19-03-2004, 22:57
Below is the environmental proposal I have submitted today to the United Nations. It is currently lacking support, but it is my fervent hope that this idea will gather momentum in the coming days.
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It's become apparent in recent years how big a problem the disposal of nuclear waste has become, whether it be spent fuel rods from power plants and breeder reactors, or radioactive slurry from the world's many uranium mines.
Many of the world's nuclear reactors are located in first world nations or where there are few alternative resources from which to extract power. When the fuel is used up after anywhere between 5 to 10 years, it is placed in large swimming pools to absorb radiation. Herein lies the problem; nuclear waste remains extremely dangerous for more than 10 000 years. Unless there's a swimming pool that can last that long, this is not a positive solution.
Most of the world's uranium mines are in third world countries which desperately require the support of these vast corporations. Because of this desperation, the corporations are given few or no regulations regarding the shipment or dumping of these chemicals. As a result, we still have children in developing countries being born with stumps for limbs or without eyes, more than 15 years after the mines had closed and the company left the country. Some rivers will deliver a fatal dose of radiation to a person standing on the shores within an hour, because the refining plants simply discharge the cooling water and their waste right back into the river. This insane practice must come to an end now.
The solution is simple; first, tighter restrictions and regulations on the uranium mining industry. Rather than dozens of waste sites across each continent, the waste would be shipped with extreme care to only one state-of-the-art site built using the finest and highest quality materials to protect the population from deadly radiation in their food and water. And of course, one or more UN inspections in each plant every month to ensure these guidelines are being followed to the letter. If not, the executives of said companies can be charged for refusing to follow a United Nations resolution.
Second, massive cleanup projects in the afflicted countries, funded by the companies who currently or have formerly mined the countries. For those who have already been brutally affected, massive reparations must be paid to the individuals and families alike whose lives have been ruined by the scourge of radiation and corporate disdain for humanity.
Think of the world, and think of the people of the world before casting your final decision. If you choose to vote against this resolution, you're making a decision to vote against the welfare of the world. The world's men, the world's women, the world's children, and the world's environment- every vote against the resolution is a vote against each one of them. Please, do the right thing for the planet, and help save it while you still can.
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Voting ends Monday, so think fast- and think soon.
__________________________
It's become apparent in recent years how big a problem the disposal of nuclear waste has become, whether it be spent fuel rods from power plants and breeder reactors, or radioactive slurry from the world's many uranium mines.
Many of the world's nuclear reactors are located in first world nations or where there are few alternative resources from which to extract power. When the fuel is used up after anywhere between 5 to 10 years, it is placed in large swimming pools to absorb radiation. Herein lies the problem; nuclear waste remains extremely dangerous for more than 10 000 years. Unless there's a swimming pool that can last that long, this is not a positive solution.
Most of the world's uranium mines are in third world countries which desperately require the support of these vast corporations. Because of this desperation, the corporations are given few or no regulations regarding the shipment or dumping of these chemicals. As a result, we still have children in developing countries being born with stumps for limbs or without eyes, more than 15 years after the mines had closed and the company left the country. Some rivers will deliver a fatal dose of radiation to a person standing on the shores within an hour, because the refining plants simply discharge the cooling water and their waste right back into the river. This insane practice must come to an end now.
The solution is simple; first, tighter restrictions and regulations on the uranium mining industry. Rather than dozens of waste sites across each continent, the waste would be shipped with extreme care to only one state-of-the-art site built using the finest and highest quality materials to protect the population from deadly radiation in their food and water. And of course, one or more UN inspections in each plant every month to ensure these guidelines are being followed to the letter. If not, the executives of said companies can be charged for refusing to follow a United Nations resolution.
Second, massive cleanup projects in the afflicted countries, funded by the companies who currently or have formerly mined the countries. For those who have already been brutally affected, massive reparations must be paid to the individuals and families alike whose lives have been ruined by the scourge of radiation and corporate disdain for humanity.
Think of the world, and think of the people of the world before casting your final decision. If you choose to vote against this resolution, you're making a decision to vote against the welfare of the world. The world's men, the world's women, the world's children, and the world's environment- every vote against the resolution is a vote against each one of them. Please, do the right thing for the planet, and help save it while you still can.
__________________________
Voting ends Monday, so think fast- and think soon.