The Impact of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident on the Opinions About the Nuclear Power Plants Among the Victims of Great East Japan Earthquake

摘要

The Great East Japan Earthquake and the following tsunami, which occurred on March 3rd,2011, was a natural disaster of an unprecedented scale. One of its more severe aftermaths,the accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, remains unresolved until this day.Thousands of people were relocated due to the nuclear contamination, and the localcommunities were severed. This paper addresses the discussion about the further exploitationof nuclear power in Japan, which arose as a consequence of the nuclear accident. Althoughthe Japanese government intends to continue relying on atomic energy, various statistics haveshown the citizens’ objection. In this qualitative study, the representatives of three areas withinTohoku region were asked about their opinions towards nuclear power plants, and theirarguments. The interviews were analyzed through the premises of socio-psychologicaldual-process theory, which explains how the opinions are constructed. One’s personalexperience, perception of benefit or loss, and the trust towards the government and the energycompanies proved to be the crucial factors for opinions’ construction. Moreover, the tragedycontributed to end the indifference of citizens, disappointed with the centralized governmentand its poor disaster response. The importance of the local authorities is increasing, and theclose-knit societies are recovering faster. Lastly, the Japanese urgent need for alternativeenergy sources became visible, however currently there is no substitute capable of replacingnuclear power completely.