Dear people,
Attached below, please find Resolution for the UN General Assembly, "Reducing Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Dangers." As part of an activist group, Fukushima Response - Bay Area, I have been working on this draft for the past month, and am seeking support for this resolution from everyone I know. The Fukushima Response - Bay Area group will be meeting with Barbara Boxer early next month regarding this plan. We have talked with aides from Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland, who was just appointed by Obama to represent the US Congress at the UN, however, she is not able to take resolutions to the floor of the GA, and we have approached other countries, including New Zealand and Iceland, to do so. We are optimistic about the prospects of finding support to bring this to the GA. Individuals and organizations which have endorsed this proposal include Alice Dahle, Amnesty International and other Women's organizations Maureen McCue, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility Mike Carberry - with connections at Friends of the Earth Pam Mackey-Taylor and Donna Buelle of Iowa Sierra Club Kathleen Lane with nutritionist and women's reproductive rights groups Fran Korten of YES! Magazine and Positive Futures Network Marilyn Langhurst of Linn County UNA Judith Pedersen-Benn of Unitarian Universalist Social Outreach organization Mike Greenman of Unitarian Universalist Social Outreach organization Leah Bolger of Veterans for Peace Steve Falck of Environmental Law and Policy Center Thomas Linzey, of Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund Nancy Price, Alliance for Democracy and Chair of WILPF Earth Democracy Issue Committee Carolyn Raffsenperger, Science and Environmental Health Network Kathleen McQuillen, American Friends Service Committee, Iowa The situation at Fukushima is dire. Radiation from Fukushima has been hitting the West Coast ever since the accident, and large amounts are predicted to reach Hawaii, and then the West Coast of the US in 2015. Dr. Helen Caldicott, a leading authority on radiation health, has stated that if the spent fuel pool in Reactor 4 collapses, as it is quite likely to do, she will evacuate to the Southern Hemisphere. I hope that you will consider the consequences of failing to act to address the ongoing catastrophe in Fukushima. As you will see from reading the Resolution, it creates an emergency UN Committee to oversee cleanup of Fukushima, including technical assistance to the Government of Japan and TEPCO. Please read the resolution and then send it to anyone who may be able to help get it proposed at the annual meeting of the GA in NY Sept 24-Oct 2. I don't know if it will be possible to convince the US to back such a plan, but I will very much appreciate any help any individuals and organizations can give in this direction. Though a long shot, here a few places on the agenda where it may be possible to propose the Draft Resolution: 1. under the item entitled “General and complete disarmament,” a sub-item is entitled “Reducing nuclear danger”. 2. under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, a sub-item is entitled “Harmony with Nature”. 3. under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, a sub-item is entitled “Protection of global climate for present and future generations of humankind". (If you are can identify more appropriate places on the agenda, please inform.) I will be glad to provide you with supporting information about this proposal. Sincerely, Romi Elnagar, United Nations General Assembly Sixty-eighth session Draft Resolution Reducing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear dangers The General Assembly, Consciousthat numerous Japanese non-governmental organizations and nuclear experts worldwide have requested that the United Nations organize an independent team to assess the on-going dangers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and secure international assistance to prevent the irreversible consequences of a catastrophe that could affect generations to come, Aware of the grave risk, in the event of another earthquake, presented by the enormous inventory of radioactive materials at the plant, Stressing that the plant is located in a highly active seismic zone where an earthquake is likely to further compromise the structural integrity of damaged buildings and equipment, that the melted reactor cores and fuel rods require constant cooling, and that a meltdown in a spent fuel pool would release cataclysmic amounts of radioactivity into the global atmosphere, Expressing alarm that vast amounts of radioactive water have been discharged into the Pacific Ocean every day since March 2011, that measurements have already shown increased radiation in marine life across the Pacific, that a recent radioactive water leak from a temporary storage tank, of which there are hundreds, was rated an INES Level 3 incident, thatthere are multiple other leaks all over the site,that the situation remains out of control[1], and that decommissioning will take at least forty more years, Understanding that this radioactive contamination will be carried by the jet stream and spread by ocean currents to all parts of the world, adversely affecting marine life as well as human populations, and that much greater contamination is likely, given that the reactor cores are highly unstable and that the structures and storage tanks are deteriorating, Emphasizing that this disaster presents one of the gravest threats and greatest technological challenges ever to face our species, and as such demands an international response incorporating the world's most accomplished experts, as well as international funding on a level commensurate with humankind’s most ambitious efforts, in the interest of every nation, Believingthat an industry that minimizes the severity of the disaster will not resolve it properly, and that therefore independent expertise and innovative thinking are fundamental requirements for remediation, Recalling that the UN has a fiduciary duty to act responsibly by informing itself [2], and that the right to environmental security and the corollary right to know constitute fundamental international human rights, especially where the risks are immediate, devastating and irreversible [3], Mindful that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights established the rights to life and of children to special protection [4], Appreciating that the UN has a duty to act decisively when people’s collective human rights, basic livelihood, environmental security, and right to know are being jeopardized [5], 1. Appoints on an emergency basis, within thirty (30) days, an International Independent Commission of Experts (IICE) charged with formulating, implementing and overseeing a plan to reduce, to every extent possible, releases of Fukushima Daiichi radiation into the atmosphere and the ocean, drawing personnel from universities, national research laboratories, other public institutions and nonprofit NGO's, as well as professional engineering firms, insisting on independence to avoid conflicts of interest and to ensure strict adherence to the purpose of the IICE, and insisting on transparency, for investigatory, planning and implementation phases of remediation, ensuring that the project plans will be meticulously assessed, critiqued and optimized; 2. Empowers the IICE, with the intention of accurately assessing risks and formulating viable solutions, to investigate the site with the assistance of the Government of Japan whose cooperation needs to include full access to the site, to relevant government documents and staff, and to personnel and documents of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the site; 3. Directsthe IICE to publicize a report within ninety (90) days with a risk-based strategic plan that addresses the existing and emergent problems with a minimum mandate of preventing the abandonment of the site, and the ultimate goal of minimizing public health risks; 4. Authorizes the Commission to employ qualified project managers, contractors and technical consultants to implement the plan, and to continue monitoring, and publicizing regular and accurate progress reports and public health updates, working with Japan and with the public in an independent and transparent process for overseeing competent and timely implementation; 5. Calls on Member States and the international community to provide expeditious funding and resources for this urgent endeavor to protect the nations of the world from severe impending, irreparable harm. ________________________________ [1] “We regard the current situation as not being under control,” stated Kazuhiko Yamashita, an executive officer of Tokyo Electric Power Co., on 13 Sept 2013. [2]The International Tribunal recognized this principle for the Law of the Sea in a dispute wherein the ITLOS court ordered (08-10-2003) the establishment of an "independent" expert commission to assess risks and effects. [3]UDHR Articles 3, 19, 25 [4]ICCPR Part.III Articles 6, 24 [5] In cases of genocide the UN has repeatedly intervened to rescue helpless communities. 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