Risk and Rationalities in Japan Among Residents of Nuclear Plant Areas

Doctoral Dissertation Academic Year 2017 Risk and Rationalities in Japan Among Residents of Nuclear Plant Areas Graduate School of Media and Governance Keio University Tarek Katramiz 2 ABSTRACT The thesis examines the complexity of risk understandings among residents of nuclear power plants (NPP). It focuses on the local communities living in a setting similar to, but not the same as, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP) site, Omaezaki City in Shizuoka Prefecture, where the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant is located. Through the lens of 3.11 and its aftermath, the thesis seeks to provide a detailed description of how residents of such communities have been making sense of living close to such facilities before, and several points in time after the 3.11 disaster. The thesis investigates residents’ viewpoints on the nearby nuclear power plant, notions of trust and responsibility, sense of place, and the factors associated with community acceptance of the facility. The thesis argues that nuclear-related issues simply cannot consume the residents’ everyday concerns, thereby dissipating the significance of the nuclear risk. The risk of having the plant in the vicinity is merely part of the wide range of risks touching upon the multidimensional concerns of the residents’ everyday life. The thesis shows how there are complex workings related to financial, communal, familial and other concerns, which make the residents' partisan choices (pro or anti- nuclear) almost mute. To the extent that the plant brings "fringe" benefits to the communities, the fundamental choice of pro- or anti- nuclear plays a secondary role in dictating the residents' outward stance toward the presence of the nuclear power plant. Theoretically, the thesis integrates economic behavioral and sociological theories of decision-making under risk(s) and uncertainty, as developed by Daniel Kahneman, Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens, among others, with an ethnographic reconceptualization of individual and community security and refines these in relation to residents' lived experiences. Overall, this qualitative study argues for the value of shifting our gaze from a sole focus on the nuclear risk as a research object as well as the reduction of residents’ risk calculation to a simple gains and losses to wider processes and 3 contexts in which residents' specific meaning-making activities and everyday practices of negotiating risk(s) and in/securities are situated and embedded. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed in the context of recent Japan energy policy. Key Word: Nuclear Power, Risk, Host Community, Fukushima, Hamaoka 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS When I embarked on the doctoral project in April 2012, I had a vague idea of how much work would be involved. While I claim authorship of this dissertation, its completion would not have been possible without the support, help, and encouragement of a great many individuals. First and foremost, I am greatly and forever indebted to Prof. Umegaki Michio, for his unwavering academic and personal support since the initial stages of my research, for his guidance, enthusiasm, immense knowledge, and the challenging stimulating discussions which shaped this dissertation. I extend my gratitude to the committee members in the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University who made this academic journey fruitful: Prof. Jimbo Ken for his pertinent comments at every occasion I had the opportunity to present my research and Prof. Hirose Yoko for her invaluable input to define the direction of the research, especially during the initial stages of my candidacy. I am especially grateful to Prof. Kanie Norichika who joined my committee late in my research process and, despite me having never participated in his class, graciously agreed to provide guidance. I am fortunate to have benefited from his expertise in environmental policy and every comment and suggestion he has given me enhanced the final edition. I hope I will have the opportunity to work with him again in the near future. I would like to thank those who agreed to participate in this research, specifically the people of Shizuoka Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture who welcomed me into their hearts, homes, and workplaces. I cannot name them, but they know who they are. This dissertation would, of course, not have been possible without them. I hope they would approve of what I have attempted to do here. This research would not have been possible without the generous support of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Research Scholarship; Kambayashi Scholarship Foundation; Kawashima Memorial Fund; Taikichiro Mori Memorial Fund; and Keio University Doctoral Students Research Support Program. 5 This journey was made deeply significant and meaningful thanks to many friends and colleagues who have readily and selflessly offered their time and assistance. In particular, I offer special thanks to fellow colleagues at Keio Dr. Vu Le Thao Chi, Masatoshi Uehara, Doo Itthida and Luisa Gonzalez for being active members of the weekly seminar discussions, which contributed immeasurably to the development of the ideas in this thesis. I also offer special thanks to Maiko Iwasaki and Yosuke Tsuchiya for assisting me, on multiple occasions and on short notice, with tasks related to Japanese translation and proofreading. I would also like to thank three people for providing generous advice and unrestricted friendship: Dr. Daniel White for particularly assisting in the formulation of the research outline shortly before my candidacy, Dr. Erik Schicketanz for many stimulating conversations during and after our fieldtrip to Iitate village in Fukushima Prefecture, and Dr. Ulli Jamitzky who I went through hard times with, cheered me on, and celebrated each accomplishment. To my family, my parents Bashar and Maha, and my younger brothers, Salah, Bisher and Yazan, thank you for your love, support, and unwavering belief in me. In particular, my parents and Salah who continue to live normally in the shadow of war in Damascus have been a tremendous source of inspiration on both personal and academic levels. None of this would have been possible without the love and support of my wife and partner Dr. Isabelle Lavelle. Her encouragement, patience, and unwavering love were undeniably the bedrock upon which the last few years of my life have been built. As a literature specialist and an intellectual, she has challenged me to develop my ideas, taught me how to own the text, and offered tremendous assistance in proofreading during the final stages. But most of all, thank you for being my best friend. Finally, nothing would mean more to me than this thesis contributing in some minimal way to the future of my shattered country, Syria. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 CHAPTER 1 9 INTRODUCTION 9 1. THE PROBLEM 15 1-1. 3.11, IN A LARGER CONTEXT 16 1-2. HOST COMMUNITIES VS. NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES: 20 DIVERGENT RESPONSES 20 1-3. LOCAL RESIDENTS UNDER RISK(S) 25 2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 28 3. METHODOLOGY 29 3-1. RESEARCH TYPE AND METHODOLOGY 30 3-2. DATA GATHERING 34 3-3. HIERARCHY OF QUESTIONS METHOD 35 4. INTRODUCING THE INFORMANTS 38 CHAPTER 2 41 TOWARD THE HAMAOKA NPP: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 41 1-1. TOWARDS NUCLEAR POWER: HISTORICAL CONTEXT 44 1-2. THE OIL SHOCK AND THE SHIFT TO THE ATOM 53 1-2. 1979-2011: A HISTORY OF NUCLEAR POWER ACCIDENTS 57 1-4. SITING STRATEGIES 58 1-5. CREATING A “CYCLE OF ADDICTION” 64 2. DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN HAMAOKA 70 2-1. OMAEZAKI-SHI: A GENERAL BACKGROUND 70 2-2. HAMAOKA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT: SITING HISTORY 72 CHAPTER 3 87 THE (IN)SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NPP IN EVERYDAY LIFE 87 1. THEORETICAL LINE 87 2. LONG HISTORY OF LOW CONCERN 92 2.1 FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION OF THE HAMAOKA NPP 95 Familiarity and Local Knowledge 95 Fleeting Concerns 98 Tradeoff 100 Economic Sustainability 102 3. THE FOCUS ON STIGMA AFTER 3.11 106 4. THE NORMALIZATION OF NUCLEAR RISK 115 4-1. NORMALIZATION STRATEGIES 115 4-2. 3.11: ‘A MOST EXTRAORDINARY EVENT’ 117 7 CHAPTER 4 123 DIFFUSION OF RISK(S): 123 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PRESSURES IN A NUCLEAR TOWN 123 1. NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS: COSTS AND BENEFITS 126 1-1. NUCLEAR-RELATED BENEFITS 127 1-2. DEPENDENCY BREEDS DEPENDENCY 131 2. LOCAL IMPACTS OF THE HAMAOKA NPP 133 2-1. MUNICIPAL REVENUES 133 2-2. VOICING ECONOMIC CONCERNS 136 3. DIRECT AND INDIRECT OPERATIONAL IMPACT 139 3-1. EMPLOYMENT 140 3-2. SECONDARY OPERATIONAL IMPACTS 145 3-3. PERSISTING ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTIES 150 4. SOCIAL PRESSURES 154 CHAPTER 5 161 DIFFUSION OF RISK(S): 161 POPULATION SHRINKAGE IN A NUCLEAR TOWN 161 1. A LONG HISTORY OF POPULATION LOSS 166 1-1. OUTMIGRATION 167 1-2. LOW FERTILITY 169 2. COMPETING RISKS: THE NPP IN A SHRINKING LOCALITY 171 2-1. A PRECARIOUS EQUILIBRIUM 174 2-2. FEARS OF BECOMING A GHOST TOWN 177 CHAPTER 6 181 TRUST AND RESPONSIBILITY NEGOTIATED 181 1. THE SAFETY MYTH COLLAPSES 181 2. TRUST 187 2.1- NEW SAFETY REGULATIONS 190 2.2- TRUST AND SOCIAL DEPENDENCY 200 3. RESPONSIBILITY 205 3.1- SHIFTING THE BLAME 206 3.2- SELF-GOVERNANCE IN QUESTION 211 3.3- GENERATIONAL RIFT 217 CONCLUSION 223 BIBLIOGRAPHY 231 APPENDIX 249 1. NUCLEAR INCIDENTS IN PERSPECTIVE 249 2. JAPANESE NUCLEAR HISTORY TIMELINE 251 8 CHAPTER 1 Introduction The triple disaster — a 9.0-magnitude earthquake, a devastating tsunami, and a resulting meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) — in the spring of 2011 took the lives of 19,074 people and displaced more than 300,000 from their homes. In the wake of this calamity, Japan was facing its worst crisis since World War II. The communities in the devastated Tohoku region have indisputably been the most immediately affected as the local population had to face the loss of lives, livelihoods and hope.

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