AUDIO FROM MEDIA CONFERENCE: From Fukushima to Canberra - a survivor’s warning

A dairy farmer from a village abandoned because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster joined Greens spokesperson on nuclear policy Senator Scott Ludlam to speak out on the consequences of the nuclear industry - at a press conference in Canberra.

Mr Hasegawa was the leader of the Fukushima Prefecture Dairy Farmers Union. Shortly after the nuclear disaster that began on March 11, 2011, he was alerted to the dangerous level of radiation in his region but told to keep the information a secret. Instead, he warned the local farmers and they refused to sell their produce, euthanising their cows rather than putting the population at risk by continuing to sell milk. The farmers were ruined, and some have committed suicide.

Mr Hasegawa's village Iitate has now been abandoned for two years, and was visited by Senator Ludlam in 2012. Mr Hasegawa has come to Australia to speak on the consequences of nuclear power, given that Australian uranium was present in all of the reactors at the Fukushima plant.

Senator Scott Ludlam has travelled to the evacuated zone around the derelict Fukushima nuclear power plant and met with many of the 160,000 people still evacuated today. He has a motion before the Senate today proposing an immediate review of uranium supply agreements to assess the risk of future disasters in customer countries.