Abolition Flame to join Peace Walk from Tennessee to the United Nations--starts in Oak Ridge, Sat., Feb. 13 • Obama Ups Spending on Nukes

The International Peace Walk Towards a Nuclear Free Future, organized by Footprints for Peace begins a journey of more than 700 miles--stepping off from the Scarboro Road gate of the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Saturday, February 13.

Over the next three months, walkers will follow a route through Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, arriving in New York City on May 1, 2010. The Abolition Flame--which travelled with the Global March for Peace and Non Violence--will continue its journey to the Nuclear Nonprolferation Treaty review conference that will begin on the 2nd of May at the United Nations..

Y12 enriched the uranium used in the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945. Y12 still being used-- upgrading and refurbishing the US nuclear arsenal.

Footprints for Peace, an Ohio based organization, has drawn together people from Australia, Japan and Europe, along with people from across the United States--including Indigenous peoples, religious leaders, Buddhist monks, students, artists and families—all joining to demonstrate their commitment to a nuclear-free world for future generations.

The Peace Walkers are carrying a letter from Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima and Director of Mayors for Peace, endorsing the walk and encouraging mayors along the walk’s route to become a part of Mayors for Peace campaign and join the effort to create a world free of nuclear weapons.

Footprints for Peace Australian organizer Marcus Atkinson:

While nuclear disarmament is something the world must achieve, we can only do it if we all work together to demand our leaders fulfill the promises made decades ago in the Nonproliferation Treaty.

We also need to use this time to look at the whole cycle of the nuclear industry. Nuclear weapons are the final product of an industry that has destroyed Indigenous people’s lands throughout the world, caused the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people and left whole cities uninhabitable.

There is no “peaceful use” of nuclear power, as the process from the very beginning of the cycle is so destructive. This walk will bring attention to all aspects of the nuclear industry and will be demanding progress on negotiations to create a nuclear weapons free world, while also creating debate on the nuclear industry as a whole.

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