The 2024 Youth Nuclear Peace Summit: students concerned about weapons manufacturing impact

During the last Youth Nuclear Peace Summit, on November 7 & 8, 2024, at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, representatives from the Grant Park High School, in Winnipeg, shared a well researched presentation about the environmental impact of nuclear weapons manufacturing and other risks related to the use of this technology. MARL organized an after-presentation dialogue where they were able to talk about their motivations to research on this issue and their plans for the future.   

The YNPS is a very engaging initiative held in Winnipeg every year to raise awareness about the nuclear threat the whole world is facing. How did you get interested in researching about this issue?

Nikita Teliatnyk: honestly, most part of my research is due to the situation that is happening in Ukraine – I’m from Ukraine – and the tension has been arising from the beginning of the war. Actually, there was already tension from the Russians when they said that they would use their nuclear weapons in Ukraine. My fear is that could happen and when I had the opportunity to research, I was really interested in that.

Were you aware of this threat before the war?

Nikita Teliatnyk: I was not specifically aware of the threat posed by AI although I knew about the others like information manipulation, misinformation and control systems damaging.

Thank you, Nikita. Let us now talk about the sources. Adrian, where did you find reliable sources for your presentation today?

Adrian Basaraba: so first and foremost, I looked for them on academic journals. If you look at those publications, they are reliable, and you can trust the information is accurate because they go through a peer-review process. In terms of other sources, I tried to use government websites that deal specifically with the nuclear power and the Chernobyl event, such is the government of Ukraine. This is a reliable source because they show the numbers and all the information about the events better than anybody else.

It is indeed important to have access to reliable sources. Gracelyn, is there something that stood out for you during the research process?

Gracelyn Charles: Just the amount of damage a single bomb can inflict on some people and also the cases like Chernobyl that can cause an impact for such a long time. A small event can cause problems to so many different people, emotionally and financially, for a long period of time. On top of that, radiation affects the soil, the animals, and even the DNA, possibly causing different cancer types. In fact, the rise in the number of cancer cases is just crazy.

So there are both short-term and long-term effects. Juliet, What would you like to ask authorities or persons in a position of power in order to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons or the negligent use of this technology?

Juliet Eskin: I’d like to see more security measures being put in place to prevent these attacks and disasters from happening. They could be implemented further.

Adelia Bruce: I think there should be a reduction of the amount of nuclear weapons, like a slow reduction. Just reducing the amount because there are so many that are possessed by such a small number of countries, and the damage that they can cause is very large.

Sukhmeet, we are ordinary citizens, right? We do not have power in our hands. So, why do you think that events like this matter?

Sukhmeet Kaur Ghatrorhe: I think that events like really matter; if we look around, this is tomorrow’s government, tomorrow’s leaders, tomorrow’s society, and workers. So it’s really important to educate everyone on this because these are the people that are going to help prevent stuff that’s already happened from happening tomorrow.

That’s a very interesting point because we don’t have to think only about what is happening now but also the future, right? So finally, Adelia, how do you plan to continue your militant work against nuclear threat? What are your future plans maybe for college or university?

Adelia Bruce: I think just continuing to learn and know about what’s happening in the world and then supporting events like this youth nuclear peace summit. Maybe continuing to come here and support each other. Just teaching people because we all need to learn and know; we can have more power if we understand.

Some points the Grant Park High School representatives highlighted at the 2024 YNPS:

Nicolas Dousdebes – Communication Coordinator MARL