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To learn something of
Dr. Montenegro, 49, is the Professor
of Evolutionary Biology at the National University of Cordoba
(UNC), and Director of the Master on Environmental Management
at the National University of San Luis. He is also a guest lecturer
("Master on Environmental Management of Cities") at
both the National University of Comahue and National University
of Mar del Plata. Dr. Montenegro is not only an accomplished
natural scientist, but also a gifted writer and speaker. His
countless articles, radio talks, and television appearances make
credible for the lay understanding the grave dangers uranium holds
inherent. Recently, the National University of San Luis (UNSL)
granted him a Doctor Honoris Causa, citing the honor "as
recognition for achievements in the fields of environment, environmental
education and free transfer of scientific background to groups
of citizens." Dr. Montenegro has chaired more than 130 national
and international environmental campaigns, is the main founder
and current president of FUNAM (Argentina's Environmental Defense
Foundation), and has helped charter numerous environmental NGOs
throughout South America. Dr. Montenegro's achievements are legion. His scientific acumen and professional media know-how were responsible for detecting, analyzing and publicizing the accidents and regular radioactive releases attending "normal" operations at the Argentinean nuclear plants of Embalse and Atucha 1 (the Tritium-3-contamination of Embalse workers in 1996 is but one chapter of the chronique scandaleuse nucléaire). In 1995, Canada's Ontario-Hydro submitted plans to erect a 450 MWe Candu 3 nuclear power plant in Guatemala, offering the technology free of charge. Dr. Montenegro rushed to Guatemala City, where, at press conferences, public meetings, and university lectures, he made public his independent environmental impact studies for those candidate regions bordering the proposed nuclear power facility. Within a week Guatemala's National Commission on Environment (CONAMA) rejected the Ontario-Hydro offer. Important also has been Dr. Montenegro's fight against the implementation of diverse permanent waste disposal sites. One recent victory was the battle he waged, jointly with other NGOs and activists, against the Gastre-Project in Chubut Province, Patagonia. We also have Dr. Montenegro to thank for bringing to the public's attention the manner in which shipments of Plutonium-239 had so regularly imperiled South America's western coastline -- a story that captured world headlines. |
Dr. Montenegro's informed illuminations of the nuclear industry's dark and juggled figures have so turned the tide of Argentinean public opinion that, currently, it is indeed "heavy water" in which the pro-nuclear lobby must swim.
Dr. Montenegro has also run up a score
of triumphs within another arena-one which natural scientists
more regularly shun: the courtroom. In December of 1997 he lodged
a complaint against the President of the Atomic Energy Agency
of Argentina (CNEA), as well as the director of an experimental
power plant. The two men were responsible for running a series
of illegal tests at a 25-megawatt facility near the large city
of Bariloche. Also, a permanent waste disposal site for low radioactive
material in the vicinity of Salinas Grandes was stopped by public
and legal action he initiated in 1993. In 1989, largely owing
to Dr. Montenegro's researches, legal actions, and publicity campaigns
the uranium mining at Los Gigantes was shut down. During the lengthy
public battle, Dr. Montenegro brought to the public's attention
the extent to which mining operation discharges had contaminated
the nearby San Antonio River, thereby upsetting the San Roque
basin biosphere. The milestone Los Gigantes ruling has proven
to be a major stumbling block for the uranium industry; their
response: a bomb blew up an independent monitoring station, his
car was wrecked, his family threatened. In Argentina, the name
Dr. Raúl A. Montenegro has become a synonym for "giant
courage in the face of giants."
Those who wish to honor Dr. Montenegro's
activism and on-going achievement run into an electrifying quandary:
was his contribution to the stoppage of the nuclear recycling
plant at Ezeiza in 1988 of more significance than the closing
of the uranium dioxide plant of Cordoba, expected for 1999?. Was
his authoring of environmental protection codes for the municipalities
of Cordoba, Corrientes, Salta, and Tigre, of equal importance
to his authoring of regulations to create nuclear-free zones (a
standing so far adopted by twelve Argentinean cities)? Or, skipping
over sundry further examples of Dr. Montenegro's engagement, is
it lastly his ability to mobilize students and followers in and
outside of the scientific community into actively participating
in making the future nuclear-free?
Ask his foes. English version: Craig Reishus |
Dr. Raul Montenegro, NFFA Photo Archive