Nuclear policy expert to discuss implications of Fukushima nuclear plant disaster April 19

Daniel Hirsch, a UC Santa Cruz lecturer on nuclear policy, will give a free, public lecture Tuesday, April 19 on the aftermath of the current nuclear plant disaster in Japan.

The talk "The Japanese Nuclear Disaster: Impacts and Implications" will begin at 7 p.m. at the Stevenson Event Center.

Hirsch, former director of the Adlai Stevenson Program on Nuclear Policy, will discuss the impact on Japan as well as California, where nuclear reactors at Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo County and San Onofre in Orange County are located near major earthquake faults.

Hirsch has been widely quoted since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.  He has also testified on the dangers of nuclear power at a hearing called by the California State Senate.

Hirsch heads the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a non-profit nuclear policy organization focusing on issues of nuclear safety, waste disposal, proliferation, and disarmament.