MY FIRST MELTDOWN: LESSONS FROM FUKUSHIMA

摘要

On Mar 11, 2011, the author, in his apartment in Kyoto, Japan, is watching his first partial nuclear meltdown 335 miles away in Fukushima. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano becomes a regular fixture on the televisions and laptops. Because he, and the Kan administration, are reliant on the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power, for information, he can offer little more than reassurances that the situation is under control. These come in stark contrast to the ever more frightening scenes behind him. E-mails from family back home are hysterical in tone. Tragedies like a tsunami can't be prevented. Other disasters, like the Kan administration's public relations response to the breakdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, offer lessons for the future. One lesson to be learned from the Fukushima disaster, evinced by the many who stayed to volunteer in the areas most affected by the tsunami: Trust your people not to panic. They're probably more steady than you think.