His Excellency Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan
His Excellency Mr. Keiichi Hayashi, Ambassador of Japan to the United Kingdom
We have come here today as Japanese expatriates and UK citizens to support people in Japan and make four requests to the Japanese government. We would like the government to abolish nuclear power generation, to prevent the further release and spread of radioactive materials, to implement policies to protect people’s health and lives and to uphold citizens’ rights to engage in social activities and free speech. We are deeply concerned that radioactive contamination from the nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that started on March 11 2011, has been spreading across Japan.
The nuclear tragedies in Chernobyl and Fukushima have taught us that despite the guise of ‘peaceful use’, the destruction caused by a nuclear power disaster would be similar to nuclear war. Japan is the most earthquake prone country in the world and, currently, is in a very active seismic phase. Nuclear catastrophe in Japan would lead to long-term worldwide radioactive contamination. There is no safe method to dispose of nuclear waste. Using nuclear power means passing a burden to our children and their descendents. In addition, throughout the nuclear fuel cycle from uranium mining to decommission and waste storage, nuclear energy relies heavily on the sacrifice of workers who are exposed to radiation as they carry out these tasks. Given the deadly long-term toxicity of radiation released to the environment through use of nuclear energy, it must be said that nuclear power is both extremely dangerous and irresponsible.
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