A Normal Accident or a Sea-Change? Nuclear Host Communities Respond to the 3/11 Disaster

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6278319
AutoresDaniel P Aldrich (0000-0002-4150-995X, Northeastern University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen14
Número2
Páginas261-276
Fecha de publicación2013-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJapanese Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1468-1099 • E-ISSN: 1474-0060
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1468109913000066
OpenAlexW2139231934
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas13

While 3/11 has altered energy policies around the world, insufficient attention has focused on reactions from local nuclear power plant host communities and their neighbors throughout Japan. Using site visits to such towns, interviews with relevant actors, and secondary and tertiary literature, this article investigates the community crisis management strategies of two types of cities, towns, and villages: those which have nuclear plants directly in their backyards and neighboring cities further away (within a 30 mile radius). Responses to the disaster have varied with distance to nuclear facilities but in a way contrary to the standard theories based on the concept of the ‘distance decay function’. Officials in communities directly proximal to nuclear power plants by and large remain supportive of Japan's nuclear power program, while those in cities and towns at a distance (along with much of the general public) have displayed strong opposition to the pre 3/11 status quo. Using qualitative data, this article underscores how national energy and crisis response policies rest strongly on the political economy, experiences of, and decisions made at the subnational level

Biology · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Geography · Nuclear power · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Status quo · Disaster Management and Resilience · Law · Public Administration · Risk Perception and Management · Ecology