reprinted with permission from
     Poison Fire, Sacred Earth,
     TESTIMONIES, LECTURES, CONCLUSIONS,
     THE WORLD URANIUM HEARING, SALZBURG 1992
     pages 298-300

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     THE DECLARATION OF SALZBURG (DRAFT)

     read by Sharon Venne

     THE WORLD URANIUM HEARING

     Having met in Salzburg, Austria, from 13 September to 18 September
     1992;

     Having heard testimony concerning the environmental, cultural,
     spiritual, physiological, and economic impact of the use of
     radioactive substances from all regions of the world;

     Convinced of the inherently destructive nature of all phases of
     the nuclear chain and that nuclear contamination is a threat to
     all peoples and environments irrespective of political boundaries;

     Acutely aware that indigenous peoples have suffered particularly
     devastating consequences from the extraction and utilization of
     nuclear substances;

     Reaffirming that the survival of indigenous peoples requires
     respect for their rights of self-determination and to territorial
     and environmental integrity;

     Observing that the spiritual and cultural values of indigenous
     peoples in their relationship with the natural world offer a
     perspective capable of transforming prevailing destructive
     materialistic attitudes and practices;

     Recalling the disastrous impact of nuclear weapons testing on
     indigenous and other land-based peoples in such places as Nevada,
     Bikini and Eniwetok, Tahiti, Maralinga, and Central Asia;

     Deeply moved by the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which marked
     the opening of the nuclear era;

     Alarmed by the experience of Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island;

     Convinced that there is no completely safe technology for the
     containment of radioactive substances;

     Dismayed by distorted economic values and priorities, including
     inappropriate consumption patterns, which threaten a sustainable
     future;

     Apprehensive of the fate of future generations confronted with the
     intractable consequences of nuclear development;

     Determined to end the danger posed by the entire nuclear chain and
     to ensure an enduring harmonious relationship with the natural
     world;

     Solemnly declares:

     I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

       1. The natural world, in its richness and complexity, is the
          foundation of all life.

       2. All peoples and individuals have the fundamental right to a
          safe and healthy environment and the corresponding duty to
          maintain the integrity of the natural world.

       3. Each generation bears the obligation of effective stewardship
          for the benefit of future generations of all living beings.

     II. THE PROCESS OF NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT

     Exploitation, Mining and Processing

       4. The mining and processing of uranium and other radioactive
          minerals result in the contamination and degradation of large
          ecosystems.

       5. Radioactivity and chemical pollutants contained in tailings
          are spread by the flow of ground and surface waters and by
          wind currents.

       6. Inhabitants of affected areas risk immediate and lasting
          health and genetic consequences from exposure to radioactive
          substances. Miners are exposed to particularly intensified
          levels of radiation.

     Military Uses

       7. Over time, nuclear weapons testing has produced atmospheric
          fallout, contamination of land and sea areas, forced removal
          of peoples, cultural disintegration, and a range of adverse
          health consequences, in particular, cancer and threats to
          genetic inheritance.

       8. The development of thermonuclear weapons involves the
          production of large quantities of fission products and
          plutonium, the most toxic substance known; plutonium persists
          in the environment for up to hundreds of thousands of years.

     Nuclear Power Generation

       9. Nuclear power facilities, whether civilian or military,
          produce emissions of radiation and inevitably pose serious
          and unacceptable risks, including transportation spills,
          theft of radioactive materials, accidents that spread
          contamination over vast regions, and the catastrophic effects
          of a reactor core meltdown.

      10. No nuclear power plant has ever been safely and completely
          decommissioned. The ultimate environmental and economic costs
          of decommissioning remain incalculable.

     Nuclear Waste

      11. No safe method for the disposal of medium and high-level
          nuclear wastes has been devised. Solutions offered can only
          provide for storage or dumping, which carry an ever-present
          risk of lethal contamination. The problem is simply thrust
          onto future generations.

      12. The territories of indigenous peoples, impoverished
          developing countries, and the global commons are frequently
          targeted for storage or dumping of waste, thus compounding
          international injustice.

     III. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

      13. Vast quantities of the world's uranium resources are located
          and extracted in the territories of indigenous peoples; these
          territories are often exploited for weapons testing and the
          storage or dumping of nuclear substances. In violation of
          their right to self-determination, indigenous peoples have
          been victimized by dispossession and forced removals, direct
          contamination, and the desecration of sacred sites.

      14. The dispossession of peoples and the destruction of the
          natural ecology that result from the nuclear chain imperil
          the social cohesion and cultural, material, and spiritual
          relationship with the natural world upon which indigenous
          survival depends.

      15. In order to defend themselves against the physical and
          cultural genocide that results from nuclear development,
          indigenous peoples must be able to freely exercise their
          right to determine and control, without external
          interference, all matters relating to their societies and
          territories.

     IV. ECONOMIC POLICY

      16. The monetary price of nuclear energy does not reflect the
          cost of damage to the biosphere and the profound risks to
          present and future generations.

      17. Governments, communities, organizations, and individuals have
          a duty to ensure that energy is produced and used in a clean,
          safe, and efficient manner; the global ecology cannot support
          inappropriate energy consumption patterns.

      18. The view that unlimited economic growth can be sustained on a
          habitable planet is fallacious and constitutes a significant
          threat to future generations.

      19. Current international policies perpetuate unjust economic
          disparities which cause developing countries to adopt
          destructive environmental practices such as uranium mining,
          nuclear power generation, and the provision of dumping sites
          for radioactive waste. Sharing safe and efficient energy
          technologies is essential for equitable and environmentally
          sound economies in those countries.

      20. The Precautionary Principle, as recognized by the
          international community, requires that the safety of
          potentially dangerous activities must be conclusively
          established prior to taking any measures towards their
          implementation. In the case of the nuclear chain, any
          reasonable application of the Precautionary Principle would
          require that uranium and other radioactive minerals remain
          undisturbed in their natural location.

     V. RECOMMENDATIONS

     The WORLD URANIUM HEARING calls upon governments and, within their
     respective spheres of responsibility and competence, transnational
     and other corporations, organizations, communities and individuals

       1. To recognize and respect the inherent right to
          self-determination of indigenous peoples, including their
          right to determine and control, without external
          interference, the nuclear process as it affects their
          societies and territories;

       2. To provide reparations for peoples, communities, and
          individuals victimized by the mining of radioactive minerals,
          the use of nuclear weapons, or the storage or dumping of
          nuclear waste. To make every conceivable effort to alleviate
          risks and damage caused by past and existing uses of
          radioactive materials;

       3. To ensure that liability for social and environmental damage
          resulting from the nuclear chain is jointly born by those
          controlling all its phases;

       4. The lands of indigenous and other land-based peoples,
          contaminated by nuclear development, must immediately be
          rehabilitated to as near as practicable to their
          precontaminate state;

       5. To fundamentally alter existing economic policies to ensure
          ecological sustainability; energy development must shift to
          the use of safe and renewable resources;

       6. To provide assistance, including financial resources where
          necessary, for the development of alternative energy programs
          in countries which utilize nuclear power;

       7. To ensure that any economic analyses of the nuclear chain
          fully account for the entire ecological and social impact of
          radioactivity;

       8. To provide peoples, communities, and individuals with
          complete information about the dangers of radioactive
          substances in all phases of the nuclear chain;

       9. To support and promote community activities aimed at ending
          the use of radioactive substances;

      10. To promote international and national standards, policies,
          and practices designed to ensure that:

               a) radioactive minerals are no longer exploited; and

               b) existing radioactive products of the nuclear chain
               are dealt with according to the safest available
               technology irrespective of monetary cost;

      11. To immediately cease production and testing of nuclear
          weapons; the process of global nuclear disarmament must
          continue to completion.

                   URANIUM AND OTHER RADIOACTIVE MINERALS
                 MUST REMAIN IN THEIR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT !

     [This version of the Declaration of Salzburg is a draft. Following
     the request of the indigenous witnesses, the preliminary version
     was taken home by all participants of The World Uranium Hearing,
     to be discussed in their communities and circles, and to make
     changes if necessary. In summer 1993, in Salzburg, Austria, the
     Declaration will be presented to the public as well as distributed
     to the governments of the world and the various institutions of
     the United Nations.]