Search results for "Fukushima"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
The (de)politicisation of nuclear power: The Finnish discussion after Fukushima
2017
When the Fukushima accident occurred in March 2011, Finland was at the height of a nuclear renaissance, with the Government’s decision-in-principle in 2010 to allow construction of two new nuclear reactors. This article examines the nuclear power debate in Finland after Fukushima. We deploy the concepts of (de)politicisation and hyperpoliticisation in the analysis of articles in the country’s main newspaper. Our analysis indicates that Finnish nuclear exceptionalism manifested in the safety-related depoliticising and the nation’s prosperity-related hyperpoliticisation arguments of the pro-nuclear camp. The anti-nuclear camp used politicisation strategies, such as economic arguments, to sho…
Intercultural crisis communication during the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster
2014
With the motivation of contributing to further development of the emerging field of intercultural crisis communication, the study aims at exploring the reasons why the global media criticized the Japanese authorities’ crisis communication during the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster through the inductive content analysis on both the Japanese authorities’ crisis communication and the global media’s perceptions on the Japanese authorities’ crisis communication. The data collected from 11 March to September 2011, including 160 press releases, transcripts of the foreign press conferences and speeches delivered at the international conferences by the Japanese authorities, and 120 news reports from…
RADIONUCLIDE CONCENTRATIONS IN AIR PARTICULATE AT PALERMO (ITALY) FOLLOWING FUKUSHIMA ACCIDENT
2012
Following the Fukushima accident, a series of samplings were carried out with a daily frequency to detect the arrival of radioactive contamination in air at Palermo (Italy) and to follow its evolution during the time. Air particulate collection was performed by suction of atmospheric air through cellulose filter paper by means of a high-volume air sampler (∼15 000 m(3) d(-1)). Spectrometric analysis of the filters highlights the presence of (131)I, (134)Cs, (137)Cs and, only for a few samples, traces of (132)Te-(132)I and (136)Cs. Maximum airborne concentrations were 883 μBq m(-3) for (131)I (only particulate), 81 μBq m(-3) for (137)Cs and 70 μBq m(-3) for (134)Cs. From a dose to population…
“Living in Contaminated Areas”—Consideration of Different Perspectives
2020
Following large-scale nuclear power plant accidents such as those that occurred at Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986 and Fukushima Daiichi (Japan) in 2011, large populations are living in areas containing residual amounts of radioactivity. As a key session of the ConRad conference, experts were invited from different disciplines to provide state-of-the-art information on the topic of "living in contaminated areas." These experts provided their different perspectives on a range of topics including radiation protection principles and dose criteria, environmental measurements and dose estimation, maintaining decent living and working conditions, evidence of health risks, and social impact and risk c…
Signaled and Silenced Aspects of Nuclear Safety: A Critical Evaluation of International Nuclear Safety Thinking
2015
This article provides a critical analysis of safety-related assumptions and practices in international nuclear safety regulation, together with an overview of those aspects of safety that have been either signaled or silenced. The data consist of safety reports from the IAEA, OECD NEA and Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA), as well as from the national stress tests reports of the United Kingdom and Finland. For theoretical tools, we draw on the concept of a dominant co-operative scheme, and on some parts of Luhmann's Theory of Social Systems. The method is content analysis. We argue that the prevailing thoughts on safety by the international nuclear safety organizations…
Severe Psychological Distress of Evacuees in Evacuation Zone Caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident: The Fukushima Health Manag…
2015
Background Following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has continued to affect the mental health status of residents in the evacuation zone. To examine the mental health status of evacuee after the nuclear accident, we conducted the Mental Health and Lifestyle Survey as part of the ongoing Fukushima Health Management Survey. Methods We measured mental health status using the Kessler 6-item psychological distress scale (K6) in a total of 73,569 (response rate: 40.7%) evacuees aged 15 and over who lived in the evacuation zone in Fukushima Prefecture. We then dichotomized responders using a 12/13 cutoff on the K…
Fission Product Activity Measurements in Air Particulate Filters Collected after Fukushima Accident at Palermo, Italy
2012
In the framework of routine operation of AGN-201 COSTANZA Nuclear research reactor, measurements of radionuclide air concentration are periodically performed by filtering an high volume of air through paper filters and by using HPGe gamma-ray spectrometry. After Fukushima accident, a series of samplings was carried out with a daily frequency so to detect the possible arrival of air radioactive contamination and to follow its evolution. Particulate collection was performed by suction of atmospheric air through 45cm × 45cm Sofiltra-Poelman HYN-75 (Bleu type) cellulose filter paper using a high-volume air sampler located on the roof of our department 20 m above ground-level. The sampling time …
Misura di concentrazioni di prodotti di fissione in aria a Palermo a seguito dell’incidente di Fukushima
2011
Nell’ambito del controllo periodico della radioattività ambientale attorno al reattore di ricerca AGN-201 Costanza di questa Università, vengono effettuate di routine rilevazioni di concentrazioni di radionuclidi artificiali e naturali in atmosfera tramite filtrazioni di aria e misure con spettrometria gamma. Dopo la comunicazione dell’incidente di Fukushima (Giappone), conseguente all’evento sismico del 11 marzo 2011 e del successivo devastante “tsunami”, è stata effettuata una serie di campionamenti di particolato atmosferico con frequenza giornaliera in modo da rilevare l’eventuale arrivo su Palermo (e sulla Sicilia) della possibile contaminazione radioattiva in aria e seguirne l’evoluzi…