SECOND APPEAL from GENEVA to POLITICAL AUTHORITIES EVERYWHERE

End nuclear energy, NOW !

Only twenty-five years separate the nuclear disasters of Chernobyl and Fukushima.

And yet, we were assured that such accidents were virtually impossible! Our political authorities believed it, and so did we. It is in fact impossible to calculate the probability of such accidents, yet it was estimated that an accident might occur only once every 100,000 years. The deplorable fact remains that there have been two accidents in the last twenty-five years. Today, almost 400 nuclear power plants are in working order worldwide. The next disaster could happen anywhere any time.

The current state of these ageing plants can only further increase the risk of a further catastrophe.

The radioactive waste and by-products of these plants is terrifying: it is sufficient to kill every living person on the planet tens of thousand of times over. If no more than a minute proportion of it escaped into the environment it would already be a catastrophe. Never forget that whatever can happen, normally does happen sooner or later – Chernobyl and Fukushima are both ample proof. The only way of eliminating the risk is to stop the nuclear power plants, to store within them the waste they have produced, to extract the spent fuel and seal it in suitable containers, and to transform  the nuclear plants into mausoleums. These mausoleums will become monumental witnesses to future generations of the consequences and risks of using uncontrollable technologies.

Instead of trying to make us forget the disasters which have already occurred, States, international institutions and the centres of economic power must take the decision to give up nuclear power and move towards replacing it entirely with renewable energies. This is perfectly possible if one stopped trying to prevent the development of renewable energies.

We cannot continue to run the risk of a further murderous nuclear disaster which would leave huge areas uninhabitable for centuries, just because of a questionable need for electricity. Remember that the decision was taken to build nuclear plants, and then one thought about how to sell the electricity they produced. This led electricity companies to promote absurd energy practices like electric heating and indiscriminate public lighting.

Nuclear energy is not  renewable, and at some point it will inevitably have to be given up. Any delay simply increases the risk of the next disaster. After Fukushima, Japan stopped almost all its nuclear plants, which demonstrates that it can be done. The only responsible position, and the only way to limit the intractable problems we are leaving to future generations, is to give up nuclear energy now.

List of the first signatories

Pierre Lehmann, physicien nucléaire • Paul Bonny, citoyen genevois • Ivo Rens, Prof. honoraire de l’Université de Genève • Yves Lenoir, physicien ­­• Rémy Pagani, Maire de Genève • Michèle Rivasi, fondatrice de la CRIIRAD, députée européenne •Wladimir Tchertkoff, vice-prés. Enfants de Tchernobyl-Bélarus • Prof. Alexey V.Yablokov, Académie des sciences de Russie •Anne-Cécile Reimann, Prés. ContrAtom, Genève • Luc Recordon, député au Parlement suisse • Wataru Iwata, citoyen japonais •Prof. émérite Michel Fernex, Faculté de Médecine, Bâle (Suisse) • Roger Nordmann, député au Parlement suisse • Liliane Maury Pasquier, députée au Parlement suisse • Bruno Barillot, lauréat du Nuclear Free Future Award 2010, Polynésie française • Philippe Lebreton, Prof. honoraire, Université Lyon 1• Victor Ruffy, anc. président du Conseil national (Suisse) • Jean-Robert Yersin, député au Grand Conseil (VD) • Robert J. Parsons, journaliste • Isabelle Chevalley, députée au Parlement suisse • Luc Breton, anc. expert responsable en radioprotection, Institut Suisse de Recherche Expérimentale sur le Cancer, Epalinges • Yves Renaud, diplômé du CNAM de Paris • Jürg Buri, directeur Fondation Suisse de l’Energie, Zurich • Frédéric Radeff, Citoyen de Genève • François Lefort, Prof. HES, Député au Grand Conseil (GE) • Walter Wildi, Prof géologie. Université de Genève • Joel Jakubec, Pasteur de l’Eglise protestante de Genève • Danielle Martinet, Citoyenne de Genève • Ciril Mizrahi, ancien constituant (GE) • Manuel Tornare, Député au Parlement suisse, ancien Maire de Genève • Salima Moyard, Dépotée au Grand Conseil (GE) • Marc Oran, Député au Grand Conseil (VD) • Guillaume Mathelier, Maire d’Ambilly • Edouard Dommen, Ethicien • Micheline Calmy-Rey, anc. Présidente de la Confédération suisse • Renaud Gautier, Député au Grand Conseil (GE) • Pierre Mercier, Prof. Honoraire de l’Université de Lausanne.