McCoy: Nuclear weapons are genocide weapons and are a complete contradiction of a physician's work which is to preserve life and promote health. So, my opposition to nuclear weapons is a very natural reaction. I am sure it is the reaction of any human being, although there are some politicians and military people who think that nuclear weapons have a political and military use in international security.

Nuclear weapons are indiscriminate in their destructiveness and should be therefore be illegal under international law. They do not really have a military use because they are so indiscriminate.

My involvement in the issue of nuclear weapons goes back to just after the end of the second world war. I was then 15 years old. The country was occupied by the Japanese. When the war ended, and it ended rather abruptly after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we were very relieved and happy. We were told that the American had used a 'special' bomb on Japan and I didn't think more about it. A few years later at university, when I began to read more about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I began to realise what it really meant. I was horrified that thousands of civilians had been killed by two atomic bombs.

Now, there is evidence that the bombs were used almost like an experiment and as a demonstration or warning to the Russian of America's military might.

I had always felt powerless to change what was happening during the Cold War and the nuclear arms race, until I read about International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in the British Medical Journal in 1985 when IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

IPPNW had been founded in 1980 by two physicians who had met at a cardiology conference - Bernard Lown, an American cardiologist, and Evgueni Chazov, a Russian cardiologist. A personal friendship developed between them and this led to the foundation of IPPNW at a conference attended by physicians from 12 countries in Geneva in 1980.

MPPNW is a society of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and has a membership of about 200 doctors. Every year, on 6th of August, we commemorate Hiroshima Day with a program of activities to create awareness about the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and about the danger of nuclear war as long as nuclear weapons exist. Our work is made easier because the Malaysian government is very much against nuclear weapons. Our Prime Minister, who attended our inaugural meeting, is himself a doctor and understands the issues.

As far as nuclear technology is concerned, I believe that on balance there are more negative aspect to it. The argument that nuclear energy is safe, clean and cheap is disputable. First of all, it is not safe or clean. We still do not know of a safe way to dispose of radioactive waste and there is always the serious risk of an accident like Chernobyl. Radiation from plutonium, for example, will last for thousands of years. The half life of plutonium is 24,400 years. We are therefore talking about radiation for 240 centuries which is forever. Nuclear energy is also not cheap. We must take into account not only the initial cost of building nuclear reactors but also the enormous cost of decommissioning reactors when they are no longer in use.

We must look at renewable sources of energy - solar energy, wind and wave power, biomass. Not enough research has been carried out on these renewable sources. The nuclear energy establishment is a powerful and influential group. We must also consider energy efficiency and energy conservation.

Some of us is very concerned about Indonesia's energy program of building several nuclear reactors in Java. If there is a Chernobyl - like nuclear accident in Java, which is volcanic, it could have serious repercussions in neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. Perhaps, we could sell electricity to Indonesia when the Bakun dam is completed.

Murphy's Law says that when anything can go wrong, it will eventually go wrong. Japan's new fast-breeder reactor of Monju was closed down after an accident. The political fallout of Chernobyl has caused some European countries to phase out their nuclear reactors. Yet nuclear technology is being promoted in Asian countries. Why is unsafe technology being dumped in Asia?

McCoy: There is still insufficient understanding about nuclear technology and it is often linked to nuclear weapons and the effects of the Chernobyl accident. People are aware of the cover-up that followed the Chernobyl accident and the suppression of the truth. This has caused distrust and suspicion.

McCoy: In many ways, the 'dark' side of nuclear technology has gain greater prominence but, even so, on balance it is more negative than positive. That is my opinion, although there is disagreement among scientists about the good and bad aspects of nuclear technology. We should really be addressing the energy equation in total. As I said before, we should look at renewable sources of energy as well as energy efficiency and conservation. In other words, we must change our `western' lifestyles which are wasteful and not sustainable. We must also address sustainable development. We are living on a deficit. We must learn to live more simply.

McCoy: I am very much in favour of the applications of nuclear science in nuclear medicine, diagnostic procedures using radioisotopes, radiotherapy for cancer and so on. It is also has very useful industrial applications, as in sterilisation and in gamma ray detectors of explosive devices. We must always remember that there are dual uses of nuclear technology - peaceful and non-peaceful.

McCoy: Within three days of the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in May 1995 when the nuclear powers promised to exercise restraint, China carried out a nuclear test. A few months later, France announced that it would carry out a series of eight tests in the South Pacific.

As you know, there was world wide outrage and opposition to French testing in particular, probably because French tests were not carried out in France but in one of her colonies. These tests were necessary for China and France because they were behind in their computer simulation technology which make possible the designing and testing of nuclear weapons in weapons laboratories. They realised that this had to be accomplished before the proposed signing of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) scheduled for June-July 1966.

Now that underground testing is no longer necessary, the five nuclear weapon states are willing to sign a CTBT thirty years too late.

A CTBT today will stop horizontal nuclear proliferation but not vertical proliferation among the five nuclear powers. Once again, we are made aware of their double standards. Once again, they show no intention of fulfilling the commitment made under Article VI of the NPT to negotiate and conclude nuclear disarmament. The non-aligned states in the UN General Assembly must group together and put international pressure on the nuclear weapons states to eliminate nuclear weapons.

McCoy: Malaysia does not need nuclear energy. We have other sources of energy and moreover there are the negative aspects of nuclear technology that we have to consider.

McCoy: I do not think that Malaysia has a big problem with overexposure from radiation. In cancer treatment, there are cases of overexposure but they are quite rare. It is a medical problem and MPPNW has no mandate to address the issue.

McCoy: I hope the CTBT will be signed this year. It should have been signed 30 years ago. Even if it is signed today, the nuclear testing will continue in laboratories using simulation techniques in the USA, Russia, France, Britain and China. There are still several disagreements to be resolved before it can be signed.

The CTBT will eliminate underground nuclear testing but the status quo will remain. Chemical and biological weapons have been banned because they are the poor man's nuclear weapons.

McCoy: A fissile cut-off treaty is one of the steps in nuclear disarmament that will be proposed by the Canberra Commission. It should come after the signing of the CTBT and it is a very important step towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The five nuclear weapons states have enormous stockpiles of enriched uranium and plutonium. We must also not forget Japan's plutonium economy which is sustained by reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in France and Britain into plutonium which is then used in Japan's fast-breeder reactors. Japan is stockpiling plutonium and therefore has the capability of producing nuclear weapons. This is causing security concerns in the region.

McCoy: The indefinite extension of the NPT has virtually perpetuated the monopoly of nuclear weapons by the five nuclear powers. It was a great blow to the states of the Non-Aligned Movement which capitulated to the coercive diplomatic pressure of the USA, Russia, France, Britain and their allies. The international community must now work towards a Nuclear Weapons Convention which will eliminate nuclear weapons.