Fukushima: Impacts on Japanese Families, Children, and Livelihoods

Time: 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Location: Dirksen Senate Office Building 406

Speakers:

• Sachiko SATO, board member of Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation, the first citizen group to monitor radiation levels post-March 11, and a natural farmer from Fukushima, with her 13- and 17-year old children, Yuuki and Mina
• Yukiko ANZAI, organic farmer and owner of the Surje Organic Farm,  located 10 kilometers from the Tomari nuclear power plant
• Kaori IZUMI, director of Shut Tomari, the first reactor to restart since the Fukushima meltdowns, and co-director of Save Fukushima Children-Hokkaido
• Aileen Mioko SMITH, executive director of Green Action and petitioner to the UN High Commission on Human Rights to recognize and address the plight of children in Fukushima Prefecture

The ongoing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai’ichi Nuclear Plant continues to have a devastating impact on Japanese families, children and livelihoods.  This Japanese delegation will discuss the government’s lack of radiation monitoring and what citizen monitoring has discovered about contamination levels.  They will also talk about efforts to protect children from radiation, the hurdles facing families trying to evacuate from contaminated areas, and the impact on farmers and others who live off of the land. Presentations will be in English, except for the Sato family, who will speak through an interpreter.

Physicians for Social Responsibility is a physician-led organization representing the medical and public health voice for policies to prevent nuclear war and proliferation, promote sustainable energy, and prevent toxic degradation of the environment.

Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic.