Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Developing a future policy on energy is complicated by the fact that public senti-
ment on nuclear power is very complex. When the climate issue started attracting
people's attention in the late 1990s and 2000s, the government promoted nuclear
power energy as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and this attracted
broad public acceptance. However, after the accident in Fukushima, the public re-
acted strongly against nuclear and interest moved from climate change to renewable
energy. On the other hand, people have also reacted negatively to the 20 % rise of
energy cost expected if all the nuclear power plants are stopped permanently. In
other Asian countries, the debates and discussions on nuclear power have been very
active, and their attention to the future action and decisions by the Japanese govern-
ment is high.
Another key point is that in order to accelerate the pace of economic recovery
in the local affected areas it is crucial to avoid an outflow of the population. From
survey results, it is found out that if people can expect a high income and if oth-
ers will remain in the area, then they too will be willing to continue staying in the
same area. The fishery is one of the most important industries in Tohoku and thus
there is no recovery and re-establishment of Tohoku without the re-establishment
of its fishery. Even before the tsunami, the production of the fishery had decreased
in the last 20 years due to over-fishing, and the income of fishermen is now much
lower than 20 years ago. Currently, this industry thus depends heavily on subsidies
from the government. Moreover, the fishing industry has been heavily damaged by
Fukushima's nuclear power plant accident and the prospect of radiation contamina-
tion- especially by caesium. This raises questions on how to allocate the reconstruc-
tion budget; this may be more effective if it is used for reconstruction of fabrication
facilities, not to reconstruct ports as they used to be. If the subsidy can be used more
effectively, it will provide job opportunities and benefit other industries through
generating income.
It is clear even from this very brief and general introduction on this issue that it
is important for us to learn from this experience as many lessons as possible, and
to transmit and share the information to the public in easy-to-understand ways for
the future. We thus list some topics and questions below which can be posed to the
class and trigger debate and encourage the broader outlook and thinking which is
compatible with Future Earth.
14.4.2
Questions Posed by the Current Situation Following
the Disasters
14.4.2.1
The Frequency of Tsunamis
Tohoku University experts included those with detailed knowledge on historical
tsunamis, and as part of the university's local outreach, experts would give lectures
and briefings to local communities in potentially vulnerable areas. Data on tsunamis
