Author Archive | Helen Caldicott

In May last year, I spoke at The Real Truth About Health conference in Orlando, Florida. At the conference, 28 leading health and environmental authors spoke individually and on panels and gave interviews, addressing different aspects of the question, “Are you being told the truth about health, nutrition, the food system and the environment?” All 80 […]

It is now apparent from all reports that the weapon set off by North Korea yesterday was an atomic, not a hydrogen bomb. For many years North Korea has asked for a non -aggression treaty with the United States and a free trade agreement but the US has consistently refused to end the war with […]

An informed democracy will behave in a responsible fashion, says Dr Helen Caldicott, however as we sleepwalk towards embracing nuclear energy, most Australians are not aware of the dangers and have forgotten the history. THE Australian anti-nuclear movement started in Adelaide in 1971 when fallout from French atmospheric nuclear tests polluted Adelaide’s water supply. People were […]

Now that the “nuclear renaissance” is dead following the Fukushima catastrophe, when one sixth of the world’s nuclear reactors closed, the nuclear corporations — Toshiba, Nu-Scale, Babcock and Wilcox, GE Hitachi, General Atomics, and the Tennessee Valley Authority — will not accept defeat. Their new strategy is to develop small modular reactors (SMRs), allegedly free […]

There is an extraordinary push by certain individuals to extol the wonders of thorium-fueled nuclear reactors. In fact, so concerted is this push that some blame me for preventing the ongoing expansion of such technology. So here are the facts about thorium for those who are interested. The U.S. tried for 50 years to create […]

By Helen Caldicott, Volume 4, Issue 2 2014, Australian Medical Student Journal Due to my personal concerns regarding the ignorance of the world’s media and politicians about radiation biology after the dreadful accident at Fukushima in Japan, I organized a 2 day symposium at the NY Academy of Medicine on March 11 and 12, 2013, […]

The Queensland and federal governments’ mining push is a catastrophe in the making, write Helen Caldicott and Reese Halter. The Age, February 4, 2014 The rampant destruction of the Great Barrier Reef, given the green light last Friday by the federal government, epitomises the values of our modern world. “Economic development” and “jobs” reign supreme while […]

To the Editor, New York Times: Re “Taming Radiation Fears” (Op-Ed, Oct. 22): David Ropeik, a specialist on risk perception and risk communication, plays down the mass of scientific and medical literature that amply demonstrates that ionizing radiation is a potent carcinogen and that no dose is low enough not to induce cancer. Large areas […]

Einstein –“The splitting of the atom changed everything save man’s mode of thinking, thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.” This subject has perplexed me ever since I was a young girl and read “On The Beach” when I lived in Melbourne. It became obvious to  me that unless men could restrain themselves and not fight and […]

As the escape of radiation at Fukushima seems virtually unstoppable, there are still steps that governments all over the world should take to prevent worst case consequences. One of them would be canceling the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Scientific estimates predict that the radioactive plume travelling east across the Pacific will likely hit the shores […]

After four-and-half-years and 197 programs, If You Love This Planet ended with the broadcast of its last new episode on the week ending December 28, 2012. I believe we have made a valuable contribution to the public debate on any number of important issues over the years. I have thoroughly enjoyed interviewing the most interesting […]

By Helen Caldicott, The StarPhoenix November 9, 2012 I write to reply to the allegations made about me in John Gormley’s column, More private liquor stores, less Caldicott (SP, Nov. 2). First, it is important for me to stress that the aboriginal people in Northern Saskatchewan are being exploited by the uranium and nuclear power […]

Helen Caldicott, Reader Supported News, 28 August 2012 When I visited Cuba in 1979, I was struck by the number of roadside billboards that declared “Our children are our national treasure.” This resonated with me as a pediatrician, and of course it is true. But as Akio Matsumura said in his article, our children are […]

Helen Caldicott, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 February 2012 The devastating spectre of war looms again. Just as the US manufactured “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq, so certain political factions in the US and Israel are intent on creating international panic by claiming Iran is on the verge of becoming a nuclear power. This is […]

Helen Caldicott, New York Times, 2 Dec 2011 The nuclear power industry has been resurrected over the past decade by a lobbying campaign that has left many people believing it to be a clean, green, emission-free alternative to fossil fuels. These beliefs pose an extraordinary threat to global public health and encourage a major financial […]

TWENTY-FIVE years after Chernobyl, many billions of dollars are at stake if the Fukushima reactor meltdowns cause the so-called “atomic renaissance” to halt or even slow down. This is evident from the nuclear industry’s vociferous attacks on its critics. We see this especially in Australia, where the industry is conducting a whatever-it-takes propaganda campaign to […]