ABSTRACT
The nuclear village is convenient shorthand to describe a powerful alignment of interest groups that promote nuclear energy. The return of the pronuclear Abe Shinzo to power in 2012 has benefited the nuclear village. Institutions are not destiny, but in Japan’s nuclear sector they are proving resilient in a very unfavorable environment. The cascade of tawdry revelations about lax safety practices made it tricky to spin the 2011 Fukushima nuclear debacle. Yet the nuclear village has engaged in surprisingly effective damage control, spreading blame, obfuscating responsibility, and otherwise muddying public discourse while lobbying in the corridors of power to reinstate nuclear energy.
