Nuclear Power for Good: Articulations in Japan's Nuclear Power Hegemony

Abstract

The Fukushima nuclear meltdown in March 2011 led the majority of the Japanese to support a phase-out of nuclear power. Yet, nuclear energy has become so interwoven with the social, economic, and political fabric of the Japanese society that its termination requires considerable structural and ideological changes to the society and the culture of Japan. This article examines 4 articulations that helped to shape Japan's pronuclear discourse and maintain its hegemonic status. I discuss the ways in which a variety of discursive practices were deployed to articulate nuclear power as virtuous, absolutely safe, necessary, and environmentally friendly.