Fukushima Speaking Series Part 2: Ground Zero

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In our second installation of the Japan Speaking Tour Series, Fairewinds Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen visits Fukushima Prefecture (Japan state) and shares his sobering observations with the Fairewinds Crew. Currently in Japan presenting to groups and organizations throughout the country, Arnie visited the modern ghost towns, abandoned houses, and far stretching roads lined with plastic bags of radioactive garbage that have replaced the once bustling neighborhoods and cities of Fukushima. Formerly home to thousands, the massive release of radiation due to the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi has forced residents to evacuate and destroyed their beautiful homeland. Join the Fairewinds Crew and ask yourself this: With 100 operating atomic power reactors generating electricity in the U.S., what’s so different about your home, your town, your state that what happened to Fukushima couldn’t happen to you and your family?  

Fairewinds in the News:

Watch Fairewinds Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen talk about the difference between Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Trust Fund versus Slush Fund with CCTV Host Margaret Harrington. Following Arnie’s presentation at Middlebury College, Arnie met with Margaret to explain some of the obstacles that state officials of Vermont are facing while trying to protect the public during the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee, which is one of eleven reactors owned by the limited liability corporation (LLC) Entergy Corp.  As stated on Entergy’s site, “With the purchase of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in 1999, Entergy was the first company in the U.S. to acquire an operating nuclear plant through competitive bidding.” All the atomic power plants currently owned by Entergy are aging reactors including a notorious handful in need of expensive repairs with cited leaks (re: Indian Point, Pilgrim, Palisades, Fitzpatrick). When radiation production is sold to the highest bidder, an LLC no less, the repercussions to the public are financial and potentially catastrophic.