Nuclear activities and the Pacific islanders

Although to outsiders the Pacific islands may seem far removed from the center of activities and controversies related to nuclear energy, this area has had more direct and negative experiences with nuclear issues than any other area in the world. These experiences have led to a deep-rooted skepticism of all nuclear activities in which distinctions between civilian and military activities, weapons and power, and low- and high-level waste bear little relation to the important Pacific concerns. Antinuclear sentiments are intimately linked to anticolonialism, growing regionalism and emerging cultural pride. Opposition and concern have been expressed in a number of international, regional, national and nongovernmental forums. In this climate, arguments about the relative safety of various waste disposal operations and other nuclear activities are not likely to be meaningful.