The Critical Question - first hand reports from the frontlines of the nuclear fuel chain

Available in English, French and German, "The Critical Question" offers first hand reports from individuals who have been effected by the nuclear power industry. In this booklet, insiders report on their direct experiences of uranium mining and enrichment, nuclear disasters and on the storage of radioactive substances.

16.03.2011

Japan has recently been hit by the biggest earthquake in its history – devastating lives and profoundly impacting the country. To make matters worse, its nuclear power plants have also been affected, radiation levels have surpassed the maximum allowed levels and populations are being evacuated, demonstrating once more that nuclear industry is unsafe. In solidarity with the victims of Japan, an anti-nuclear rally was held at the Karlsplatz Square in the German city of Munic where Sabine Bock, WECF Director Germany spoke.

WECF’s publication on Nuclear Energy “The Critical Question”

Available in English, French and German, "The Critical Question" offers first hand reports from the frontlines of the nuclear fuel chain. WECF encountered individuals who have been effected by the nuclear power industry. In this booklet, insiders report on their direct experiences of uranium mining and enrichment, nuclear disasters and on the storage of radioactive substances. They offer testimony regarding the internal operation of nuclear power plants, the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions in war zones and the impacts of nuclear fuel reprocessing. All who testified have one thing in common: they know that the road to the future must be different than the uranium path of the past.

The book can be ordered from WECF at wecf@wecf.eu in English, in German (as Die Kernfrage) and in French (as La Question Centrale)

WECF has been working with victims of nuclear disasters since 1994, including communities living near uranium mines and nuclear test sites, and Chernobyl and Mayak victims. Currently, plans exist to build 60 nuclear power-plants worldwide, often with the argument that nuclear energy is needed to mitigate the effects of climate change through reducing the quantity of greenhouse gases released into the atmposhere. What is often overlooked, however, is that nuclear plants are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. They require large amounts of cooling water, and need to be taken off the grid in times of drought – a climate condition which countries are likely to increasingly experience due to climate change. As the severe forest fires in Russia last summer showed - which almost reached their nuclear power plants – climate change can lead to nuclear disasters similar to Chernobyl. Nuclear power plants continue to remain a radioactive threat after they have stopped operating, but what if the entire plant ends up under water because of rising sea levels – as would happen to the planned new power plants in the Netherlands?