ABSTRACT

The Fukushima Effect offers a range of scholarly perspectives on the international effect of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown four years out from the disaster. Grounded in the field of science, technology and society (STS) studies, a leading cast of international scholars from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the United States examine the extent and scope of the Fukushima effect. The authors each focus on one country or group of countries, and pay particular attention to national histories, debates and policy responses on nuclear power development covering such topics as safety of nuclear energy, radiation risk, nuclear waste management, development of nuclear energy, anti-nuclear protest movements, nuclear power representations, and media representations of the effect. The countries featured include well established ‘nuclear nations’, emergent nuclear nations and non-nuclear nations to offer a range of contrasting perspectives.

This volume will add significantly to the ongoing international debate on the Fukushima disaster and will interest academics, policy-makers, energy pundits, public interest organizations, citizens and students engaged variously with the Fukushima disaster itself, disaster management, political science, environmental/energy policy and risk, public health, sociology, public participation, civil society activism, new media, sustainability, and technology governance.