Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

88 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries
Other Types of “Nuclear Fallout”
In addition, nuclear bomb testing—made with uranium
mined from indigenous lands—has been concentrated on indigenous
lands globally. The US weapons testing sites in the
South West USA have resulted in irradiation of the soils in this
arid and windy region and have—according to the American
Cancer Society—resulted in heightened levels of cancers in
the surrounding and down-wind regions. 69 The British and
French both conducted testing on indigenous lands without
permission or consent being given, or in some cases, even
informing the traditional land holders and the most adjacent
and affected peoples.
And increasingly in the USA, for example, the storage of
nuclear waste is being concentrated on indigenous lands, supposedly
representing a job creating option for a poor region. 70
The management of radioactive waste further requires the
development of a safe secure and globally managed system of
storage that must operate without any serious error for millennia
to come. Given even the short history of failure and
mismanagement, natural and man made disasters associated
with the nuclear industry, and that inevitably follows any
human sustained effort, this seems the most irresponsible and
hopeless of options.
Therefore, for many affected indigenous peoples any revival
of the nuclear power industry is a prospect viewed with
fear and resignation to the continuation of related illness and
death. 71
1.3.5 Conclusion
Climate change has grave implications for all peoples. It
is, however, most likely to have the most adverse effects on
those who live already in more extreme and challenging environments.
The threats to indigenous peoples from greater
extremes of weather and changes in climate are potentially
severe. The threats can be severely exacerbated by irresponsible
mining activities, both directly and indirectly.