Aileen Mioko Smith first became aware of the dangers of hazardous waste and technology in the 1970s, when she and her husband, photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, spent three years documenting the human toll of mercury poisoning on the town of Minamata. Years later, as she became aware of the safety problems at Japan's nuclear power plants, she worked to turn public concern for plans for a plutonium-based energy economy into international opposition. She has since become one of Japan's leading and most effective voices challenging the production, commerce and transport of nuclear material, and calling for sustainable energy policies.
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