Chernobyl Tragic Truth w/ M. Gundersen & Spencer Smith 04/21/15

Fairewinds Energy Education commemorated the nuclear catastrophes at Fukushima Daiichi and Three Mile Island during March and April and Sunday, April 26, marks 29 years since the horrific and memorable meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine. Burlington, Vermont playwright and author Spencer Smith, who created the readers’ play Voices From Chernobyl joins Maggie Gundersen, president of Fairewinds Energy Education, in this week’s emotional and moving Fairewinds’ video production about the ongoing Chernobyl tragedy. http://www.fairewinds.org/voices-from-chernobyl/#sthash.LhBnY9R6.6sGNM2FN.dpbs

Spencer Smith remembers 1986 and the nuclear mess that the meltdown at Chernobyl created and her Peace Corp service from 2001-2003 in the Ukraine further deepened her interest in the Chernobyl meltdown and concern for those still experiencing the significant human repercussions. As a Peace Corp Volunteer, Spencer was advised not to swim in the lakes, not to eat foraged berries and mushrooms, and definitely not to drink the water due to residual traces of radioactive chemicals from Chernobyl, which remains to this day an uninhabitable radioactive zone. Spencer learned from first hand accounts about the Soviet Union’s cover up during the Chernobyl nuclear crisis that subsequently exposed hundreds of thousands to high doses of radioactivity.

After her Peace Corps service, Spencer moved to Vermont where she became involved with the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance in Montpelier in an effort to draw attention to the shutdown of Vermont Yankee. After reading Voices From Chernobyl, the highly acclaimed book by Soviet journalist Svetlana Alexievich, Spencer created the readers’ play Voices From Chernobyl, in an effort to make people around the world more aware of this ongoing catastrophe for the people of the Ukraine. Exiled from her own country, Svetlana Alexievich’s work is that of a truly dedicated journalist who risked her life by entering radioactive zones in order to interview victims and expose their stories about the truth of nuclear power.

Spencer’s play tells the story of six of Svetlana’s interviewees: the wife of a fireman, a physicist, a scientist, an executive of Chernobyl, a peasant who moved back to the contaminated area, and a mother.

Spring should bring flowers in bloom, birds, sunshine, and renewed hope after a long winter, not nuclear meltdown. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi – all nuclear industry made disasters that started during springtime continue to forewarn us of the dangers of nuclear power. As Albert Einstein said, “The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking … the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker (1945).”

FAIREWINDS ENERGY EDUCATION –Spencer Smith interview (transcribed 4-20-15) http://www.fairewinds.org/voices-from-chernobyl/#sthash.LhBnY9R6.6sGNM2FN.dpbs
MG: Thank you for joining us today at Fairewinds Energy Education. Today’s video guest is Spencer Smith. And we’re here to talk about voices from Chernobyl. Spencer received her MFA in writing from Vermont College. She’s published fiction, two plays and a novel, “Depth of Field.” In New York City, she worked as a writer, producer in corporate television. And currently Spencer is writing a memoire of her experiences as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine from 2001 to 2003. She’s returned for visits to Ukraine in 2006, 2009 and plans to visit again this June. Spencer also taught creative writing, fiction, screenplays, memoire, at American colleges and universities, as well as in the Ukraine, and on a Fulbright in Belarus, Russia. Spencer, thank you for joining us today.

Related posts:
Chernobyl Tragic Truth http://www.fairewinds.org/chernobyl-tragic-truth/#sthash.cWzkdY0g.dpbs
Russia Today: Gundersen First to Say Fukushima Worse than Chernobyl http://www.fairewinds.org/russia-today-gundersen-first-to-say-fukushima-worse-than-chernobyl/#sthash.MbvSibwO.dpbs
Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima Daiichi: What is the Link? http://www.fairewinds.org/three-mile-island-chernobyl-fukushima-daiichi-what-is-the-link/#sthash.Eq7lOiUs.dpbs
Arnie Gundersen presents “The Fukushima Daiichi Disaster In Comparison To Chernobyl” in Vancouver, Canada. http://www.fairewinds.org/arnie-gundersen-presents-the-fukushima-daiichi-disaster-in-comparison-to-chernobyl-in-vancouver-canada/#sthash.NHsLG6it.dpbs
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