Nuclear Connections Across Oceania

Across two days from Friday 25/11/2022, 9:00 am – 5:30 pm NZDT and until Saturday 26/11/2022, with sessions from 9:00 am – 5:30 pm NZDT, Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa Student Association, Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, and Kā Rakahau o Te Ao Tūroa Centre for Sustainability in Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, are holding a conference in on nuclear issues across Oceania.

The conference Nuclear Connections Across Oceania will be held in a hybrid format with the ability to join online (via Zoom or livestream), in person at St. Margaret’s College, University of Otago, Ōtepoti Dunedin, or in person at a regional hub. The conference will be held Friday, November 25 (NZDT) and Saturday, November 26 2022.

Event poster image designed by Pacific Youth for TPNW

The Aims

The conference aims to:

• be accessible to people based in Aotearoa and globally.
• collaboratively address the harms caused by nuclear technologies and nuclear pollution.
• build relationships and strategise ways to address nuclear and nuclear-related issues (e.g., climate change).

The conference provides an opportunity to hear from key activists, artists, academics, and community members on the impact of the nuclear military and industrial complex.

The Idea

The idea for the conference emerged from conversations among students and staff at the University of Otago’s Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and Kā Rakahau o Te Ao Tūroa Centre for Sustainability, who have shared expertise and interests in questions related to nuclear technologies, nuclear colonialism and non-proliferation. Together, we noticed that climate change and the current war in Ukraine have brought nuclear issues back into public awareness–approximately eleven years since the last time nuclear issues filled news headlines with the onset of Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO’s) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, and forty years since the first Te Hui Oranga o te Moana nui a Kiwa (reciprocal conferences where Māori and Pacific Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific [NFIP] activists gathered to address the consequences of nuclear imperialism and nuclear colonialism in the Pacific).

We see how the current war in Ukraine has been heightening people’s awareness of the ongoing threat of nuclear war, which could be induced by a nuclear weapon or the destruction of other nuclear infrastructures (e.g., a nuclear power plant or a nuclear fuel storage facility) at the same time as the nuclear industry is aggressively framing nuclear energy as the answer to climate change. Yet, we are aware that communities throughout the globe continue to suffer from the past and present harms of nuclear imperialism and nuclear colonialism, with a disproportionate amount of nuclear activities continuing to take place in Indigenous communities. This is particularly the case in the Pacific which has long served as the “nuclear playground” for many imperial nations.

This re-emergence of awareness around nuclear issues is happening around the time of the landmark 10th review conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which took place in August 2022 and the Japanese government’s announcement that it will release wastewater from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi into the Pacific Ocean beginning in early 2023.

Within this context, there is a clear need to reinvigorate critical discussions about nuclear imperialism and nuclear colonialism and to strategise how we might collectively intervene in these unsustainable relations of domination that threaten the continuation of life on Earth. There is also a need for those people most harmed by nuclear technologies and nuclear pollution to guide these discussions. Given its anti-nuclear policies, culture, and location within Oceania, Aotearoa provides a unique context for hosting such critical conversations.

Joining from a Hub?

Do you want to join an in-person hub and watch the conference livestream with other speakers and participants in your area? If so, please choose a “Hub” on your Eventbrite ticket.

If there isn't a hub in your region and you’d like to host a hub, please email ncpacs.sa@gmail.com

The Planned Schedule

The conference programme has been designed to draw connections across different talks and culminate in a workshop and open sharing session at the end of Day 2. That said, each session will also stand alone in providing important insights into current nuclear and related issues, so we encourage attendance online even if you can only drop in for a session or two!

Morning and afternoon tea and lunch will be provided for in-person participants at the University of Otago. If you are attending in person and cannot stay for the whole time, please notify the conference organisers when booking for catering purposes.

COVID-19 Policy

We have a COVID-19 policy designed to keep us all safe as we have a number of Elders joining our conference and want to create an inclusive environment for those who may be immunocompromised or disabled.

We are caring for each other as we build relationships. Find out more about how you can care for yourself and the community at the conference by checking out our full COVID-19 Policy.