Humanity Rising Presentation: 10 Years Deep – Nuclear Power Disaster in Japan
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By Maggie Gundersen
Today, we add another post and discussion to Fairewinds Energy Education’s new Nuclear Spring Series. As I said for the first blog post in this series, the aftermath of the three meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi atomic power reactor site on Japan’s East Coast on March 11, 2011, has changed our personal and professional lives forever. In case you missed it: please read our first post in Fairewinds Nuclear Spring Series entitled Japan Hasn’t Recovered 10 Years After Fukushima Meltdowns.
Every year different groups ask us to talk about the Fukushima Meltdowns to commemorate the ongoing tragedy. Worldwide many people have forgotten about Fukushima or altogether assume that the disaster is over. Fukushima is not over and will be ongoing for thousands of years.
With that being said, on March 11, 2021, we were honored to be part of an international zoom conference memorial of the Fukushima Dai-ichi meltdowns. The entirely online event coincided with the one-year commemoration of international recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please join us and our host, biologist Mary Olson, colleagues Chiho Kaneko, Norma Field, my husband Arnie, and me as we share the human perspective in 10 Years Deep – Nuclear Power Disaster in Japan. Each one of us was so moved by the entire program and honored to be part of it. We sincerely hope you come away as moved as we were.
Our special thanks to Ubiquity University and its president Jim Garrison, who launched and hosts an event on Humanity Rising, a unique interactive website every day since the pandemic began.
From the time I founded Fairewinds Energy Education and began producing our videos, podcasts, and blogs, I have attempted to accomplish two critical goals. First, whatever the medium is, we present and discuss the scientific facts about nuclear and atomic calamities, nuke industry violations, and regulatory failures worldwide. Second, as a journalist, paralegal, and mediator, I work to make sure Fairewinds’ focus is the human perspective. What do these violations, radioactive releases, leaks, spills, and significant disasters mean for the life in their vicinity and worldwide? Radioactivity is not visible and smelly, like an oil or chemical spill or a roaring fire. Most of the time, radioactivity moves stealthily as it contaminates the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
Radiation Knows No Borders!
Biographies of Humanity Rising participants
Mary Olson is clear her life’s mission is to bring to light the disproportionate impact of radiation on girls and women. She is the GRIP (Gender and Radiation Impact Project) founder, which identifies the disproportionate impact of radiation on girls and women. Previously she worked as a staff biologist and policy analyst at (NIRS) Nuclear Information and Resource Service and has spent decades working for greater protection for people in communities impacted by nuclear activities.
Norma Field was born in Japan and retired from the University of Chicago as Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor of Japanese Studies in 2012. The Fukushima nuclear disaster reactivated questions going back to when she first saw images of atomic bomb victims in her Tokyo girlhood. How can human beings make such devices, keep making them, and keep living with the consequences?
Chiho Kaneko was born in Japan and graduated from Hokkaido University. She has dedicated her life to exploring the conditions for universal happiness and peace through her work as a visual artist, as a language translator and interpreter, as a newspaper columnist, and as a classical music vocalist. She is also a board member of Fairewinds Energy Education.
Arnie Gundersen is the Chief Engineer of Fairewinds Energy Education and its resident “science guy.” He has 50 years of nuclear engineering and management experience. He holds two degrees in Nuclear Engineering, a Reactor Operator’s license, a nuclear safety patent, and was an executive in the nuclear industry.
Maggie Gundersen is the founder, President, and official eyes and ears of Fairewinds Energy Education, a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit she created to inform the world about the risks of atomic power and the facts about transitioning to alternative energy sources. Before starting Fairewinds, Maggie’s nuclear background includes working for a nuclear power reactor design firm, a public utility as a nuclear public relations spokesperson, and an executive recruiter for atomic power personnel.
