Fallout from Fukushima

‘A much-needed wake-up call to the nightmare scenarios that can evolve when nuclear power goes wrong, even in a technologically advanced society. This book should be read by all those with an interest in our energy future.’ - Dr Sue Wareham OAM, Member of the Management Committee in Australia, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. ‘The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown that brought Japan close to collapse in the days and weeks that followed 11 March, 2011 also helped prise open a window into the way that for more than five decades high officials of state had colluded to create, cosset, and expand the nuclear industry, minimising safety concerns and evading democratic supervision. The result was a crisis of a depth and complexity hitherto unknown, from which author Broinowski doubts that the Japanese industry can recover… His book offers a lucid guide to the events and their implications, not only for Japan but also for the world.’ - Gavan McCormack, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University.

Richard Broinowski was a senior Australian diplomat who served in Japan, Myanmar, Iran, and the Philippines before becoming ambassador to Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, and Mexico. He was general manager of Radio Australia in the early 1990s, and on his retirement in 1997 became an adjunct professor, first at the University of Canberra, and then at the University of Sydney. In 2006, he initiated a program to send many student journalists in Australia to work in the newsroom of English-language newspapers throughout Asia.

Since his retirement, Richard has published six books, two of which are on nuclear matters- two editions of Fact or Fission? (Scribe 2003 and 2022), and Fallout from Fukushima (Scribe 2012). He was president of the NSW chapter of the Australian Institute of International Affairs from 2015 to 2018.

Richard became an Officer in the Order of Australia in the June 2019 honours list. He lives with his wife, Dr Alison Broinowski AM, in Sydney.