The date of 2021-3-11 is marked by an event that according to science should not have been realistically expected by anybody. The probability of a meltdown of a nuclear reactor due to an earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima were simply beyond a “normal” statistical probability. And yet, it did happen. The consequences are still visible and the nuclear waste has to be dumped somewhere and lots of contaminated water has to be dealt with as well. 90.000 persons had to evacuate the area. Many of them have no interest in returning to the devastated area. Moreover, the psychological damage to the perceived security causes continuous trauma. The psychiatrist Ryoji Arizuka, interviewed for the French newspaper Liberation, reports that victims find it easier to cope with the “natural disasters” of the exceptional earthquake (9.0 on Richter scale) and the tsunami than with the man-made disaster of the meltdown of the nuclear reactor. Whereas the former disasters can be attributed to external forces, the latter example of a the explosion of the reactor is due to a failure to estimate the risk (technical, human and political) of an explosion properly by engineers and subsequently by politicians.
The commemoration of Fukushima by its governor Masao Uchibori in 2026 is a reminder that more risky technological progress comes potentially with higher costs to society as well. These “risks for societies” will have to carried by some selected regions. Solidarity with people who carry disproportionate amounts of risk should be “addressed” right from the beginning of the decision to use a risky technology, as an attempt to “internalise” the likely costs to society, eventually. Perceived cheap technology turns out to be very costly using different probabilities of associated even unlikely risks. (Image: Global stone project).
