Thesis advisor: Donald Fishman / This paper will study three particular accidents in the nuclear industry: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and the Fukushima Daiichi plant. These crises will be evaluated through a crisis management framework, using two main accident theories: Normal Accident Theory, and High Reliability Theory. The examination of the crises and the organizations involved will show that no matter how reliable the complex systems are, accidents are inevitable in the nuclear industry. High reliability theory expresses an ideal for complex organizations. While following the theory’s suggestions can limit some problems from occurring, acting as a mindful and reliable organization cannot prevent all disasters. The three cases presented in this paper will show that Normal Accident Theory must be accepted by the nuclear industry. Thus, governments and nuclear power plant operators must be prepared with crisis management plans in order to successfully handle emergency situations and limit damages. The first part of this paper will introduce Normal Accident Theory and High Reliability Theory. Then, after a brief overview of the basics of nuclear power, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi will be examined in the theoretical framework, including a discussion of each event’s crisis management techniques. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Communication.

This dissertation tracks the effects of state recognition across a series of vanishing and emerging social worlds in post-Fukushima Japan. Based upon two years of fieldwork, the dissertation focuses on ethnographic sites at which the failure of state subjectivization activates both a reinvigoration of state discourse, and the formation of counter-discourses within the temporality of Japan’s endless “postwar” (sengo). In so doing, the dissertation seeks to disclose the social violence and iteration of shame as it is mobilized by the state to produce an obedient subject – willing to die for the nation in war – and as the failure to conform precipitates alternate socialities that may be either opposed to or complicit with state interests. The ethnographic sites of which I write concentrate on: the compulsory enactment of propriety in public school ceremonies, and the refusal by teachers to stand for, bow to the “national flag” (kokki), and sing the “national anthem” (kokka), the self-same imperial symbols under which Japan conducted World War II; a group of Okinawan construction workers in the old day laborer district of Tokyo, Sanya; the stigmatized “radical” (kageki) leftist student organization, the Zengakuren; the “internet right-wing” (netto uyoku) group, the Zaittokai, whose street protests are performed live before a camera; and “Fukushima,” where the charge of guilt has short-circuited memories of the Japanese state sacrificing its citizens during World War II. As a foil for the remaining ethnographic sites, the obviousness of giving “respect” (sonchō) to state symbols in public school ceremonies discloses the formation of subjects in a constitutive misrecognition that eliminates – or kills – difference in the enactment of social totality. A veritable stain on which the Japanese state drive to war was dependent, the singular figure of the sitting teacher formed part and parcel of what rightist politicians referred to as the “negative legacy” (fu no rekishi) of World War II. S/he constituted the object of an overcoming that – alongside the Okinawan construction worker, the “radical” (kageki) leftist, the “resident foreigner” (zainichi) as object of Zaittokai hate speech, and “Fukushima” – at once marked the ground of intensification and failure of state discourse. For the graduation ceremony of March, 2012, the official number of teachers who refused to stand and sing fell to “1” in Tokyo, where the state employs 63,000 teachers. With neither family ties, romantic involvements, nor social recognition that would confirm their masculinity, the vanishing day laborers of Sanya made all the more insistent reference to the trope of otoko or ‘man.’ Closely articulated with the mobster world of the yakuza with which many workers had connections, the repetition of masculinity in work, gambling, and fighting constituted a discourse that repulsed the shaming gaze of general society. Thus, the excessive life-style of the otoko was located at the constitutive margins of the social bond of propriety, where he also provided a dying reserve army of labor that could be mobilized to undertake the most undesirable tasks, such as work at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Echoing the death of Sanya, the Zengakuren numbered in the tens of thousands in the 1960s and 1970s, but had dwindled to under 100 active members in 2012. While the anti-war “strike” (sutoraiki) constituted the apotheosis of the Zengakuren discourse, their espousal and shameless mandate of “violent” (bōryoku) revolution subverted the origins of the Zengakuren into a prohibitive discourse which replicated the form of state rhetoric, and demanded the eradication of the Stalinist from within their own ranks. No less shameless than the Zengakuren, the emergent hate speech of the “internet right-wing” (netto uyoku) iterated state discourse among the working poor. Having grown from 500 to 10,000 members within only four years, the Zaittokai’s notorious hate speech aspired to the instantaneous effect of “killing” (korosu) another legacy of World War II: the “resident foreigner” (zainichi). Yet, replicating online forms of writing, the iterability of their performative triggered repetition, and in a shamelessness specific to cyberspace – in which the reciprocity of the gaze and shame were lacking – the Zaittokai directed their paranoid speech at the state, whose representatives were said to be controlled by zainichi. Lastly, “Fukushima” marked the apogee of the effectivity and failures of the state in containing both the excesses of capitalism, and the “negative legacy” (fu no rekishi) of World War II, the memories of which were short-circuited by radioactive outpour.

Nos différents résultats consistent principalement à établir des extensions du calcul stochastique classique. Pour (X_t) processus de Markov, il s'agissait à l'origine de donner dans les quatre cas suivants, la décomposition explicite de F(X_t,t) en tant que processus de Dirichlet, sous des conditions minimum sur F fonction déterministe à valeurs réelles. Dans le premier cas, X est un processus de Lévy réel avec composante brownienne. Dans le deuxième cas X est un processus de Lévy symétrique sans composante brownienne mais admettant des temps locaux en tant que processus de Markov. Dans le troisième cas, X est un processus de Markov symétrique général sans condition d'existence de temps locaux mais F(x,t) ne dépend pas de t. Dans le quatrième cas, nous supprimons l'hypothèse de symétrie du troisième cas. Dans chacun des trois premiers cas, on obtient une formule d'Itô à la seule condition que la fonction F admette des dérivées de Radon-Nikodym d'ordre 1 localement bornées. On rappelle que dans l'hypothèse où X est une semi-martingale, la formule d'Itô classique nécessite que F soit C^2. C'est l'hypothèse que nous devons prendre dans le quatrième cas. Le premier cas excepté, chacune des formules d'Itô obtenues s'appuie sur la construction de nouvelles intégrales stochastiques par rapport à des processus aléatoires qui ne sont pas des semi-martingales.

Environmental, social, and economic pressure on energy issues has been a serious and urgent concern in countries like Japan, which is heavily reliant on imported energy. After the Fukushima incident in March 2011, energy issues, notably nuclear energy maters, have drawn a special attention in Japan. For long-term and promising solutions for the issue, demand side of the energy consumption at individual level should be focused. This study hence was carried out to find out possibility of sustainable energy consumption in Japan at individual level and key barriers and drivers to change behavior for energy conservation. 7 in-depth interviews were conducted to examine public reception on energy issues, and barriers and drivers to trigger energy conservation behavior among Japanese people. Also, perspective on energy issues from Japanese government and Japan Business Federation were comparably analyzed. The results identified that the Fukushima incident has little impact on people’s behavior, while there has been increasing anxiety on energy systems among them. The Fukushima incident itself therefore does not seem to affect energy conservation behavior among the Japanese. Rather, it can be assumed that energy conservation can be triggered by personal aspects or situational aspects such as perception on preferable outcome, perceived easiness of achieving the behavior, moral norm (sense of “mottainai”), past habit, and community level of social mood on energy conservation. On the other hand, family support and discomfort were found to prevent from making the behavior to occur. Moreover, since there was an evident distrust of the public towards the government, it was difficult to share the same energy issues between the two sectors, hence, restoration of the distrust is a crucial challenge for the government.

This thesis examines the news coverage of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that devastated the country of Japan in March 2011 from a comparative standpoint. Drawing on the key concepts in the theory of social constructionism and frame analysis, the series of studies in this thesis comparatively examines how cultures and value systems factored into the process of news production, dissemination and consumption when it comes to the news stories on what the Japanese government officially named the Great East Japan Earthquake. The first section looks at how Japan and its people were portrayed amid disaster relief efforts and analyzes how culture itself has become the topic of discussion and part of reality construction. The second section, on frame analysis, focuses on the workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, often called the Fukushima 50 by the Western media, and examines the cultural characteristics that contributed to the observable discrepancies in the ways they were represented by the Japanese media and their Western counterparts. The third study aims to shed light on the environment surrounding today’s foreign correspondents and international news reporting in the context of Japan, investigating what factors influence the ways journalist go about reporting and framing their versions of realities. The fourth section attempts to deconstruct the news narratives in terms of risk communication by paying particular attention to how people reacted to the coverage of potential dangers of radiation leaks as well as the tsunami warnings in Tohoku area. In the end, the series of studies described above underlines how cultural factors significantly affected the ways in which the journalists covered Japan in 2011 as well as the ways news audiences understood what was going on. The thesis argues that there are two types of cultural faming that contributed greatly to the social construction of realities in the aftermath of the triple disasters. The first type of cultural framing was observed when reporters consistently made the culture of Japan and its supposedly “unique” values as the main frame of news narratives. It often implied that the Japanese culture was somewhat exotic or alien through foreign eyes. The second type of cultural framing was observed when the cultural dispositions of journalists and audience framed the potential risk such as the incoming tsunami and the vital newsmakers such as workers in Fukushima Daiichi using familiar cultural molds. The finding accentuated the intricacy and precarious nature of “realities” in news reports. The research also indicated that when cultural factors in news process dictate and determine the focal point of reality perception, they tend to bring about racial discussions and stereotypical images in narratives. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This master thesis deals with ethical issues of evacuation around the Fukushima nuclear plant. Taking into account that the evacuation takes place mostly in tense situations as a result of an extreme incident, it is essential that the process of evacuation is effectively managed, organized and executed. It is also necessary to ensure effective communication between all involved departments and residents. Evacuation must be well managed, not only on the technical side, but also on the ethical and moral side. In the practical part of the thesis some questions were raised, which surveyed: a) What ethical principles have been applied in dealing with evacuation and communication with residents? b) What alternatives in the ethical approach can be used? c) Can an applied ethics be used in crisis management? During evacuation in Fukushima and afterwards during communication with residents, affected by the effects of the accident, the government used a paternalistic way of issuing commands and decided what information the residents need to know. According to the testimonies of residents, the information was insufficient, inaccurate and in some areas in the early hours of the accident there wasn´t any information at all. On the question of alternatives in ethical approach, we can use instead of already mentioned paternalistic way, democratic or more autonomous approach. That, however, brings with it demands on all concerned as are operators of nuclear power plants, people from crisis management and radiation protection, state and finally residents themselves. It is about the involvement of all as equal partners, about openness, truthfulness, honesty, about increasing knowledge and awareness of radiation protection. The usage of applied ethics in crisis management is possible, but requires a changeover in the personal approach of all concerned people. First of the objectives of the study was to compare the paternalistic and democratic approach in providing information to the population and issuing orders to evacuation. I compared paternalistic and democratic way, and I came to the conclusion that it is necessary to find an appropriate level of application of these two methods. The second objective was to describe the criteria applied in Fukushima evacuation with regard to the amount of radiation exposure and differentiation of the population. In terms of the amount received by the exposure of the affected population was the largest part of the population evacuated before the release of radionuclides into the air and very positive it is that nobody died on the effects of radiation during the accident. The last goal of thesis was to find out what is the view of current residents in Czech Republic and those who work in emergency management and are responsible for the progress of evacuation or work in a sphere related to radiation activities, which provide various information and deal with the issue of long-term evacuation during a nuclear accident. Data were collected by prepared questionnaire, which contained nine closed questions. Questions were given to the residents presented at the time of the questionnaire survey on the streets in randomly picked villages and also through e-mail. Responses were graphically expressed as a numerical value and verbal evaluation and respondents' answers are commented in the discussion. The thesis can be used to implement ethical principles not only in crisis management, but also in the beginning of designing and building nuclear power plants in the region. The entire process of the formation and operation of nuclear power plants has not only a technical dimension, but also ethical. Thesis can be also used as study material for teaching on the field of emergency preparedness, which can extend the technical knowledge of the ethical dimension, which, as it turned out in Fukushima is also very important.

This dissertation examines questions of citizenship and risk after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. I argue that for sectors of the population concerned with the health effects of radiation exposure, the disaster motivated them to reconsider their relationship to the Japanese state. I introduce the concept of scientific citizenship to explore the dynamics whereby ordinary people amassed enough knowledge to critically assess expert advice and form conclusions about the intentions and ability of the state to safeguard them. Crucially, citizenship in this context is not a mode of engagement with the state where citizens seek its protection, but rather a way of circumventing it to ensure the health of future generations. It is inscribed in the decision to find alternative modes of ensuring the basic rights to life and health above and beyond the work of the state. Based on two years of in-depth fieldwork in the aftermath of the disaster, I explore ethnographically the work of groups of mothers, farmers and experts who came together to share and disseminate knowledge about radiation in an effort to protect their own and each other's children from radiation. / Anthropology

Iodine-129 is a naturally and anthropogenically produced radioisotope (half-life: 15.7 million years) the majority of which is produced by nuclear fuel reprocessing. These releases have dispersed 129I throughout the environment making it possible to use 129I as a tracer. It is also of concern for the disposal of radioactive waste. This research develops a new laboratory method for 129I extraction and analysis, and explores the geochemical cycling and environmental fate of 129I in remote catchments following the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Accident (FDNA). A new technique was developed to investigate 129I partitioning and quantitatively extract it from solid samples. Samples are combusted and volatilized iodine is trapped in solution. The efficiency is traced using the iodine isotope, 125I. This technique was proven using standard reference materials and is used in other chapters of this thesis. A baseline study of 129I in Yukon watersheds was undertaken to determine the impact of anthropogenic 129I emissions and identify possible sources. Using atmospheric back-trajectory modeling, sources of 129I from Fukushima, nuclear fuel reprocessing and marine volatilization were identified in remote watersheds. Peat moss samples showed significant retention of 129I in modern samples. Following the reconnaissance study, a catchment scale investigation of anthropogenic 129I cycling was undertaken through precipitation and runoff monitoring. 129I was found to be an excellent indicator of initial snowmelt contributions to discharge due to enrichment by dry deposition. Furthermore, water source transitions in discharge were recorded by 129I, 127I and the 129I/127I ratio showing iodine can be used as a tracer of hydrologic processes. A mass balance found that 77% of the 129I mass input accumulates annually, primarily in organic soils. Sampling of Vancouver, B.C. precipitation and groundwater was done following the FDNA to determine the fate of 129I and evaluate it as a tracer of groundwater recharge. Immediately following the FDNA the 129I concentration in precipitation increased 6 times above background. Groundwater samples also showed 129I increases consistent with expected recharge times indicating FDNA derived 129I was transported into groundwater with minimal retardation, likely via preferential flowpaths.

This thesis aims on solving consequences of nuclear accidents in nucler power plants through commercial insurance. First part of this work introduces internationl liability framework for nuclear accidents, which contains international nuclear threaties and work of International Atomic Energy Agency, altogether with work of czech Agency for nuclear security. Next chapters describe nuclear insurance pools, with special focus on american pool American Nuclear Insurers and Czech nuclear insurance pool. Final part of this thesis goes through two big nuclear accidents in Three Mile Island power plant and in Fukushima power plant. Both accidents are described in wide perspective, including solving and financing of consequences from nuclear insurance and from other financial sources available at the time of disaster.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第21826号 / 農博第2339号 / 新制||農||1067(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H31||N5198(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科地域環境科学専攻 / (主査)准教授 髙橋 知之, 教授 北山 兼弘, 准教授 刑部 正博 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM