PERTH RALLY: 2:30 - 4:30pm WST Tuesday April 26, 2011 - Forest Place Perth
On the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Australian Greens have renewed demands for a phase-out of uranium mining and nuclear power.
Greens nuclear affairs spokesperson, Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam, said the Chernobyl catastrophe was classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale - the same classification given to the Fukushima nuclear disaster now unfolding in Japan.
"Communities around the world are today remembering the terrible consequences of the Chernobyl meltdown, which spread radioactive fallout around the northern hemisphere and forced the evacuation of 350,000 people," Senator Scott Ludlam said.
"There is a dark irony in the fact that even as we pause to remember Chernobyl, the nuclear industry is in the midst of another disaster in Japan."
"Nuclear power advocates need to ask themselves if they really believe this will be the last time this happens, or if they too have grave fears about the 436 obsolete and uninsurable nuclear power stations dotted around the world."
"Today I join with civil society groups and governments around the world with grave concerns to demand an end to this toxic and unnecessary industry."
Media Contact: Giovanni Torre - 0417 174 302