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An
engaged crowd gathered at the Port Hope High School for a lecture
and fund raising event co-sponsored by the Port Hope Community Health
Concerns Committee (PHCHCC) and Lake
Ontario Waterkeeper. The keynote speaker,
Dr. Jim Harding, presented "Uranium:
Anything but Clean and Green," drawing from his most
recent book Canada's Deadly Secret: Saskatchewan uranium and the
Global Nuclear System as well as years of experience and activism
in the socio-health, environment, and public policy fields. It was
was a lively, informative, and inspiring event.
Dr.
Harding's personal and political roots are firmly planted in Saskatchewan
- the front-end of the world's nuclear system as he describes it.
The province is the world's largest exporter of uranium, feeding nuclear
refineries and the nuclear weapon industry around the globe. Dr. Harding
could easily focus all of his written and oratory energy towards describing
the effects of uranium mining in his home province: the continual
violation of Aboriginal rights, devastated tracts of land and water,
and the long-term dangers to human health of the uranium miners and
those who live near the mines. However, Saturday's event demonstrated
that Dr. Harding is committed to going beyond these issues and drawing
connections between every step in the nuclear fuel cycle. And rightfully
so.
Wherever
nuclear production takes place, environmental injustices are the norm.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Port Hope where nearly every
stage in the nuclear fuel cycle converges. Since the 1930s, Port Hope
has been host to first uranium extraction then processing, refining,
and fuel rod production. Uranium has brought jobs and needed income
to many in Port Hope but, it also has ushered in harmful pollution,
including 3.5 million cubic metres of radioactive and heavy metal
waste that resides in the town.
In
order to resolve questions that remain unanswered by industry and
government, concerned invididuals in Port Hope have mobilized around
what Dr. Harding refers to as "citizen science." Last November,
PHCHCC and the Uranium Medical Research Centre released the results
of a citizen-funded, independent and peer reviewed study of uranium
measured in the 24-hour urine specimens of nine residents and former
nuclear workers in Port Hope. Unlike government funded risk assessments,
the study began to shed light on the actual human health impacts of
the nuclear industry on the people of Port Hope. The results: all
of the subjects in Port Hope contained industrial (non-natural) uranium
in their bodies. The startling evidence from the study should prompt
further questioning and independent health studies.
Bringing
Dr. Harding to town is an effective continuation of PHCHCC's tireless
work piecing together the nuclear puzzle. The rise of citizen action
to demand access to information and protection of rights means that
we must support each other. The stories of people in Saskatchewan
link to the challenges faced in Port Hope, and so on. Dr. Harding
could not have drawn these connections more astutely. After Dr. Harding's
one hour talk, the Port Hope High School gymnasium was radiating a
new kind of glow - one of support and compassion for everyone involved
in the nuclear fuel cycle, including the uranium miners and Cameco
workers. Follow the link below to listen Dr. Harding's presentation
and draw strength from the knowledge that others are cutting through
the myths of a "green" nuclear industry and fighting for
access to clean air and water.
Listen to an interview with Dr. Harding on this week's Living At the Barricades Podcast. Stay tuned to Living At the Barricades for Mark Mattson's interview with Dr. Helen Caldicott - President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, and world renowned nuclear activist.
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