Interfaith Peace Walk Towards a Nuclear Free Future
Dublin to London, April-June - 2007
Day 30 - June 11th, 2007: Creetown to Kirkudbright “Dan Kenny
|
Home Day Log Index |
After a delicious breakfast with Ian & Helen we were all transported back to Creetown and began our walk for the day a bit latter than usual. 
The weather has kept up a good heat for us and on and on and on the day felt. We finally arrived in Kirkudbright latter than we had anticipated however we were all met with an energetic and excited Rev. Douglas Irving from the Church of Scotland . He whisked us off to have a delicious feast prepared by many different folk in the town and before we could catch our breath over dinner we listened to the passionate words of Dan Kenny. Dan, a retired Kirkcudbright oilman told us very interesting stories about how he became involved in the anti-nuclear campaigns. In 1983 he read a headline in the New York Herald Tribune “Windscale (now called Sellafield) Fire 1957 will kill thousands”. This lighted a fire in Dan who has since been campaigning to find out the truth about nuclear pollution. When the Windscale Fire of 1957 happened Dan was working overseas on an oil exploration and for years he was unaware that the plutonium fire had happened. On his short return visits back to Kirkcudbright he was shocked at how many of his friends were dying of cancer. He has been researching into radiation levels in south west Scotland, the use of depleted uranium (DU) shells at Dundrennan Range and the effects of the Chernobyl disaster. As Dan was telling us the chilling stories of malformed babies born, high rates of cancer and leukaemia clusters in this area I could not help but think of the connection with the communities in Dundalk, Ireland were women had given birth to down-syndrome children after they were exposed to the beach the day of the Windscale Fire 1957.
We had no time to stop as we wolfed down dinner we were out the door and walking back down to the town centre for a public meeting. Actually Rev. Douglas was great to be with as he is quite a character with lots of encouragement and energy. Thank you to all of the local people and for the people who came to the meeting from towns we had met along the way we really appreciated all the generous support.
I would like to attach the letter from the Low Level Radiation Campaign who put together information on the health effects of uranium for the meeting. Thank you for your support and endless dedication for a nuclear free world. Evidence on Uranium toxicity and errors by Scottish Cancer Registry Staff in relation to risks of leukaemia in Dumfries and Galloway In a letter addressed to the convenor of a public meeting to discuss test firing of depleted uranium rounds at Dundrennan, the Low Level Radiation Campaign (LLRC) reported developments in the understanding of uranium. This provides an explanation of how uranium causes health effects such as Gulf War Syndrome in troops returning from Iraq and the Balkans conflict. The low level of radiation from uranium has led officials to claim that it is not capable of causing harm, but there are widespread reports of cancer, leukaemia and birth defects in populations exposed to the fine dust created by the impact of depleted uranium weapons. The Reverend Douglas Irving, Dear Sir The Low Level Radiation Campaign warmly supports your meeting this evening. We have spent 15 years raising concerns about the health effects of polluting the environment with radioactive substances, and we have looked closely at Depleted Uranium. We write now to tell your audience about two important scientific developments. One is about the mechanism by which uranium behaves once it is inside the body, the other is about the manner in which the authorities are concealing the truth of leukaemia in your community. You are likely to be told that Depleted Uranium cannot be a radiological hazard even when any conceivable amount of it is inhaled or ingested, because it is so weakly radioactive. This is largely irrelevant. In the Government’s Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters we presented the idea that heavy metals like uranium are toxic because they absorb natural gamma rays and re-emit them as photoelectrons. This is true of any heavy metal but it is particularly important when thinking about uranium, because uranium (depleted or undepleted) binds strongly to DNA. These two facts have been known for a long time. What is not generally known is that together they act as a mechanism for uranium to concentrate the effects of natural radiation right onto the DNA and thus to cause mutations. DNA is the critical target for radiation to damage people’s health. You will be aware that the Dumfries & Galloway Health Board reported an excess of leukaemia in your community as long ago as 1993. The present row over leukaemia data must also be in your mind. There are clear signs that officials are in a panic about leukaemia. After the Court of Session ruled that the data should be released, the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine published a study of leukaemia in the Health Board’s area. It was written by Dr. Brewster and other staff at the Scottish Cancer Registry specifically to examine fears that the disease is being caused by radioactive contaminants on the coast of the Solway Firth. It claimed that risks near the sea are no higher than risks inland. If this were true it would get Sellafield and the firing range off the hook, but it’s not true. Dr. Brewster’s study is bad epidemiology; it set out to investigate radioactive exposures from the sea but ignored the Chernobyl accident which deposited radioactivity on the higher ground inland. We have examined the figures and have shown that in the period affected by the Chernobyl risks were higher inland, but outside the Chernobyl period it was the other way round – in the wards nearest to the sea children were twice as likely to get leukaemia as children living further away. Presumably they still are. The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is reviewing our letter about Dr. Brewster’s study. No expert would deny that radiation risk models are based on studies of external radiation, or that using them to predict the effects of radioactivity inside the body is fraught with assumptions and large uncertainties. A year ago the Department of Health in Westminster published a list of radiation research priorities which indicates that internal radiation is a morass of ignorance. The Environment Agency in England and Wales and, presumably, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, which lack relevant expertise of their own, are slowly waking up to the same realization. In these circumstances your community is exposed to Depleted Uranium from weapons. The meeting would be well advised to demand an immediate cessation to test firing and precautionary measures to mitigate further exposure to existing contamination, pending stakeholder dialogue on the long-term management of the site. As long-standing participants in devising the SAFEGROUNDS guidance on contaminated land management we would be well qualified to advise. On a wider scale, the Government is making policy on nuclear weapons and nuclear power in ignorance of the health effects. We suggest that the churches might take an active interest in the underlying ethics. Perhaps your meeting could discuss a motion to ask the Scottish Churches to set up an ecumenical commission on the interface between nuclear policy and science. We would be willing to give evidence to such a commission. Yours sincerely Richard Bramhall www.safegrounds.com www.llrc.org/dundrennan.htm |
|
|
|
|
PeacehqHome |
|
|
FootPrints For Peace Home |
Feedback |
|
Help |
 Jeff |
 Tyler |
 Larry |
 Jim |
 Marcus |
 Jason |
 K-A |
 Ray |
|
|