by nuclear power is risky, potentially causing the most serious consequences for humans and nature after accidents, but having detrimental effects even in normal operation. I will mention the 7 major drawbacks of nuclear energy utilisation and will compare the Chernobyl and Fukushima catastrophies to the radiation effects of the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As my country of Switzerland has made the decision to phase-out nuclear power, I will discuss briefly the current and future situation on the basis of different energy scenarios and also briefly mention a few non-nuclear risk factors of ?nuclear energy“.

“Atomic energy for peace.” “Peaceful use of nuclear power.” This is how nuclear energy has been defined, however it has now become clear that it was an absolute lie. Where there are nuclear power plants there is an increasing number of sick people. The water gets contaminated and radioactive waste is produced, which takes practically forever to be processed. Moreover, nuclear weapons can be so readily created at any time. We’re confronted by all of this even if we are luckily enough not to have any explosions triggered by man-made accidents or natural disasters. On all accounts nuclear power plants and atomic bombs are dangerous twins from their very birth. Why do we choose such a primitive method to generate just electricity? It’s very sad indeed. This is not just a problem in Japan. I definitely want to think about this with people around the world.

Japan suffered from the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and has now been exposed to the highest level of radiation in the world by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Japan has the greatest persuasive force in appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons and power plants. It is of great significance that the GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER FREE WORLD will be held at this time, almost a year from 3.11.
Let’s be among the first to realize a nuclear free country and to make a shift to renewable energy. Let’s transmit the message that Japan has changed and join “The 4th Revolution”, an energy evolution, which is taking place now in the world. This evolution is essential to realize a truly sustainable society. To effect this change we’ll bring “The 4th Revolution” from Germany and screen it throughout Japan. We are people with vision. Let the power of the people create a shift in energy.   Now is the time!

For many years the government and electric power companies have claimed, “no matter how hard an earthquake may hit, nuclear power plants are absolutely safe.” Nevertheless, three yeas ago the internal information of a manufacturer, which designed power plants and nuclear-related facilities, revealed numerous miscalculations and cases of intentional data fabrication in the earthquake-proof structure of many power plants. Although the manufacturer knew the information in 1997 they did not bring the matter to light until 2008, hiding it for 11 years. The fabrication of the earthquake-proof data is so far detected in the following facilities; Onagawa nuclear power plant, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, Kashiwazakikariwa nuclear power plant, Hamaoka nuclear power plant, Siga nuclear power plant, Simane nuclear power plant, Tsuruga nuclear power plant, Tokai nuclear power plant and the most dreadful of all Rokkasho mura nuclear reprocessing plant and Monju fast-breeder reactor. It’s now discovered that all these plants and facilities risk causing accidents by an earthquake smaller than indicated in the design. This time one of them created an irreversible disaster. Since we cannot turn back the clock to before March 11th, we must move forward on the path of “not making the same mistake again.” Unless we make a drastic change in the energy policy this nation will have “a second nuclear disaster”.

Operating nuclear power plants on land prone to earthquakes was clearly a suicidal act, but we were not able to stop it. We bear a grave responsibility not just to our own people but also for the diffusion of radioactive materials in the world. We must compensate for it. In line with the global anti nuclear power movements we must decommission nuclear plants and abolish fast-breeder reactors as well as nuclear reprocessing plants, which create nuclear armaments. Our responsibility is to tell people about the atomic bombings, the lessons learnt and stop the government from exporting nuclear power plants.

To think about nuclear energy is to think about the future of our society, our world.Do we want to create a society, a world where the priority is “economy” or do we want to think in terms of “life”? I think the answer is obvious.

2012 is coming. “What on earth will it be like…?”
Let’s not get off to such an anxious start.
The　future does not simply come by itself. We create it.
What is really happening now? Why don’t we share the truth?
We, are the ones who will create the future and
say “let’s make the year 2012 a year of truth!”
It’s definitely possible if we can connect to each other.
It’s not just about energy and radiation, but also about food, water, forests and raising children…
It’s about OUR everyday life.
Each one of us is a protagonist. Let’s get connected.
Let’s share, we’re all “citizens of the earth”
living in this bountiful planet, so full of life.

I support 2012 YOKOHAMA GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER FREE WORLD. Once something goes wrong no one can do anything about it, there is nothing more “out of human control” than radiation. “If you’re not able to handle it, you can’t have it.” That’s how parents sometimes reason with children who want pets. Perhaps we have to reason with the government and TEPCO with this kind of “logic”. How sad and shameful is that!

The anti-nuclear movement is spreading in countries such as Korea, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Mongolia after the Fukushima nuclear earthquake disaster. Working hand in hand with people from Asian countries I want to create “a nuclear-free Asia”. (Exporting nuclear power plants from Japan is out of the question!) The GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER FREE WORLD will be “a big step towards the future”.

It is with deep regret that I will not be able to attend and assist the conference due to my scheduled performances, however, I believe in the success of the GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER FREE WORLD. This disaster has taught us that nuclear power plants are not just a local issue, nor just a national one but also a global one…

Despite the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the pentagon consisting of politicians , bureaucrats, financial circles, experts and media, still plans to use nuclear energy and the nuclear fuel cycle. They are telling bald-faced lies as they did during the war when the recession was glossed over as a strategic anabasis. We have no choice but to tenaciously, persistently and cheerfully create a global community free from nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, holding hands with the people around the world. Let’s make the GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER FREE WORLD a roaring success!

No Nukes. Power to the People!

We are making the effort to stand up, while protecting children, the elderly and the sick , despite the continued suffering from the impact of the nuclear accident in Fukushima. We are standing up against nuclear power plants all over the world. I believe that this is our responsibility as the country where a nuclear accident took place. I ask everyone in the world to join together to fight against nuclear power.

It’s been ten months since the earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The damaging effects of radiation are not immediate and as such people think the danger has passed. In fact the damage will become apparent much later. The issue of contaminated debris has switched to the problem of discrimination. The necessity to “decontaminate” and “evacuate” have been discussed as if they’re opposing problems when in fact they are both important. The problem has turned into something that only interests some people and arguments are confusing. It is precisely at times like this when we need an occasion to discuss these issues with a broader perspective. I welcome the GLOBAL CONFERENCE FOR A NUCLEAR POWER FREE WORLD.