On March 11, 2011, Japan experiened a magnitude 9 earthquake. The tsunami and destruction that resulted irreparably damanged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant causing radiation leaks and tons of radioactive waste. Anti-nuclear activists continue to push for government and corporate accountability while also dealing with the environmental and health fallout of the tragedy. KBOO's Jenna Yokoyama and local anti-nuclear activist Laura Feldman speak with activist Norma Field in Chicago about the state of Fukushima and the efforts being taken to bring light to an issue that is being stifled and silenced by the Japanese government. With the upcoming 2020 Olympics being held in Japan, there is growing concern about public safety as radioactive top soil continues to be used to build roads and infrastructure.
Laura Feldman is a poet activist and member of Occupy St. Johns and the Willamette River Advocacy Group involved with outreach and education about the Portland Harbor superfund cleanup and the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Norma Field retired from the University of Chicago in 2012. She is the author of In the Realm of a Dying Emperor : Japan's at Century's End. She has followed the Fukushima nuclear disaster from its inception and is the editor and co-translator of Fukushima Radiation: Will You Still Say No Crime Has Been Committed? As a member of CORE (Consequences of Radiation Exposure), she helped organize the Nagasaki-Hanford Bridge Project of 2018.
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Learn more:
-Mothers’ Radiation Lab Fukushima - https://tarachineiwaki.org/english
-Read: "From Fukushima: To Despair Peroperly, To Find the Next Step" by Norma Field
-Read: "Eight years after triple nuclear meltdown, Fukushima No. 1's water woes show no signs of ebbing" by Ryusei Takahasi (japantimes.co)
-Read: "Fukushima at 8: Accusations of scientific misconduct concern city in Japan (Beyond Nuclear)
-Read: Part 1: Atomic Balm: Prime Minister Abe uses the Tokyo Olympics as snake oil cure for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Meltdowns (Arnie Gundersen)
-Read: The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and the Tokyo Olympics (Hiroaki Koide and Norma Field)
-Read: 2019 Annual Report: Fukushima 8th Anniversary (SimplyInfo)
- KBOO