The Devastating Impacts of Pacific Nuclear Testing, the Fukushima Disaster, & Radioactive Waste from US Nuclear Reactors
The Affected Communities and Allies Working Group of the Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative will host a discussion on the devastating impacts of nuclear testing in the Pacific, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and the dangers of parading nuclear energy as a solution to the climate crisis.
This free online webinar will explain why nuclear energy is not a climate solution and shed light on the underreported impacts of the ongoing nuclear crises in communities impacted by nuclear testing, nuclear energy, and radioactive waste.
When: Wednesday, March 9th, 5:00 PM (PST)
March 9th at 8:00 PM Eastern US/ 7:00 PM Central/ 6:00 PM Mountain
March 10th at 10:00 AM Japan / 1:00 PM Fiji
Register to attend this webinar.
Sixty-eight years ago, on March 1st, 1954, the Castle Bravo nuclear test, the largest atmospheric explosion in the Pacific, was conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands. The total of 67 nuclear tests left the community with ongoing health effects, continued radiation exposure, decimated environments, and generational trauma.
March 11th marks eleven years since the beginning of the ongoing nuclear disaster in Fukushima. The disaster forced some 160,000 to evacuate. Tens of thousands are still displaced. Thyroid cancer, one of the known adverse effects of radiation exposure, has been on the rise among children. In 2021, the Japanese government decided to dump 1.28 million metric tons of radioactive wastewater from the damaged nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean starting in 2023.
While this event is free, the event organizers encourage donations to Minna-no Data Site (MDS) through the Fukushima 30-year Project. (Please write “for MDS” in the message box.)
MDS is a Japanese non-profit network of dozens of people-led radioactivity measurement laboratories that were established in the wake of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. In 2018, MDS self-published an easy-to-read radiation data map of northeast Japan and received the Japan Congress of Journalists Prize in 2019. MDS’s website provides measurement data of over 18,500 food samples, 3,400 soil samples, and other environmental samples from communities impacted by radioactive fallout from the nuclear disaster.
The event moderator will be Eileen O’Shaughnessy, Nuclear Issues Study Group.
Speakers include:
- Bedi Racule, Marshall Islands Student Association, MISA4ThePacific
- Mari Inoue, Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World
- Dr. Arjun Makhijani, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
- A Fukushima mom (video message)
- A representative of Reverse the Trend Pacific
- Ayami Nakanishi, student of University of New Mexico, intern of Nuclear Issues Study Group
- Fukushima youth who developed thyroid cancer (video message)
- Other speakers
- Featuring the artwork of Dr. Chip Thomas, physician and artist in Navajo Nation (Dinetah)
Co-sponsoring organizations include: Affected Communities Working Group, Hibakusha Stories/Youth Arts New York, Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World, Nuclear Issues Study Group, Nukewatch, Oregon PSR, & Reverse the Trend: Save Our People, Save Our Planet.
Join and share this event on Facebook.