Post-Fukushima discourse in the US press: Quantified knowledge, the technical object, and a panicked public

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 670-687
Author(s):  
Jonathan Tollefson
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Public Support ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Technical Object ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Many thought that the 11 March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan might be the end of the “global nuclear renaissance.” In Europe, mass media after Fukushima increasingly presented negative framing of nuclear energy and highlighted declining support for the nuclear industry. In the United States, however, nuclear production and public support for the industry remained steady. This article analyzes US media documents to understand the construction of public discourse on nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Through a content analysis of US newspapers, it demonstrates that post-Fukushima media framed the crisis in a way that privileged expert knowledge and opinion, while delegitimizing non-expert engagement with nuclear energy issues. A comparison between national newspapers and newspapers located in two regions with controversial nuclear plants and active anti-nuclear citizens’ movements additionally demonstrates the power and reach of the identified framework across the spectrum of views on nuclear power.

Facing a Crisis with Calmness? The Global Response to the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUICHI KUBOTA
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Efficient Production ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Level Of Economic Development ◽  
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

AbstractLiterature expects that an attitude toward nuclear power is in direct proportion to the perceived risk of accidents at an operational nuclear power plant; that is, the oppositional attitude is based on the view that nuclear technology is risky and support for nuclear power is related to a perceived low risk and/or potential benefit. However, it is misleading to assume that individuals’ risk perception alone can linearly explain their position after such an accident. The association between risk perception and attitude toward nuclear power varies significantly according to country but, until now, has been largely unexamined. This article takes into consideration the effects of structural factors on that relationship by examining public attitudes toward nuclear energy after the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 and reveals that the need for the efficient production of electricity (i.e., nuclear energy) outweighs concern for the potential danger of a nuclear incident. Although a country's dependence on nuclear power for the production of electricity engenders anti-nuclear attitudes, it is evident that a level of economic development largely alleviates any negativity relative to that energy source.

Promoting US Readiness for Developing the SMR Supply Chain

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Crawford ◽  
Harrison Akins
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Energy Utilization ◽  
Manufacturing Readiness ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council (NIC) is undertaking various initiatives to develop strategies and facilitate U.S. manufacturing readiness in the near-term to meet U.S. and global demands for new nuclear builds. Job creation and clean energy benefits arise from new nuclear builds, and the development of the Small Modular Reactor (SMR) supply chain is critical to realizing these positive attributes of nuclear energy. Opportunities exist for the U.S. nuclear industry to build its SMR supply chain capabilities in order to take advantage of expanded nuclear energy utilization. This presentation will provide, first, a brief overview of the challenges which exist for the development of the domestic SMR supply chain, such as expanding industrial capacity, promoting workforce development, ensuring American competitiveness in the global energy market, resolving licensing issues, and securing financing. Secondly, the presentation will discuss why the United States and, in particular, the nuclear industry should respond to these challenges. This is important in helping to shape the future political debates and form recommendations that will help promote the SMR supply chain industry and its role in expanding the demand and infrastructure for nuclear energy. Finally, the presentation will look at NIC recommendations in the supply chain area to support SMRs and other nuclear power plant deployments.

The holistic risk analysis of spent fuel pool considering the fuel route risk

2021 ◽  
pp. 1748006X2199851
Author(s):  
Zhixin Xu ◽  
Ming Wang ◽  
Binyan Song ◽  
WenYu Hou ◽  
Chao Wang
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Fuel Assemblies ◽  
Spent Fuel Pool ◽  
Large Water ◽  
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

The Fukushima nuclear disaster has raised the importance on the reliability and risk research of the spent fuel pool (SFP), including the risk of internal events, fire, external hazards and so on. From a safety point of view, the low decay heat of the spent fuel assemblies and large water inventory in the SFP has made the accident progress goes very slow, but a large number of fuel assemblies are stored inside the spent fuel pool and without containment above the SFP building, it still has an unignored risk to the safety of the nuclear power plant. In this paper, a standardized approach for performing a holistic and comprehensive evaluation approach of the SFP risk based on the probabilistic safety analysis (PSA) method has been developed, including the Level 1 SFP PSA and Level 2 SFP PSA and external hazard PSA. The research scope of SFP PSA covers internal events, internal flooding, internal fires, external hazards and new risk source-fuel route risk is also included. The research will provide the risk insight of Spent Fuel Pool operation, and can help to make recommendation for the prevention and mitigation of SFP accidents which will be applicable for the SFP configuration risk management.

Healing Fukushima: Radiation hazards and disaster medicine in post-3.11 Japan

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Lin Loh ◽  
Sulfikar Amir
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Radiation Risk ◽  
Disaster Medicine ◽  
Radiation Hazards ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

What happens when expertise is forced to face disasters of unprecedented scales? How is knowledge produced in critical moments when every action and decision is a matter of life and death? And how are local social networks mobilized to cope with unforeseen crisis? This paper addresses these questions by examining the emergence of disaster medicine expertise in the aftermath of Fukushima nuclear disaster that struck Japan in 2011. Studies on Fukushima’s impact have to date revolved around the suffering of Tōhoku citizens and the development of Japan’s nuclear energy industry. Acknowledging the gravity of such work, this paper offers an alternative, but equally crucial angle on the disaster: that of the medical caregiving and public health system built in response to radiation hazards resulting from the triple meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. Through detailed interviews conducted with eight medical practitioners in Fukushima Prefecture, this paper analyses the significance and impact of Japan’s most recent radiation disaster on its public health infrastructure. To describe the contingent nature of radiation disaster medicine developed in response to radiation risk in Fukushima, we draw on Jasanoff’s characterization of scientific knowledge as ‘serviceable truths’ with regards to public policy and the law, suggesting that expertise in relation to disasters is usefully understood in analogous terms.

Inservice Testing Program Improvements for New Reactors Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. Lippy
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Small Modular Reactors ◽  
American Society ◽  
Construction Permit ◽  
Regulatory Commission

The nuclear industry is preparing for the licensing and construction of new nuclear power plants in the United States. Several new designs have been developed and approved, including the “traditional” reactor designs, the passive safe shutdown designs and the small modular reactors (SMRs). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) provides specific Codes used to perform preservice inspection/testing and inservice inspection/testing for many of the components used in the new reactor designs. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews information provided by applicants related to inservice testing (IST) programs for Design Certifications and Combined Licenses (COLs) under Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 52) (Reference 1). The 2012 Edition of the ASME OM Code defines a post-2000 plant as a nuclear power plant that was issued (or will be issued) its construction permit, or combined license for construction and operation, by the applicable regulatory authority on or following January 1, 2000. The New Reactors OM Code (NROMC) Task Group (TG) of the ASME Code for Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants (NROMC TG) is assigned the task of ensuring that the preservice testing (PST) and IST provisions in the ASME OM Code to address pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints (snubbers) in post-2000 nuclear power plants are adequate to provide reasonable assurance that the components will operate as needed when called upon. Currently, the NROMC TG is preparing proposed guidance for the treatment of active pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints with high safety significance in non-safety systems in passive post-2000 reactors including SMRs.

Architecting “Maintenance Program” for Piping and Pipe Support

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Tsumori ◽  
Yoshizumi Fukuhara ◽  
Hiroyuki Terunuma ◽  
Koji Yamamoto ◽  
Satoshi Momiyama
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Maintenance Management ◽  
3D Cad ◽  
Cad System ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
Maintenance Program

A new inspection standard that enhanced quality of operating /maintenance management of the nuclear power plant was introduced in 2009. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (Mar. 11th 2011), the situation surrounding the nuclear industry has dramatically changed, and the requirement for maintenance management of nuclear power plants is pushed for more stringent nuclear safety regulations. The new inspection standard requires enhancing equipment maintenance. It is necessary to enhance maintenance of not only equipment but also piping and pipe support. In this paper, we built the methodology for enhancing maintenance plan by rationalizing and visualizing of piping and pipe support based on the “Maintenance Program” in cooperating with 3D-CAD system.

EDF Decommissioning Programme: A Global Commitment to a Sustainable Development

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Jacques Grenouillet
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Early Closure

Nowadays, decommissioning of nuclear power plants has become a key issue for nuclear industry in Europe. The phasing out of nuclear energy in Germany, Belgium and Sweden, as well as the early closure of nuclear units in applicant countries in the frame of EU enlargement, has largely contributed to consider decommissioning as the next challenge to face. The situation is slightly different in France where nuclear energy is still considered as a safe, cost-effective and environment friendly energy source. Electricite´ de France (EDF) is working on the development of a new generation of reactor to replace the existing one and erection of a new nuclear power plant could start in the next few years. Nevertheless, to achieve this objective, it will be necessary to get the support of political decision-makers and the acceptance of public opinion. Due to the growing concern of these stakeholders for environmental issues, their support can only be obtained if it is possible to demonstrate that nuclear energy industry will not leave behind unsolved issues that will be a burden to the next generations. In this context decommissioning of the first generation of EDF NPPs constitutes a prerequisite for the erection of a new type of nuclear power plant. This paper will present the programme defined by EDF for the decommissioning of its nine already shutdown reactors (Fig. 1). The reasons of the recent evolution of EDF decommissioning strategy will be explained and the key issues that will contribute to the successful implementation of this programme will be addressed. Finally, what has been achieved on sites so far and major planned activities will be described.

Japan’s News Media, The Information Disclosure Law, and The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Repeta
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Regulatory Body ◽  
Regulatory Oversight ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Invaluable Tool ◽  
Government Records ◽  
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

AbstractOfficial investigations that followed the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster revealed that it could have been prevented by reasonable safety measures. Investigators concluded that close relationships between government officials and industry executives led to very weak regulatory oversight and the failure to address the risk of violent earthquakes and tsunami such as those that struck the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station on March 11, 2011. News reporters conducted their own investigations in the months following the disaster. Japan’s information disclosure law provided an invaluable tool that enabled them to obtain government records related to regulation of Japan’s nuclear power plants. This article describes some of the stories they produced. Appearing on the front pages of newspapers with daily circulations in the millions, this work provided an authoritative inside view of the failed regulatory process to the Japanese people. The work of the investigative bodies and the news media drove the demand for change that led to disbanding of the regulatory agencies that failed and their replacement by an entirely new regulatory body. This article highlights the importance of “right to know” laws such as Japan’s information disclosure law in creating the opportunity for news reporters and others to demand the release of otherwise confidential government records that can enlighten everyone on matters of great public interest.

Global non-proliferation policies: retrospect and prospect

1982 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Nuclear Disarmament ◽  
Supply Contracts ◽  
Energy Agency ◽  
States Government ◽  
The Relationship

The 1980 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference will chiefly be remembered for the inability of the delegates to agree on a final document. There were several visible reasons for this, some related to the immediate political concerns of the participants, some linked to the nature of the treaty itself. The statements of the participating states indicated that they held differing conceptions of the purposes of the treaty, and possessed very diverse views on the action that should be taken to achieve them. Four sets of assertions dominated the discussions: that the nuclear states had not fulfilled their obligation to negotiate measures of nuclear disarmament as specified in Article VI of the treaty; that the advanced industrial states had not fulfilled their obligations to assist and encourage the global development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy contained in both Articles IV and V of the treaty; that the attempts by the United States government to discharge its obligations under the 1978 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act by threatening to terminate fuel supply contracts to both treaty parties and non-parties, unless they accepted International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on all their nuclear installations, was inequitable and improper (the same accusation was also directed at Canada); and that the major danger of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and Africa originated in the threats posed to the states in these regions by the regimes in Israel and South Africa. One issue on which there did appear to be agreement, however, was that the safeguards regime foreshadowed by Article III of the treaty had functioned satisfactorily, in that no Feaches of it had been reported to the Review Conference by the IAEA. Yet the differing interpretations of the balance of rights and obligations contained in the treaty masks a much deeper set of issues: what precisely is the problem of nuclear proliferation, to what extent is the predominant diplomatic rhetoric of nuclear non-proliferation discussions unrepresentative of the real concerns and interests of the participants, what was and is the relationship between nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and does the NPT itself address (or was it ever intended to address) the problem of nuclear proliferation in the form in which it seems likely to be encountered in the 1980s?

Shaping Public Opinion on Nuclear Power

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenjun Xu ◽  
Jing Xu ◽  
Jing Sun ◽  
Li Qiu ◽  
Ru Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Public Acceptance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nuclear Disaster

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the public acceptance of nuclear power has dwindled to historical low. Governments were forced to cancel and postpone new projects or even shut down reactors in operation due to an increased anti-nuclear sentiment. This paper aims to provide an international perspective of how various factors can affect public opinion of nuclear power. In this paper, we rebut the previous-held argument that nuclear education is conducive to the public support of nuclear power. It is found that the relationship between educational efforts and public support is captured by a downward-sloping line. The paper then assesses the effect on the public acceptance of demographics, socioeconomic status, political environment and risk orientation using correlation coefficients table. The largest public concern comes from the insecurity of nuclear power plants and radioactive materials. The health of an economy also plays a major role in determining people’s attitude toward building new nuclear power plants. The paper also suggests some solutions for each category of countries based on the research analysis.

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