How nuclear radiation affects you!

Invitation: How nuclear radiation affects you!

Learning from India: How nuclear energy has affected the people of India socially, economically and physically.

by Mr. Vatakkayil Thazhe Padmanabhan

Date and Time: Wednesday 26th October 2016, 18h00-20h00
Venue: Love Ministries Church, 96 Rawalpindi Road, Merebank

Earthlife Africa Durban (ELA) and the South Durban Community Environment Alliance (SDCEA) will be hosting Mr. Vatakkayil Thazhe Padmanabhan a reputed epidemiologist who has many years of experience in environmental health issues. Mr. Vatakkayil Thazhe Padmanabhan will be touring the country during October, visiting communities, universities and environmental organisations. We are pleased to host him in Durban. 

The topics he covered in the past during his career includes ionizing radiation, chemical contamination like the Bhopal accident of 1984, safety problems of the proposed nuclear power plants and radioactive waste repositories. The genetic epidemiological study of children born to parents exposed to high natural background radiation in the coastal villages of Kerala during 1990-2000 revealed that the human genome can be impacted by an annual exposure of 7 milli-Sievert, which is less than the occupational dose of radiation workers. The Bhopal children study conducted by his is the first study to have revealed the hereditary effects of MIC exposure in Bhopal. He had visited and taken part in the research studies at major hot spots in India, Japan and Belarus. He has published in peer-reviewed journals like the Lancet, Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), International Journal of Health Services and the Economic and Political Weekly. All his papers can be accessed at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Padmanabhan_VT/contributions
The South African government has plans to build 6 – 8 nuclear power plants in South Africa. One of the sites they have identified for a possible nuclear power plant is the old Durban airport site. An agreement on strategic partnership and nuclear co-operation was signed between the SA government and the Russian Federation in 2014. This is part of a legal challenge that is brought by Earthlife Africa Joburg and SAFCEI. The court case will take place on the 13/14th December. This talk is part of a campaign to halt this agreement. The deal has been mired in secrecy and corruption. South Africans need to rise up and put a stop to this.


Contact: Alice Thomson (ELA) 031 465 9038/ 084 564 3891, Thando (SDCEA) 031 461 1991