Lessons from Fukushima nuclear disaster focus of Lamb Peace Lecture

BOWLING GREEN, O.—On the second anniversary of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, prize-winning author Cecile Pineda will speak on “Nuclear Power and the Consequences of Fukushima” in this year’s Lamb Peace Lecture at Bowling Green State University.

Her talk will begin at 7 p.m. March 11 in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union Theater (Room 206). It is free and open to the public.

As part of her 10-day book tour of the Great Lakes region, Pineda will share her stirring insights into the nuclear industry. Her latest book, “Devil’s Tango: How I Learned the Fukushima Step by Step,” is a provocative and heart-wrenching exploration of the nuclear industry and the ongoing impact of the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility on March 11, 2011. An update on the consequences of the tragic event will be a major focus of Pineda’s talk.

Published by Wings Press on the one-year anniversary of the disaster, the book, in Pineda’s own words, is “a crazy quilt of multiple voices, pieced together day-by-day.” At times lyrical, meditative or even comical – yet always disturbing – it reflects her anguished attempt to come to terms with Fukushima’s catastrophic consequences to the entire planet and lays bare the connection between nuclear energy and nuclear war.

“We are beyond the place where available technology can address what is ongoing and probably will be ongoing for many, many decades,” says Pineda.  

Pineda has been an anti-war activist from early life. Her novels, all available from WingsPress.com, have been critically acclaimed, with “Face” winning the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal – a record for first fiction, as well as the Sue Kaufman Prize and a National Book Award nomination. Her picaresque novel, “The Love Queen of the Amazon,” was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times.  

BGSU’s Edward Lamb Peace Lecture annually brings internationally recognized experts to campus to address major environmental issues and how they affect world security. The lecture series began in 1986 in honor of the late Edward Lamb, a prominent Toledo lawyer committed to social justice, civil rights and world peace. It is underwritten by the Lamb Foundation of Toledo.

This year’s talk is co-sponsored by the BGSU International Relations Organization; Department of Political Science; Department of Environment and Sustainability; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Great Lakes region, and the University of Toledo Department of History.

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(Posted March 01, 2013 )