#NIRS - The Global #NuclearWaste Crisis
"Clean air and drinking water and healthy food are the very foundation of a just and livable world. They are already more precious than ever due to the climate crisis.
#NuclearPower and #NuclearWeapons are poisoning our water, air, and lands with vast amounts of #RadioactiveWaste. Much of the harm is inflicted on #Black, #Indigenous, #PeopleOfColor and #LowIncome white communities, due to #StructuralRacism and #injustice.
Radioactive waste poses a global #EnvironmentalCrisis, in tandem with #ClimateChange. The sheer amount of nuclear waste is enough to threaten clean drinking water and healthy food for the whole world.
We are on the frontlines of this problem.
- Nearly one-third of the worldwide total of radioactive waste is in the United States.
- Some communities in the US are already losing their drinking water sources to radioactive contamination.
- Just one part of the radioactive waste in the US – irradiated nuclear fuel – contains enough radioactivity to make every drop of drinking water on Earth unsafe to consume.
We must solve the twin global crises of climate change and nuclear waste. Global warming amplifies the dangers of nuclear energy. Increasingly #SevereStorms, #flooding, #SeaLevelRise, #wildfires and other extreme events increase the risks of nuclear disasters and #RadioactiveLeaks and spills. And, in turn, the impacts of nuclear energy magnify the dangers of climate change:
- Poisoning drinking water and agricultural land on top of more frequent and severe droughts and crop failures.
- Compounding hurricane and flooding evacuations with #RadiologicalDisasters.
- And causing people to lose their homes and communities permanently due to radiation.
It’s clear: we can’t afford the dangers of climate change or nuclear waste. And we certainly can’t afford them together.
The solutions to both are at hand. We must act now.
1. To start, we must stop the problems from worsening: no more greenhouse gas emissions, and no more nuclear waste.
2. We need to protect people and the water, air, and food we rely on from the dangers that are upon us. The climate is changing, and we need to protect people for extreme weather, drought, sea-level rise, and food supply disruptions. And we must safeguard our water, air, and land by securing and storing nuclear waste and toxic materials as safely as possible.
3. And, we need to repair the damage and make our world healthy and vibrant again: restoring communities that have been dislocated or polluted, and cleaning up the air, land, and water so we can all thrive, for generations to come."
Learn more: (includes https://www.nirs.org/the-global-nuclear-waste-crisis/
#NuclearWaste #NuclearWasteDumping #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNuclearWeapons #NuclearWeapons #WaterIsLife #FoodIsLife #EnvironmentalRacism
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