This roundtable session brings together four exceptional women who are leading the charge against continued development of nuclear technologies in southern California. With decades of experience in anti-nuclear activism between them, the impact of their work has brought significant public awareness to the social and environmental justice implications of nuclear technologies. Their efforts have also advocated for and helped to shape discussion about nuclear legislation and regulation aimed at increasing public and environmental protections from radiation harm. During this session, they will speak with Dr. Amanda M. Nichols (UCSB Environmental Studies) about the social and environmental justice implications of nuclear technologies in California, including what is at stake as we look to a climate insecure future.

Melissa Bumstead is the founder and co-director of Parents Against Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL). SSFL is one of California’s most toxic places and the site of one of America’s worst nuclear meltdowns, located in the hills outside Los Angeles. Melissa became an accidental activist for the site’s complete cleanup when her four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. She is featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary, “In the Dark of the Valley,” screening on Peacock.TV.

Cathy Iwane has championed the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station since she evacuated Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown in 2012. Cathy leverages her experiences to raise awareness about nuclear waste storage risks with NPOs, San Clemente Green, and Public Watchdogs. Currently, she’s working to pass legislation in California, specifically the "CalSafe Nuclear Waste Storage Plan Act."

Denise Duffield is the Associate Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles (PSR-LA) and serves on the Steering Committee of Back from the Brink: Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a national grassroots disarmament campaign. She also leads PSR-LA’s efforts to fully clean up the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, a contaminated nuclear site near LA.

Linda Seeley has served as Vice President and spokesperson for San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace since 2009 and has been a member of the Diablo Canyon Decommissioning Engagement Panel since its inception in 2018. She is very concerned about the triple threat of sea level rise, vulnerable radioactive waste storage, and the connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

This panel is part of the conference "Global Legacies of Anti-Nuclear Activism: Intersectional Perspectives," which the Capps Center is proud to co-sponsor.

In partnership with NYU Abu Dhabi and co-sponsored by: Nature, Ethics, and Technology Program; Walter H. Capps Center; Institute for Humanities and Social Change; Global Latinidades Center; Erickson Endowed Chair; UCSB Human Rights Board; Student Commission on Racial Equity; UCSB Environmental Justice Alliance; Dept. of Religious Studies; Dept. of Environmental Studies; Center for Women, Gender, and Sexual Equity; Carsey-Wolf Center; Dept. of History; Dept. of Feminist Studies; Dept. of Global Studies; Santa Barbara Women’s Commission; International Uranium Film Festival.