Japan's Nuclear Future

Japan's Nuclear Future PDF Author: Emma Chanlett-Avery
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437923240
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 16

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Book Description
Contents: (1) Introduction; (2) Background; (3) An Evolving Security Environment in Asia; (4) Japan¿s Nuclear Capacity: Japan¿s Nuclear Energy Program; Technological Potential; (5) Japanese Legal and Political Restraints: (a) Domestic Factors: Public Opinion; Elite Opinions; Constitutional Restraints; 1955 Atomic Energy Basic Law; Three Non-Nuclear Principles; (b) External Factors: International Law; Consequences for Civilian Nuclear Program; International Diplomatic Consequences; (6) Issues for U.S. Policy; U.S. Security Commitment; Potential for Asian Arms Race; U.S.-China Relations; Future of the Korean Peninsula; Japan¿s International Reputation; Damage to Global Non-Proliferation Regime.

Japan's Nuclear Future

Japan's Nuclear Future PDF Author: Emma Chanlett-Avery
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437923240
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 16

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Book Description
Contents: (1) Introduction; (2) Background; (3) An Evolving Security Environment in Asia; (4) Japan¿s Nuclear Capacity: Japan¿s Nuclear Energy Program; Technological Potential; (5) Japanese Legal and Political Restraints: (a) Domestic Factors: Public Opinion; Elite Opinions; Constitutional Restraints; 1955 Atomic Energy Basic Law; Three Non-Nuclear Principles; (b) External Factors: International Law; Consequences for Civilian Nuclear Program; International Diplomatic Consequences; (6) Issues for U.S. Policy; U.S. Security Commitment; Potential for Asian Arms Race; U.S.-China Relations; Future of the Korean Peninsula; Japan¿s International Reputation; Damage to Global Non-Proliferation Regime.

Japan's Nuclear Future

Japan's Nuclear Future PDF Author: Selig S. Harrison
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
SCOTT (Copy 1): From the John Holmes Library Collection

Japan's Nuclear Future

Japan's Nuclear Future PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : East Asia
Languages : en
Pages : 13

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Book Description
Japan, traditionally one of the most prominent advocates of the international non-proliferation regime, has consistently pledged to forswear nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, evolving circumstances in Northeast Asia, particularly North Korea's nuclear test in October 2006 and China's ongoing military modernization drive, have raised new questions about Japan's vulnerability to potential adversaries and, therefore, the appeal of developing an independent nuclear deterrent. The previous taboo within the Japanese political community of discussing a nuclear weapons capability appears to have been broken, as several officials and opinion leaders have urged an open debate on the topic. Despite these factors, a strong consensus -- both in Japan and among Japan watchers -- remains that Japan will not pursue the nuclear option in the short-to-medium term. This paper examines the prospects for Japan pursuing a nuclear weapons capability by assessing the existing technical infrastructure of its extensive civilian nuclear energy program. It explores the range of challenges that Japan would have to overcome to transform its current program into a military program. Presently, Japan appears to lack several of the prerequisites for a full-scale nuclear weapons deterrent: expertise on bomb design, reliable delivery vehicles, an intelligence program to protect and conceal assets, and sites for nuclear testing. In addition, a range of legal and political restraints on Japan's development of nuclear weapons. Any reconsideration and/or shift of Japan's policy of nuclear abstention would have significant implications for U.S. policy in East Asia. In this report, an examination of the factors driving Japan's decision-making -- most prominently, the strength of the U.S. security guarantee -- analyzes how the nuclear debate in Japan affects U.S. security interests in the region.

The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster and the Future of Renewable Energy

The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster and the Future of Renewable Energy PDF Author: Naoto Kan
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501726951
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 46

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Book Description
In a speech delivered in Japanese at Cornell University, Naoto Kan describes the harrowing days after a cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami led to the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In vivid language, he tells how he struggled with the possibility that tens of millions of people would need to be evacuated. Cornell Global Perspectives is an imprint of Cornell University’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. The works examine critical global challenges, often from an interdisciplinary perspective, and are intended for a non-specialist audience. The Distinguished Speaker series presents edited transcripts of talks delivered at Cornell, both in the original language and in translation.

Meltdown!

Meltdown! PDF Author: Fred Bortz
Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books ™
ISBN: 1512453005
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
Japan. March 11, 2011. 2:46 P.M. The biggest earthquake in Japan's history—and one of the world's five most powerful since 1900—devastated the Tohoku region, 320 kilometers (200 miles) northeast of Tokyo. It triggered a huge tsunami that left crippling damage in its wake. More than 13,000 people drowned, and thousands of buildings and homes were reduced to rubble. As people assessed the damage, they made the most frightening discovery of all: the Fukushima #1 nuclear power plant was seriously damaged and three of its six reactors were heading for meltdowns. Workers tried desperately—but unsuccessfully—to save them. Explosions and fires released radioactivity into the air. Within days the Japanese government declared a 20-kilometer (12-mile) evacuation zone. The future of the plant, the long-term health of those exposed to radiation, and the effects on the environment remained uncertain. Learn more about this massive catastrophe as Dr. Fred Bortz examines both the human tragedy and the scientific implications of the nuclear meltdown. Compare this disaster to similar nuclear events in the United States and in Ukraine, and move ahead with Dr. Bortz as he explores the global debate about the future of nuclear power and alternative sources of energy.

My Nuclear Nightmare

My Nuclear Nightmare PDF Author: Naoto Kan
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501706667
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
"Naoto Kan, who was prime minister of Japan when the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster began, has become a ubiquitous and compelling voice for the global antinuclear movement. Kan compared the potential worst-case devastation that could be caused by a nuclear power plant meltdown as tantamount only to 'a great world war. Nothing else has the same impact.' Japan escaped such a dire fate during the Fukushima disaster, said Kan, only ‘due to luck.’ Even so, Kan had to make some steely-nerved decisions that necessitated putting all emotion aside. In a now famous phone call from Tepco, when the company asked to pull all their personnel from the out-of-control Fukushima site for their own safety, Kan told them no. The workforce must stay. The few would need to make the sacrifice to save the many. Kan knew that abandoning the Fukushima Daiichi site would cause radiation levels in the surrounding environment to soar. His insistence that the Tepco workforce remain at Fukushima was perhaps one of the most unsung moments of heroism in the whole sorry saga."—The Ecologist On March 11, 2011, a massive undersea earthquake off Japan’s coast triggered devastating tsunami waves that in turn caused meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Ranked with Chernobyl as the worst nuclear disaster in history, Fukushima will have lasting consequences for generations. Until 3.11, Japan’s Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, had supported the use of nuclear power. His position would undergo a radical change, however, as Kan watched the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Power Plant unfold and came to understand the potential for the physical, economic, and political destruction of Japan.In My Nuclear Nightmare, Kan offers a fascinating day-by-day account of his actions in the harrowing week after the earthquake struck. He records the anguished decisions he had to make as the scale of destruction became clear and the threat of nuclear catastrophe loomed ever larger—decisions made on the basis of information that was often unreliable. For example, frustrated by the lack of clarity from the executives at Tepco, the company that owned the power plant, Kan decided to visit Fukushima himself, despite the risks, so he could talk to the plant’s manager and find out what was really happening on the ground. As he details, a combination of extremely good fortune and hard work just barely prevented a total meltdown of all of Fukushima’s reactor units, which would have necessitated the evacuation of the thirty million residents of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area.In the book, first published in Japan in 2012, Kan also explains his opposition to nuclear power: "I came to understand that a nuclear accident carried with it a risk so large that it could lead to the collapse of a country." When Kan was pressured by the opposition to step down as prime minister in August 2011, he agreed to do so only after legislation had been passed to encourage investments in alternative energy. As both a document of crisis management during an almost unimaginable disaster and a cogent argument about the dangers of nuclear power, My Nuclear Nightmare is essential reading.

Future U.S.-Japanese Nuclear Energy Relations

Future U.S.-Japanese Nuclear Energy Relations PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nuclear industry
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description


Japan

Japan PDF Author: Frank Baldwin
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479889385
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
"A joint publication of the Social Science Research Council and New York University Press."

Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety of U.S. Nuclear Plants

Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety of U.S. Nuclear Plants PDF Author: National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety and Security of U.S. Nuclear Plants
Publisher: National Academy Press
ISBN: 9780309272537
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
The March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami sparked a humanitarian disaster in northeastern Japan. They were responsible for more than 15,900 deaths and 2,600 missing persons as well as physical infrastructure damages exceeding $200 billion. The earthquake and tsunami also initiated a severe nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Three of the six reactors at the plant sustained severe core damage and released hydrogen and radioactive materials. Explosion of the released hydrogen damaged three reactor buildings and impeded onsite emergency response efforts. The accident prompted widespread evacuations of local populations, large economic losses, and the eventual shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan. "Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety and Security of U.S. Nuclear Plants" is a study of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. This report examines the causes of the crisis, the performance of safety systems at the plant, and the responses of its operators following the earthquake and tsunami. The report then considers the lessons that can be learned and their implications for U.S. safety and storage of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste, commercial nuclear reactor safety and security regulations, and design improvements. "Lessons Learned" makes recommendations to improve plant systems, resources, and operator training to enable effective ad hoc responses to severe accidents. This report's recommendations to incorporate modern risk concepts into safety regulations and improve the nuclear safety culture will help the industry prepare for events that could challenge the design of plant structures and lead to a loss of critical safety functions. In providing a broad-scope, high-level examination of the accident, "Lessons Learned" is meant to complement earlier evaluations by industry and regulators. This in-depth review will be an essential resource for the nuclear power industry, policy makers, and anyone interested in the state of U.S. preparedness and response in the face of crisis situations.

Fukushima

Fukushima PDF Author: David Lochbaum
Publisher: New Press, The
ISBN: 1620971186
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
“A gripping, suspenseful page-turner” (Kirkus Reviews) with a “fast-paced, detailed narrative that moves like a thriller” (International Business Times), Fukushima teams two leading experts from the Union of Concerned Scientists, David Lochbaum and Edwin Lyman, with award-winning journalist Susan Q. Stranahan to give us the first definitive account of the 2011 disaster that led to the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl. Four years have passed since the day the world watched in horror as an earthquake large enough to shift the Earth's axis by several inches sent a massive tsunami toward the Japanese coast and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing the reactors' safety systems to fail and explosions to reduce concrete and steel buildings to rubble. Even as the consequences of the 2011 disaster continue to exact their terrible price on the people of Japan and on the world, Fukushima addresses the grim questions at the heart of the nuclear debate: could a similar catastrophe happen again, and—most important of all—how can such a crisis be averted?