May 15, 1986 | From UN Headquarters, New York
Twenty days after the blue flames of Chernobyl covered the skies of Europe, human civilization has reached a massive turning point. Early this morning, the United Nations Security Council, jointly with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), unanimously passed the 'Global Nuclear Freeze and Permanent Waste Sealing Resolution'.
* [UN Resolution] "Stop all nuclear reactors"
Under this resolution, the world's 400-plus nuclear power plants will phase out operations within 10 years, and all new construction projects are immediately canceled. In particular, it was agreed that the high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel pouring out from all over the world will be permanently sealed in the 'Onkalo' underground repository in Olkiluoto, Finland, designating it as an international joint management zone.
"Today, we end the Faustian bargain of borrowing energy using our descendants' genes as collateral."
— Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, UN Secretary-General
Finland:
— "Onkalo, humanity's common grave"
International sealing operations have begun deep beneath the Olkiluoto peninsula. Spent nuclear fuel removed from Germany, France, and Sweden arrived under military escort, and the Finnish government designated the area as "inaccessible for the next 100,000 years." One geologist stated:
"This is not a storage facility, but a warning letter sent to future generations."
USA:
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— "A world without nuclear power, an unprepared ending"
Following the UN's nuclear freeze resolution, 23 nuclear reactors in the US will enter a phased shutdown. The Department of Energy acknowledged a 'severe gap' in securing alternative power. Wall Street assessed it as "the greatest industrial shock since the Cold War," and the possibility of massive blackouts is being discussed in some states.
France:
— "To turn on the lights, what have we buried"
France, which relied on nuclear power for 70% of its electricity, stands at a virtual national turning point. In front of the Academy of Sciences in Paris, nuclear engineers wearing black armbands held a silent protest.
"Chernobyl is a failure of management. It is not a sin of knowledge."
However, across from the protesters, citizens holding photos of radiation-exposed children responded with the same silence.
Germany:
— "The train to Onkalo, a logistics network of guilt"
Violent protests broke out surrounding the transport of spent fuel taken out of Bavaria. Environmental groups criticized it as "the act of burying Germany's danger in the land of Finland." The government forced it through, citing "the implementation of an international resolution." The trains moved only at night.
Japan:
— "The second choice after Hiroshima"
Chernobyl and the UN resolution have left a deep rift in Japanese society. Atomic bomb survivor groups welcomed the nuclear freeze, but the industrial sector warned of the "collapse of the national survival strategy." One editorial wrote:
"We have already been struck by the sun once. This time, we closed our own eyes."
[Brief] Civil Society
"What we must leave for our children is not electricity, but soil."
Anti-nuclear civil groups across Europe simultaneously released statements. Their demands are simple:
— Full disclosure of the sealing process
— Permanent international monitoring of Onkalo
— Generational compensation for the affected regions
"The sealing must not be the end, but the beginning."
[Brief] Academic Backlash
Joint Statement by the World Nuclear Physics Society
"Do not bury science with fear"
"This decision is no different from a medieval witch hunt. Chernobyl is a failure of technical operation, not a failure of physics. If humanity gives up the principle of the sun, a darker era will come."
[Brief] Statement from a UN Official
"We do not have the certainty that we made the right choice.
However, we judged that if we waited any longer, we would not even have a choice."