Japan's Nuclear Disaster and the Politics of Safety Governance

Koppenborg argues that regulatory reforms after the Fukushima disaster raised the costs of nuclear power in Japan by altering the regulatory environment, shifting state-business relations, and increasing social acceptance costs. These changes impacted the ability of pronuclear actors to implement nuclear power policy and caused a rift within the nuclear village.

Format: Hardback
Length: 234 pages
Publication date: 15 June 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press

In her book "Japan's Nuclear Disaster and the Politics of Safety Governance," Florentine Koppenborg makes a compelling argument that the regulatory reforms implemented in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster on March 11, 2011, have had a significant impact on the costs of nuclear power in Japan. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) played a pivotal role in resisting capture by the nuclear industry and fundamentally altering the environment for nuclear policy implementation. This resistance led to the adoption of independent safety regulation, which shifted the state-business relations in the nuclear power domain from regulatory capture to top-down safety regulation. This shift resulted in increased technical safety costs for electric utilities. Furthermore, the safety agency's extended emergency preparedness regulations expanded the scope of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) demonstrations. Antinuclear protests, primarily lawsuits challenging restarts, incurred additional social acceptance costs.

These increasing costs posed a challenge to pronuclear actors' ability to implement nuclear power policy and led to a rift within the nuclear village. However, small nuclear safety administration reforms played a significant role in shaping the dynamics of nuclear power politics in Japan.

Koppenborg's findings contribute to ongoing discussions about the rise of independent regulatory agencies, the role of crises as a catalyst for change, and the importance of nuclear power in addressing global concerns about decarbonizing our energy supply. Her book offers valuable insights into the complex interplay between regulatory reforms, industry influence, and public perceptions, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities facing the nuclear industry in Japan and beyond.

Weight: 454g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501770043