Author: Mel Barnes

Tuesday, 11 March marked 14 years since a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The disaster was classified by officials at Level 7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, the highest possible rating and one that was only ever reached by Chernobyl. The disaster caused widespread radioactive contamination of the surrounding area and led to the displacement of nuclear refugees. Approximately 25,000 are still unable to return home. The extensive damage caused to the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station means that decomissioning is ongoing and is expected to take at least 40 years.

Huge volumes of contaminated water are generated by the need to continuously cool the damaged fuel rods as well as groundwater and rainwater that flows onto the site. In August 2023 the Japanese government began dumping contaminated wastewater into the Pacfic Ocean and had dumpted more than 78,000 tonnes by the end of 2024. This has been met with widespread protest by Japanese fishers, neighbouring countries, and many Pacific nations.

Yet despite the tremendous cost of the disaster in human, ecological, and economic terms, the lessons have not been learned. The Japanese government continues its official support for nuclear power and here in Australia, the Liberal-National Coalition under Peter Dutton are advocating for Australia to build its own nuclear reactors. There is also a bipartisan consensus by the major parties to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Don’t Nuke the Climate have produced modeling to show what a Fukushima-like event would do to each of Dutton’s proposed nuclear reactors <NuclearPlume.au – Mapping the Fukushima radiation plume in aus>

4PM Saturday December 7th

WAWAN invites you to join us for our end of year event for 2024. Come along and celebrate a year of antiwar actions with other activists.

BYO picnic rugs, food, and drink.

NEW VENUE UPDATE: The board of Coledale RSL has cancelled our gig on political grounds. We have moved the gig to the Coledale Community Centre on the same night.

US singer-songwriter David Rovics returns to Australia for a tour with songs from his latest album, Bearing Witness. Supported by the Illawarra Union Singers.

A fundraiser for Wollongong Against War and Nukes.

Coledale Community Centre. July 4, 2024

Doors open 6.30pm. Food and drinks available.

A global movement is rising to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, to end decades of colonisation, and work toward a free Palestine that delivers sustainable peace for all in the region.

The environmental impacts of the occupation and destruction of Palestine are less understood: water sources have been restricted, destroyed and polluted; habitat loss is pushing species like wolves, gazelles, and hyenas to the brink; destruction of crops and farmland drives food insecurity; and climate change is already impacting Palestine and its people.

Join us on April 24 to hear first-hand from one of Palestine’s foremost environmental experts Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, visiting Australia for the first time, in conversation with local Palestinian, First Nations and environmental justice advocates.

Professor Qumsiyeh is the founder and director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability and has spent his career writing and advocating for environmental protection, cultural heritage, climate justice, health, and human rights, particularly in his home of Palestine, amidst ongoing war, violence, and occupation.

RSVP via https://events.humanitix.com/palestine-the-environmental-impacts-of-war-and-occupation-with-prof-mazin-qumisiyeh