Thursday 29 November 2012 the first session of the Webinar was held focusing on “Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Weapon Tests”.
The first speaker, Dr Rebecca Johnson, Director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy and Co-Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), gave an introduction to the topic of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon testing, touching upon history, the nuclear weapon states, where nuclear weapon tests have taken place, some of the existing treaties and why it is really time to abolish nuclear weapons. You can watch her introduction to nuclear weapons and testing at the following link: http://ow.ly/fG7Rm.
Next, Ira Helfand, Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, explained through a slide-show presentation the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon tests. Not only looking at the number of casualties, but also the broader consequences of contamination, including on global climate change. You can see his presentation here (http://ow.ly/fG85W).
The following contribution was by John Burroughs, Executive Director of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy. His lecture illustrated the link between nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon tests and international and humanitarian law. Application of international humanitarian law on nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon testing, how these breach exiting international humanitarian law and existing treaties, amongst the Non-Proliferation Treaty. His video is available here (http://ow.ly/fG8jJ).
Finally Susi Snyder, Programme Manager for Nuclear Disarmament at IKV Pax Christi through her engaging video on “Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Weapon Tests – What you can do”, informed viewers on what is currently being done to promote the abolishing of nuclear weapons and how to get involved yourself. To hear from her you can go here (http://ow.ly/fG8xY).
To follow and engage in the discussion in response to the videos check the main page of the webinar www.peaceportal.org/web/breaking-the-nuclear-chain/webinar. You can also find more details of the upcoming sessions on radio-active waste, uranium mining, and nuclear energy there.
