PREAMBLE
The development and use of nuclear energy during the 20th century was a spin-off from nuclear weapons production for the military. It gave a justification for continued proliferation of nuclear technology around the world, served to make nuclear fission appear more benevolent, and promoted the myth that nuclear power was cheap and safe. However, nuclear energy is a false solution to the climate crisis, and nuclear weapons undermine global peace, security, and humanity. The elimination of both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, with their myriad risks to safety, health and the environment, must be a global priority. Like fossil fuels, their elimination is both urgent and necessary, lest the horrors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl and Fukushima be repeated.
VISION
Our vision is a world free of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, and to unburden future generations from dangerous levels of radioactive waste. We must rapidly phase out nuclear energy, as it is dangerous and causes pollution and radioactive waste. Instead, we must invest in wind, solar and other renewables to fill the gap between energy supply and demand.
OBJECTIVE
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear tragedies, and Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters, underscore the need to address the nuclear issue. Therefore, the principal objective of the Greens is to call a formal moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants, the early retirement of existing nuclear power reactors, and the phase-out of technologies that use or produce nuclear waste, such as nuclear waste incinerators, food irradiators, and all uses of uranium. Furthermore, the Greens shall strive for a world free of nuclear weapons.
ACTION PLAN
In addition to policies that decrease overall energy needs, the Greens will work domestically and internationally to ban nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants and promote safe, ecologically sustainable energy options, for a world free of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and fuel and energy chains. Therefore, the Greens will –
Nuclear Energy
- Prioritise nuclear abolition both domestically and internationally
- Decarbonise energy systems through efficient use of electricity and heat from renewable sources, providing security of supply and replacing fossil fuels
- Phase out production of electric power from nuclear sources, decommission all existing nuclear power plants, and ban construction of any new nuclear power plants
Uranium, Thorium and Nuclear Waste
- Prohibit mining and export of uranium and thorium
- Hold uranium and thorium mining companies liable for rehabilitation of uranium and thorium mining sites and be subject to enforcement of standards to safely contain and monitor radioactive tailings wastes
- Ensure safe, long-term containment of existing nuclear waste and the phasing out of the generation of new nuclear waste
Nuclear Weapons
- Remove all facilities which enable deployment of nuclear weapons
- Create nuclear weapon free zones, municipalities and ports
- Cease research, development, and production of nuclear weapons
- Decommission, destroy, and safely secure the remnant waste from nuclear weapons
- Break the link between the mining and export of uranium and nuclear weapons proliferation
- Prohibit foreign deployment of nuclear weapons within country territory
- Prohibit government funding of mining, research, development and commercialisation of technologies directly related to the enrichment or weaponisation of nuclear material
- Prohibit domestic manufacturing, research, and other inputs contributing to foreign nuclear weapon development
- Ratify a meaningful Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and other legally binding instruments to prohibit nuclear weapons
NPT and Nuclear Terrorism
- Revise and strengthen the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) so that it conducts on-site inspections meticulously and ensures that nuclear materials are used only for peaceful purposes
- Address the danger of nuclear terrorism in line with the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism
- Create an international mechanism like the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZ) to strengthen global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament norms and consolidate international efforts towards peace and security
International
- Ban the international transportation and trade of nuclear materials
- Restrict nuclear materials aboard craft launched into space
- Ban dumping of radioactive waste in territorial or international waters
- Prohibit import and reprocessing of international nuclear waste and fuel rods
- Work towards international cessation of uranium thorium mining and trade
- Support the signing and ratification of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear Safety
- Recognise that the nuclear power is not a safe, clean, timely, economic or practical solution to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions
- Stringently regulate nuclear power stations and supply chains to prevent accidents until reactors can be decommissioned and removed
- Protect the existing reactors from attacks
- Limit future generations’ burden of dangerous levels of radioactive waste through country-wide denuclearisation
- Provide medical support and compensation to workers occupationally exposed to radiation
- Rehabilitate contaminated sites containing radioactive materials including uranium mines milling sites, testing and exploration sites, research and production facilities and storage sites
- Recognise that nuclear safety is the responsibility of every nation that utilises nuclear technology
- Support a strong, sustainable and visible global nuclear safety and security framework for the protection of people, society and the environment
- Hold all nuclear power producers responsible in perpetuity for the radioactive wastes they generate
- Establish independent monitoring networks for all military and civilian nuclear facilities until their decommissioning and removal
- Compensate victims of nuclear weapon testing
- Rehabilitate of nuclear test sites
- Work with experts to adopt a policy for the safest possible storage of existing radioactive materials, and discontinue disposal in land repositories
Clean Renewables
- Substantially increase clean energy generation based primarily on renewable, very low carbon sources, such as off- and on-shore wind, marine, solar photo-voltaic, and/or small-scale hydro
- Commit to further developing clean renewable energy technologies, such as wind, solar, ocean power, geothermal, and small-scale hydro
- Minimise environmental impacts of clean renewable energy, noting that these can also have negative environmental impacts
- Commit to the mass-production of cheap, non-toxic solar photovoltaic technology to enable widespread deployment of solar power
- Support large-scale government purchases of solar cells for installation on government facilities to increase cost-competitiveness
Nuclear Contamination
- Minimise future releases of human-created radiation into the environment, as any increase in radiation exposure adds to the cumulative damage of living organisms
- Halt nuclear contamination and mining of uranium, much of which occurs on indigenous peoples’ lands
- Establish strong, enforceable penalties for radioactive contamination of the environment
Miscellaneous
- Curtail the medical profession’s overuse of radioactive isotopes in diagnostic and treatment procedures, and increase research for alternatives
- Recycle medical radioactive materials when possible, and develop storage-to-decay facilities for short-lived medical wastes
- Ban shallow land disposal and incineration of all radioactive wastes
- Limit the use of radioactive materials in science except under state-of-the-art standards and scientific monitoring techniques
References:
https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/atomic-energy/index.html
https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/ey.html
https://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=519
https://www.cagreens.org/platform/nuclear-contamination
https://www.globalgreens.org/globalcharter-english#climate
https://greens.org.au/policies/nuclear-and-uranium
https://indiagreensparty.org/policies/nuclear-and-uranium/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/30/japan-green-party-nuclear-power
