Renowned anti-nuke activist visits Columbia

Apr 11 - The State (Columbia, S.C.)

Helen Caldicott's eyes flashed as she explained why she thinks the U.S. -- and South Carolina -- should stop using nuclear power.

In Columbia to speak Tuesday at USC, the internationally known anti-nuclear activist said Japan's atomic disaster last year is a clear example of the danger nuclear energy presents.

Power plants at Fukushima began leaking radiation after an earthquake and tsunami, but the plants remain disabled today and leaks are a major threat, said Caldicott, a physician who is convinced the radiation will make the Japanese sick over time.

Already some research shows children in one area have developed thyroid tumors since the accident, Caldicott said. Some wildlife also is less abundant, another early study found. Similar evidence emerged after the catastrophic Chernobyl nuclear accident in the old Soviet Union 26 years ago.

"It is a carcinogenic industry,' Caldicott said of nuclear power. "These are cancer factories, pure and simple. You provide a little bit of electricity for 30 years, but cancer for the next million years.'

Caldicott's visit to Columbia this week follows federal approval last month for SCE&G to build two new nuclear reactors in Fairfield County at Jenkinsville. The power company, which has started construction, is only the second in the country in decades to receive federal authorization for new reactors.

SCE&G says the plants at Jenkinsville will be safe, built to the latest standards and provide thousands of jobs.

But as she sipped coffee at a Five Points cafe before her talk Tuesday, Caldicott scoffed at those points. She said the design of the new reactors contains flaws that could allow radioactive fuel to overheat and leak into the South Carolina environment.

"You don't do immoral, wicked things to provide jobs,' Caldicott said.

Caldicott, an Australian who lives part of the year in Boston, has fought nuclear power and atomic weapons production for 41 years. She is the founder of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute and a former president of Physicians for Social Responsibility. An author, she is a former pediatrics instructor at the Harvard Medical School.

Her trip to Columbia was part of a national tour to raise awareness about the health effects of nuclear power and the Fukushima disaster. She was to visit Asheville, N.C., Wednesday night.

Columbia's Tom Clements, who attended Caldicott's talk at the University of South Carolina, said much of the discussion focused on the types of radiation released from nuclear plants and how that can affect those who are exposed.

About 50 people, mostly students, attended the talk, said Clements, a long-time anti-nuclear activist who is now with the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. One student challenged some of Caldicott's assertions, he said.

Industry officials complain that Caldicott's message is misleading. An email to The State from the Nuclear Energy Institute, a pro-atomic energy organization, referenced articles from other researchers with different conclusions about Fukushima and nuclear power. The email and attached documents were sent to rebut "her outrageous claims of radiation danger from nuclear plants,' the NEI's Mitchell Singer wrote in the email Tuesday. Some researchers note that radiation has not killed anyone since the accident and the attached documents downplayed the threat.

Caldicott said it takes years for some cancers to develop. Apprised of the email, Caldicott said she's making the industry nervous.

"They are worried and that is good,' Caldicott said. "It's like being on Nixon's black list.'

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