Please sign the petition, like the FB page (see links at bottom) and SPREAD THE WORD! Help keep Malaysia truly green, by voicing your concerns against nuclear power in Malaysia.
Press Release:
A
number of governments around the world have responded to calls from their
citizens to end the nuclear age by phasing out nuclear power plants and
reversing decisions to build new nuclear power plants.
The
recent catastrophic nuclear accident in Fukushima has brought Japan to its
knees and persuaded many countries, including Germany, Italy and Switzerland,
to phase out existing nuclear reactors at the end of their useful life. They
have also canceled plans for new reactors and instead are investing in
renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
However,
the Malaysian government remains adamant to pursue the nuclear energy path,
despite previous calls by concerned groups to scrap its plans. Disappointed
with the Malaysian Government’s plans to develop nuclear energy despite the
significant concerns that have been raised against the option, civil society
groups have joined forces to embark on a public campaign to call on the
Government of Malaysia to abandon its plans for the construction of nuclear
power plants.
Nuclear
power is inherently dangerous and not environmentally-friendly. The process of
the nuclear fuel cycle itself – from uranium mining and extraction, fueling
uranium enrichment, nuclear power plant construction, maintenance and
monitoring of the processing and storing of radioactive waste, decommissioning
and cleaning up radioactive contamination – require an enormous supply of
energy, much more than other energy sources.
According
to international studies which take into account the nuclear fuel cycle, a
nuclear power plant indirectly emits between 376,000 and 1,300,000 tonnes of
carbon dioxide per year. Nuclear power releases four to five times more carbon
dioxide per unit of energy compared to renewable energy. Thus, the Malaysian
government’s decision to opt for nuclear energy to achieve its declared goal of
reducing carbon emissions intensity is one that is fundamentally flawed.
Furthermore,
nuclear power plants produce ultra-hazardous, highly radioactive waste that
will remain radioactive for more than a hundred thousand years. No country in
the world has managed to safely dispose its nuclear waste permanently, as
currently there is no such technology. At present, nuclear waste is temporarily
stored in pools of water or in dry casks, alongside nuclear reactors.
The
nuclear industry and proponents in the Malaysian government continue to spread
disinformation about nuclear energy and are on a public relations exercise to
persuade the public to accept nuclear energy, while failing to address the
fundamental and yet unresolved issue of the handling of the nuclear waste,
wastewater from the nuclear reactors, and other health and safety aspects.
The
Malaysian government should seriously consider the health and safety risks of
nuclear energy. Human error and unpredictable events are unavoidable,
making nuclear reactor safety uncertain. The history of the nuclear
industry is littered with minor and major accidents. Even without accidents, a
nuclear power plant is dangerous to health.
In a
2007 meta-analysis of 17 research papers, covering 136 nuclear sites in the
United Kingdom, Canada, France, the United States of America, Germany, Japan
and Spain, the incidence of leukaemia in children under nine who live close to
the sites, showed an increase from 14% to 21%, while death rates rose from 5%
to 24%.
Another
scientific study, published in the European Journal of Cancer Care in 2008,
revealed that leukaemia death rates in American children living near nuclear
power plants have risen sharply in the past two decades.
Besides
environmental, health and safety issues, developing nuclear energy also faces
challenging economic hurdles considering nuclear energy’s high capital costs,
construction cost, availability and prices of fuel, engineering expertise,
radioactive waste management, security and accident liabilities, and
decommissioning, among other issues.
To
conclude, nuclear energy is clearly not cheap, clean or safe. The nuclear
option should not be considered at all as a solution to Malaysia’s energy
needs.
This
public petition demands that the Government of Malaysia applies the
Precautionary Principle enshrined in the 1992 Rio Declaration, abandon its
plans to build nuclear power plants, and instead earnestly implement its energy
efficiency and renewable energy programmes, which are safe, economical and
sustainable.
Dr
Ronald McCoy
Malaysian
Physicians for Social Responsibility
On
behalf of the Malaysian Coalition Against Nuclear (MyCAN)
The target is 1,000,000 signatures - so please sign & help spread the message:
The
full petition can be accessed at http://www.facebook.com/
& The petition can be signed at http://www.thepetitionsite.
Reference
Baker P.J.
& Hoel D.G. (2007) Meta-analysis of standardized incidence and mortality
rates of childhood leukaemia in proximity to nuclear facilities. European
Journal of Cancer Care 16, 355-363
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