Parliamentarians and members of the public are warmly invited to this parliamentary event (in COVID free times it would have been in the Parliament), hosted by Ross Greer MSP. Join us for an evening in conversation with Leona Morgan (Don’t Nuke the Climate) and Tina Cordova (Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium), chaired by Richard Dixon (Friends of the Earth Scotland).
Register here for the event (which takes place online via Zoom on Thu, 28 Oct 2021 at 6.30pm): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/catastrophe-the-environmental-impact-of-nuclear-weapons-tickets-191151688847
Leona Morgan and Tina Cordova both have first-hand experience of the environmental impacts of nuclear weapons. Not just limited to their planet-destroying potential, nuclear weapons cause serious environmental degradation, as well as harm to human health, through the processes involved with production of weapons, attempted disposal of waste, and so-called nuclear “tests”, which have been responsible for the detonation of thousands of nuclear weapons over the course of the past seven decades.
Leona Morgan has been doing work on issues related to uranium mining for about 14 years now (since 2007). Leona is indigenous, and her people are Diné, from the Southwestern part of the U.S. before it was ever called the “U.S.”. Leona’s people have been hurt by uranium mining and now the waste is a big problem. Leona lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and also work on other nuclear issues, like fighting a proposal to temporarily store all the High-Level Radioactive Waste from all U.S. nuclear power plants in New Mexico because the USA does not have a permanent place for this waste.
Another huge nuclear problem in New Mexico comes from the Manhattan Project and the first use of a nuclear weapon. Tina Cordova is at the forefront of the work regarding the Trinity Test today. She co-founded and works with the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC) in New Mexico. One immediate issue here in the U.S. is the lack of recognition and monetary compensation for communities downwind from the Trinity Test (and other tests). There is a bill in Congress to include these downwinder-communities and others (like “Post-71” uranium workers).