NH #641: Downwinders Lobby in DC for Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) + Dangers of DU Weapons in Ukraine

Downwinders Lobby in DC for Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) + Dangers of DU Weapons in Ukraine

This Week’s Featured Interviews

Depleted Uranium Weapons in Ukraine – Damacio Lopez:

Map of sites in the U.S. where depleted uranium (DU) weapons have been manufactured and/or tested. (March, 1993) – supplied by Damacio Lopez from his upcoming book, Memoirs of a Gadfly: One Man’s Fight Against Depleted-Uranium Munitions.

  • Damacio Lopez is an academic, author, researcher, and activist who focuses on the issues of depleted uranium (DU) weapons. DU weapons were developed only 2 miles from his childhood home in Socorro, New Mexico. He has traveled to Iraq to measure radiation from DU weapons and published two books on the subject. His newest book, Memoirs of a Gadfly: One Man’s Fight Against Depleted-Uranium Munitions, will be published in 2024. Here, we focus on the recent US decision to send DU weapons to Ukraine. I spoke with Damacio Lopez on Friday, September 22, 2023.
  • CONTACT DAMACIO: [email protected]
  • Damacio asks that you contact the United National Secretary General and the five members of the Security Council with your concerns. UN Secretary General António Guterres: [email protected]; CHINA: [email protected]; FRANCE: https://onu.delegfrance.org/; RUSSIAN FEDERATION: https://russiaun.ru/; UNITED KINGDOM: https://www.gov.uk/contact; UNITED STATES: https://usun.usmission.gov/mission/contact-us/

Downwinders in DC Lobbying for RECA Expansion/Extension:

The RECA extension/expansion lobbying group in DC.

  • Mary Dickson is an award-winning writer, playwright, downwinder, and thyroid cancer survivor who is internationally recognized for her advocacy for survivors of nuclear weapons testing. She has spoken and written widely about the human cost of the arms race, including twice at the World Forum on Nuclear Survivors in Hiroshima. For the past three years she has been part of a consortium of downwind communities across the West as well as national allies working to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA. We spoke on September 28, 2023.
  • Dawn Chapman is co- founder of Just Moms, StL  She is one of the residents living near the Bridgeton landfill and Coldwater Creek, both of which were contaminated with Manhattan Project WWII nuclear weapons waste. We spoke on September 29, 2023.

How to Contact Your Congressional Representative:

FROM THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: Sept. 27 virtual discussion, After Oppenheimer: Learn How to Call Your Member of Congress – A webinar on making effective phone calls to Congress with members of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M27XFgz9LG4

Invitation, with link for Registration, to the Nuclear Free Future Awards Event:

MEET THE WINNERS – including Nuclear Hotseat’s Libbe HaLevy, 2022 winner for Education!

REGISTER https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nxZDuzIoQj6tT-B7igxKjg#/registration 

In 2022, three extraordinary activists were honored with a Nuclear-Free Future Award. However, at the end of 2022, the Awards transited out of their former home at the Nuclear Free Future Foundation and there was no official ceremony. Until now! Beyond Nuclear invites you to meet the 2022 winners at a special online awards ceremony on Friday, October 13 at 1pm Eastern US time. Please register at the link below to hear from uranium mining activist, Anthony Lyamunda, Resistance (Tanzania); Nuclear Hotseat podcaster, Libbe HaLevy, Education (USA); and nuclear policy researcher, Malte Göttsche, Solution (Germany) as they are interviewed about their work. A special announcement about the 2023 Awards event and winners will be made during the event.