Report provided by Sean Morris, UK & Ireland Mayors for Peace Chapter Secretary
In March and April 2016 there is the fifth anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster and the thirtieth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. The Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters each led to the evacuation of over 250,000 people and environmental issues affecting large parts of Japan, Belarus, Ukraine and much further afield.
Events and special conferences to commemorate these anniversaries and learn from them are taking place around the world. Notable events taking place in Europe include a late February IPPNW Conference held in Berlin and a major conference in April organised in Vienna.
In the UK a special Westminster seminar is taking place in mid March with health experts, politicians, Fukushima NGOs and other academic specialists taking part. This will be followed up by a special seminar hosted in Manchester Town Hall and a one day conference in Manchester considering the long-term impacts of both disasters and their wider impact on energy policy. The conference will be opened by Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for the Environment and begins with messages of support from Mikhail Gorbachev and the former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
Mayors for Peace remembers those who died in both disasters and welcomes these anniversaries being seriously considered around the world.
Weblink to the Manchester and London events