Building Social Trust After the Nation’s First Criticality Accident: A Case of Japan. M. Kusafuka, Clark University
The criticality accident that occurred at a nuclear fuel-processing plant at Tokaimura on September 30, 1999, has raised a serious question over the Japan’s democratic values. It was the Japan’s first nuclear accident that sacrificed human lives, contaminated 436 residents with radiation, and forced a partial evacuation of the town. The investigation revealed that the accident occurred due to workers’ error in processing nuclear fuels, traceable to the company’s poor occupational training for their employees and commonplace illegal operational practices. The accident also revealed that the lax governmental supervision of nuclear industry and the complete lack of preparation for nuclear accidents. Consequently, as apparently expressed in opinion polls, this human-caused accident has profoundly intensified fears against nuclear risks among the Japanese publics. For years, public fears of nuclear risks were repeatedly reported, yet the Japanese government has continuously increased the nation’s reliance on nuclear energy supply. After the nation’s worst nuclear accident, however, the government and industry were forced to review their risk management and communication practices. Given the condition of intensified gap in risk perception between experts and public and prevailing social distrust in risk manageability, the question is how Japan can rebuild social trust and meet norms of democracy. This study first reviews literature of trust and democracy with reference to risk management, and applies to a case of Japan regarding nuclear energy policies. The study next explores what Japan can learn from existing studies about its future decision-making and risk management practices. The study particularly focuses on the potential role of the rational distrust.
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