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IPPNW – German Affiliate
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War/Physicians in Social Responsibility

Samantha Staudte

Körtestr. 10
D 10967 Berlin
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2010: Victims of radiation exposure standing outside the former test site of In Ekker, about 170 km away from the town of Tamanrasset. Radioactive material continues to seep out of the mountain, where France conducted its nuclear tests, and contaminates local soil and ground water. Photo: © Zohra Bensemra/Reuters/Corbis

In Ekker , Algeria

At its Algerian nuclear test site, In Ekker, France performed 13 underground nuclear detonations, causing vast radioactive contamination of soil, air

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The outskirts of Reggane. Even 45 years after the end of nuclear testing, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) still found increased levels of radioactivity in the entire test area of Reggane and warned of the inhalation of airborne pieces of radioactively contaminated sand.

Reggane , Algeria

The French army conducted four atmospheric nuclear tests near Reggane, Algeria in 1960 and 1961, contaminating the Sahara desert with plutonium,

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2005: Inhabitants of the suburb Esteban Echeverría demand clean drinking water, after local wells were found to be radioactively contaminated. Despite large-scale protests, there have not been any meaningful reactions from the authorities. Photo credit: http://argentina.indymedia.org

Ezeiza , Argentina

The Ezeiza Atomic Center is located in a suburb of Argentina’s capital city Buenos Aires. In recent years, it has been the cause of much concern, as

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Radioactive refuse dumped into open tailings ponds still contains more than 80 % of the uranium ore’s original radioactivity. Since 1981, there have been more than 120 spills of contaminated water into the National Park.

Ranger , Australia

Ranger is an open-pit uranium mine in the middle of the World Heritage Kakadu National Park. Numerous radioactive leaks and spills have contaminated

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An obelisk in Emu Field, marking “Ground Zero” of the nuclear detonation of Totem 1. Until today, levels of radioactivity in the area are above normal, which is why the obelisk carries a warning not to linger too long.

Emu Field , Australia

After testing its first nuclear weapons off the west coast of Australia in 1952, the UK sought to test its newer models on land. In 1953, the British

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Ground Zero of the Taranaki Test at Maralinga in 1957. Two clean-up operations failed to remove radioactive contamination, and the site remains uninhabitable to this day. Photo: © News Ltd. – Sydney NSW

Maralinga , Australia

Between 1952 and 1957, the United Kingdom conducted seven major and hundreds of minor nuclear tests at the Maralinga Test Site in Southern Australia.

-30.164126, 131.6098

While uranium mining was halted at Radium Hill in 1961 and no more radioactive waste has been deposited there since 1998, the entire site remains a radioactive danger zone, with tailings and waste rock not properly secured from erosion and dispersion.

Radium Hill , Australia

Radium Hill, Australia’s first uranium mine, was operational between 1906 and 1961. Due to their exposure to uranium dust and radon gas, many miners

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Western Mining Corporation began drilling at Roxby Downs in 1975, producing the fi rst shipments of copper, gold, silver and uranium in 1988. In 2005, the mine was taken over by the global mining fi rm BHP Billiton. The IAEA reported that tailings dam leaks have already led to the release of more than 5 million m3 of radioactive waste into the environment.

Olympic Dam , Australia

The uranium mine at Olympic Dam poses a threat to the ecosystem of the region and a health hazard to the workers and the surrounding populations.

-30.44157, 136.843929

Of the 112,800 people who were screened for radioactive contamination, a total of 239 people were found to have been irradiated externally and at least 129 persons internally. Cesium-137 had been spread over a large area by wind and rain and carried as far away as 100 km by commuters. Photo: © Karen Kasmauski/Corbis

Goiânia , Brazil

The accident in September 1987 in Goiânia was one of the most serious radiation accidents in history. The opening of a radiotherapy machine containing

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Uranium mining left a legacy of environmental catastrophes: increased concentrations of radon gas, massive tailings heaps and the contamination of ground and surface water with radioactive particles, arsenic and heavy metals. Photo credit: Simon Evans / creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0

Elliot Lake , Canada

As a lasting legacy of the “golden age” of uranium mining, the radioactive tailings of Elliot Lake pose a threat to the environment of the Great Lakes

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The uranium mine at McArthur River in Saskatchewan, once the world’s largest uranium producer, is owned by the companies Cameco and AREVA.

Saskatchewan , Canada

Saskatchewan mines roughly 25 % of the world’s uranium. The radioactive tailings produced by the mining process contaminate native land, pose a health

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“Uranium Mine 792”: Due to state censorship, it is difficult to find out what is happening in the mining region. Refugees have reported severe health problems, unusually high numbers of miscarriages and birth defects, and more than 50 deaths due to mysterious illnesses between 1988 and 1991 in the vicinity of uranium mines, most likely caused by contaminated water.

Têwo/Diébù , China

“Uranium Mine 792” at Diébù has been producing uranium for the Chinese nuclear industry and nuclear weapons program since 1967. Reports about

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The Lop Nor desert lies in the autonomous Xinjiang province in Western China. It was here that China detonated its fi rst nuclear bomb in 1964. In the years that followed, 22 more atmospheric and 22 underground tests were conducted. Photo: © PD-USGov- NASA

Lop Nor , China

Between 1964 and 1996, the People’s Republic of China conducted 45 nuclear tests in Lop Nor, a lake region in the Western province of Xinjiang. For

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The mine Svornost (Unity), one of the oldest in Jáchymov. First, silver was mined here, later cobalt and arsenic and fi nally uranium. Photo credit: abejorro34 / creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0

Jáchymov , Czechia

Having grown rich by the discovery of uranium in its mines, the town of Joachimsthal/Jáchymov soon became one of the Soviet Union’s suppliers of

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La Hague is a nuclear reprocessing plant on the Normandy coast. 50 tons of pulverized plutonium are stockpiled on the site – enough fi ssile material for more than 5,000 nuclear warheads. Photo credit: duvalmickael50 / creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/2.0

La Hague , France

The reprocessing facility La Hague produces plutonium and uranium from spent nuclear fuel. Large amounts of plutonium and nuclear waste are stockpiled

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“Operation Licorne” on Fangataufa in 1970 was the fourth and largest French nuclear test on the atoll with an explosive power of 914 kilotons of TNT equivalent. 3,700 soldiers deployed on the neighboring atoll Moruroa had to be evacuated.

Fangataufa and Moruroa , French Polynesia

Nearly 200 nuclear tests were conducted on Fangataufa and Moruroa atolls, severely contaminating the environment of the archipelago and exposing its

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Remains of a uranium processing facility in Mounana. Whether the decommissioning and renaturation of the site was properly undertaken is highly questionable. Photo: © Res Gehriger, 2004

Mounana , Gabon

During decades of uranium mining in the jungle of Gabon, the French nuclear company COMUF neglected environmental safety standards, exposed mine

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Drilling into a uraniferous ore layer. Especially during the early years of the Wismut mine, proper protection from radioactive dust and radon gas was not provided to the miners.

Wismut region , Germany

Between 1946 and 1990, the joint Soviet-East German stock company Wismut turned the Erzgebirge mountain range in Saxony and the adjacent Vogtland in

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U.S. Air Force base in Thule, Greenland. On January 21, 1968, a B-52 bomber, with four hydrogen bombs on board, crashed 13 km south of the base. Luckily, no nuclear chain reaction occurred, but a large area was radioactively contaminated.

Thule , Greenland

The crash of a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber with nuclear weapons on board contaminated a large areas of land and the surrounding waters with radioactive

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Adivasi protests in Bihar against uranium mining in Jadugoda, Jharkhand. Photo from the documentary “Buddha Weeps in Jaduguda.”

Jadugoda , India

Uranium mining in the region around Jadugoda has not only contributed to India’s nuclear weapons program, but has caused grave environmental damage as

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Tanks hit by DU ammunition were discarded on tank graveyards near the city. After the cessation of fi ghting, they were used as playgrounds for local children or pilfered for valuables, scrap metal or souvenirs. Photo: © Wim Zwijnenburg

Basra , Iraq

The use of Depleted Uranium (DU) ammunition during the Gulf War of 1991 caused the local population to be exposed to radioactive uranium dust. This

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A girl in the neonatal unit of Fallujah’s children’s hospital, who was born with a congenital heart defect and malformations of the extremities. In 2010, a study found malformations in 14.7 % of all children born in Fallujah. Photo: © Donna Mulhearn

Fallujah , Iraq

The use of depleted uranium in the war on Iraq in 2003 has led to exposure of the local population to radioactive uranium dust. This could

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On March 30, 2011, three weeks after the earthquake, tsunami and reactor meltdowns, the fi rst children were being examined for radioactive contamination in the village of Iitate. Iitate lies outside of the evacuation zone, but on March 15, large amounts of radioactivity were blown northwest from the plant and heavy fallout occurred over the village. Photo: © Naomi Toyoda

Fukushima , Japan

The three reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 caused the greatest radioactive contamination of the world’s

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Aerial view of the Tokai-mura compound in 1974. The Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute was established here in 1956, followed by nuclear fuel factories, reprocessing plants and Japan’s fi rst nuclear power plant in the 1960s. Today, Tokai-mura is dotted with 15 nuclear sites.

Tōkai-mura , Japan

The accident at the Tokai-mura nuclear facility in 1999 irradiated a total of 667 people, two of whom died from acute radiation poisoning. Tokai-mura

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The shock wave from the bomb’s detonation turned most of the city into rubble. The simultaneous fi reball extinguished all life within a radius of about 1 km. The electromagnetic pulse caused by the nuclear explosion destroyed communication and power systems, obstructing attempts to help the casualties.

Nagasaki , Japan

On August 9, 1945, the U.S. detonated the nuclear bomb “Fat Man” over the Japanese city of Nagasaki, with a population of more than 240,000. The

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The view over Hiroshima from the Red Cross Hospital in 1945. The nuclear detonation released huge amounts of energy, 50 % of which leveled the inner city in the form of a massive pressure wave, demolishing almost all buildings within a 2 km radius. Photo: U.S. Government / public domain

Hiroshima , Japan

On August 6, 1945, the U.S. detonated the atomic bomb “Little Boy” over the city of Hiroshima. Of the 350,000 citizens, about 140,000 had died by the

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A crater on the Semipalatinsk Test Site in the steppes of Kazakhstan. After the country’s independence in 1991, the Kazakh government closed down the site and returned its nuclear weapon stockpiles to Russia – at that time the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

Semipalatinsk , Kazakhstan

The story of Soviet nuclear testing at Semipalatinsk is a cautionary tale of how “national security” can be used to justify willful deception that

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“Swordfish” underwater nuclear explosion during the U.S. “Operation Dominic” test series, 16 km south of Christmas Island on May 11, 1962. The destroyer USS Agerholm can be seen in the foreground. Photo: © U.S. Navy, D. D. Mann

Kiritimati and Malden , Kiribati

A total of 33 nuclear detonations were conducted on two atolls of the Republic of Kiribati by the UK and the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s. Thousands of

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The most harmful legacy of Soviet uranium mining is the many unsecured uranium waste rock heaps and tailings dumps on steep and tectonically unstable hillsides above town. According to a study by the Blacksmith Institute, Mailuu-Suu counts as one of the ten most polluted places on the planet. Massive investments are needed in order to secure these nuclear waste dumps. Photo: © Alimbek Tashtankulov/IRIN

Mailuu-Suu , Kyrgyzstan

The former uranium mining town of Mailuu-Suu is notorious for its insecure radioactive waste rock heaps and tailings dumps in tectonically unstable

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On July 25, 1946, the U.S. Army detonated the “Baker” nuclear test bomb with a yield of 21,000 tons of TNT equivalent underwater near the Bikini Atoll. 106 nuclear tests were carried out between 1946 and 1962 on the Marshall Islands. Photo: © U.S. Department of Defense

Bikini and Eniwetok , Marshall Islands

Nuclear testing on the Bikini and Enewetak atolls left entire islands uninhabitable, exposed thousands to high levels of radioactivity and contributed

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The Rössing uranium mine, opened in 1976 by Rio Tinto, is the largest open-pit uranium mine in the world. About 2 to 5 tons of raw ore need to be processed in order to produce a single kilogram of refi ned uranium oxide. The rest is deposited as radioactive waste rock or tailings in the countryside.

Rössing , Namibia

The Rössing uranium mine has been a cause for concern for more than 30 years. Unsafe and inhumane working conditions, occupational exposure to

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In this uranium mill near Arlit, the “Compagnie Minière d’Akouta” (COMINAK) processes the uranium ore to yellowcake.

Arlit and Akokan , Niger

Niger, a country with one of the world’s lowest ranks on the Human Development Index, is also the world’s third largest producer of uranium. Uranium

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Radioactively contaminated lichen causes high strontium levels in reindeer, which are a dietary mainstay of the local Nenets and Sami populations. Photo: © TOYOSAKI Hiromitsu

Novaya Zemlya , Russia

From 1954 to 1990, the islands of Novaya Zemlya were used by the Soviets to conduct atmospheric and underground nuclear tests. Decommissioned nuclear

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Until the 1990s, the town of Tomsk-7, now known as Seversk, produced military plutonium and nuclear fuel and was home to about 100,000 workers and their families. One of the worst accidents in the history of the Russian nuclear industry occurred here on April 6 1993.

Tomsk-7/Seversk , Russia

The explosion of a nuclear reprocessing facility in Tomsk-7 dispersed large amounts of radioactivity over an area of 120 km², exposing tens of

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The waterfront at Chazma Bay, 45 km southeast of Vladivostok. Derelict submarines lie here, rotting in the water. Photo credit: Sergey Tymchenko / wikimapia.org

Chazhma Bay , Russia

In August 1985, an explosion on a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine caused a massive release of radioactivity in Chazhma Bay. More than 290 people

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Mayak/Kyschtym , Russia

Through a series of accidents and spills, the Russian nuclear facility at Mayak contaminated more than 15,000 km² with highly radioactive waste. In

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The underground mine Ezulwini is located on the edge of Westonaria, about 40 km from Johannesburg. Despite the environmental catastrophe caused by radioactive tailings and water contamination, many companies are continually extracting gold and uranium here and even expanding their mines.

Witwatersrand , South Africa

Inadequate controls and safety standards in the uranium mining industry in the Witwatersrand basin have resulted in an environmental catastrophe.

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Despite the clean-up efforts, radioactive material continues to be found near the crash site. When increased radioactivity was found in snails in 2006, the government expropriated land and had it cordoned off.

Palomares , Spain

In 1966, four hydrogen bombs were dropped near the Spanish city of Palomares, when a U.S. B-52 bomber crashed into another plane in mid-air. The non

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Chernobyl’s damaged reactor number 4. On April 26, 1986, the reactor roof was lifted up by a giant explosion and the graphite on the fuel rods caught fi re. A plume of highly radioactive smoke drifted over large parts of Eastern- and Central Europe. Credit: The Bellona Foundation / creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0

Chernobyl , Ukraine

The Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in April 1986 was the most devastating nuclear catastrophe in history. Huge stretches of land were radioactively

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In 1946, the UK began producing weapons-grade plutonium for nuclear warheads in Windscale. In order to gain a fresh start in light of public scrutiny after numerous accidents, spills and leaks, the name was later changed to “Sellafield.”

Sellafield/Windscale , United Kingdom

Europe’s largest civil and military nuclear complex is located in Sellafield. It used to produce plutonium for the British nuclear weapons program and

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he community of Goldsboro on the Susquehanna River. The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant can be seen in the background. To this day, thorough research on the health effects of the radioactivity released during the fi ve days of the meltdown remains limited.

Three Mile Island , United States

The most infamous nuclear reactor accident in U.S. history occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in March 1979. Equipment malfunction,

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The Trinity explosion on July 16, 1945 in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, 16 milliseconds after detonation.

Alamogordo , United States

The world’s first nuclear explosion took place near Alamogordo on July 16, 1945. This detonation marked the beginning of the “nuclear age,” epitomized

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Midnite Mine, the only open-pit uranium mine in the northwestern United States, produced fissile material for the U.S. nuclear weapons program. A clean-up plan was not drafted until 30 years after the mine was decommissioned.

Spokane Reservation , United States

Over several decades, the Spokane Reservation was contaminated by open-pit uranium mining and its inhabitants exposed to increased levels of

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December 18, 1970: The underground detonation of the 10 kiloton “Baneberry” bomb caused a giant radioactive cloud, exposed the test site personnel to about 247 PBq of radioactive particles and caused nuclear fallout in the states of California, Idaho, Orgeon and Washington.

Nevada , United States

More than 1,000 nuclear detonations at the Nevada Test Site between 1951 and 1992 dispersed massive amounts of radioactive particles across the Earth,

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The gate of an abandoned uranium mine in Church Rock. After uranium was discovered here in the early 1950s, the town be came the hub of the uranium mining industry in the region. Today, there are 20 abandoned uranium mines and mills in the Church Rock area. For every ton of concentrated uranium, several thousand tons of radioactive tailings are produced. Photo: © Manuel Quinones

Church Rock/Kinłitsosinil , United States

In July 1979, a dam breach at the United Nuclear Corporation’s uranium mill in Church Rock, New Mexico released massive amounts of radioactive waste

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View over the Black Hills National Forest. According to the environmentalist organization “Defenders of the Black Hills,” there are more than 270 unsealed uranium mine shafts and thousands of contaminated exploration wells in this region alone. Many are fi lled with water and there is the constant danger of leaks and spills. Photo credit: Navin75 / creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/2.0

Black Hills/Paha Sapa , United States

The Black Hills are considered a sacred place by the Lakota people and are representative of the entire four-state region of South Dakota, Wyoming,

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Aerial view of the Hanford Site on the shore of the Columbia River (1960). On the right-hand side is the so-called N-Reactor, which produced plutonium for U.S. nuclear weapons and began generating electricity for the general power grid in 1966. Photo: © United States Department of Energy

Hanford , United States

At the Hanford Site, the U.S. produced most of its weapons-grade plutonium during the Cold War. Although the compound was decommissioned in 1988, it

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The nuclear facility Watts Bar on the Tennessee River. Besides electricity, this civil nuclear power plant produces tritium, an important component of nuclear warheads. This is just one example of how civil nuclear infrastructure is used by military nuclear weapons programs.

Sequoyah and Watts Bar , United States

The twin nuclear power plants of Sequoyah and Watts Bar were included in this exhibition in order to represent nuclear reactors around the world, all

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The vicinity of a former uranium mine. When mines were decommissioned in the 1970s, more than 200 tunnel openings were left unsealed and enormous piles of radioactive waste rock and tailings were abandoned without adequate protective measures.

Shiprock/Tsé Bit’ A’í , United States

The uranium mine at Shiprock left a legacy of health and environmental damage that affects indigenous Navajo communities to this day. Moreover,

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1971: The nuclear warhead used in the “Cannikin” test on the Aleutian Island of Amchitka is lowered into the shaft. Photo: © Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Amchitka , United States

Three underground nuclear tests were carried out on the island of Amchitka in the North Pacific. The most controversial of these, code-named “Cannikin

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