History Behind the News: Nuclear Power in Japan

Last Tuesday, we shared news stories that we collected from various sources in class. Many of us brought in news about the student demonstrations in Hong Kong, and diplomatic relationships between the Japanese Prime Minister, Abe Shinzô, and the Chinese President, Xi Jiping. We'll explore this interest in regional politics, from the street-level protests to diplomatic-level negotiations, in our class tomorrow.
We also shared many questions and concerns about freedom of information in the Japanese press, sparked by an article about Yoshida Masao, plant manager of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant during the crisis after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Recently released transcripts of Yoshida's testimony reveal that the now deceased nuclear engineer fears about the situation at the nuclear power plant were quite acute. I hope we can discuss more about the relationship between secret and open information, in particular in light of controversial new legislation to protect state secrets.

Guided by an academic article we read on the subject before class, Tuesday's main "history behind the news" discussion was on nuclear politics in Japan.

We reviewed the timeline of events key to the development of nuclear power in Japan, and saw how that history included both international and domestic pressures. Also notable was the ongoing tension between anti-nuclear activism and pro-nuclear energy pressures.

Here is the timeline about nuclear power we came up with in class:

1945: Nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1945-1952: The Allied Occupation of Japan
1952: Ban on nuclear power in Japan lifted
1954: Nakasone Yasuhiro requests yen from the National Diet for nuclear research. In March, the "Lucky Dragon Incident" strengthens popular resistance to nuclear power, but the Diet budgets money for nuclear research.
1955-1965: Japan shifts from relying almost entirely upon coal to generate electricity to using more and more oil.
1973: First "oil shock"
mid-1970s: Opinion polls in Japan show that 70 percent of residents supported Japan's continued nuclear power program
1979: Second "oil shock"
1980: Three Mile Island Accident. In November, opinion polls in Japan show that only 30 percent of residents supported Japan's continued nuclear power program.

The article we read showed how the local politics of Kaminoseki, Japan led to the building of nuclear power plant there, in spite of a general wariness of nuclear power in the early 1980s. The story of how communities allow nuclear power plants, a "public bad," to be built had to do with local economies and the pressures put on them, which were also linked with global movements (such as the political control of oil, as we saw).

This history helps us understand how Japan can have a "nuclear allergy" and yet also continue a nuclear power program. This is the history behind the news about restarting nuclear power plants in Japan now.