Risk Perception and Communication at Maritime Transportation to and from Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster

摘要

This paper reports the contamination-related impact of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plantdisaster on seaport activities and international maritime transportation. It then analyzes the risk perception andrisk communication after the disaster. First, the maritime-related newspaper articles published in Japan after thedisaster were extensively reviewed. Next, 11 maritime-related actors, including port managers, governments,shipping companies, port operators, and shippers, were interviewed. The interviews were conducted from Juneto December, 2011. The results of these interviews revealed that the contamination-related impact of the powerplant disaster included impacts on 42 skipping ports of container vessels operated by non-Japanese shippingcompanies in Keihin Ports, on radiation measurements of Japanese cargo at foreign ports, and on actions takenby the Japanese government and port managers. Then, the events observed after the disaster are explained alongwith the framework of social amplification of risk communication. They suggest that the risk communicationmade by maritime stakeholders successfully reduced the amplification of risk among stakeholders at the variouslevels of information sources, information channels, and stations. Finally, the lessons from the study aresummarized, including the identification of factors influencing the amplification of risk, quick responses andappropriate countermeasures by authorities and port managers, and the introduction of systematic radiationmeasurement under the international agreement.