nuclear-news

Less than a quarter of Japan’s nuclear engineers think that the industry is trustworthy

Only 23.4 percent, down from 43.8 percent a year earlier, said they “can agree” with the view that “the safety awareness and efforts of those engaged in the use of nuclear energy are trustworthy.”

Atomic engineers feel less confident about nuke safety September 22, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN After watching one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters in their own backyard, members of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, a pro-nuclear association of nuclear engineers, are not surprisingly feeling much less confident about the safety of their industry.

Shoji Tsuchida, a professor of social psychology at Kansai University
who analyzed the results of a recent AESJ survey, attributed the loss
of confidence in nuclear power generation to the March 2011 core
meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The survey results were released Sept. 20 during a fall meeting of the
AESJ in Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.

“(The accident) shocked many AESJ members,” Tsuchida said. “It is up
to the AESJ how it can help build on that sentiment for improvement.”

Questionnaires were sent by postal mail to 1,400 individuals selected
randomly from the approximately 7,000 members of the engineering
society. Similar surveys have been conducted annually since 2007.

The results of January to February 2012 surveys were compared with
similar results from January and February 2011 to ascertain the impact
of the Fukushima disaster following the Great East Japan Earthquake
and tsunami.

Only 23.2 percent of the respondents said they feel “secure” about the
use of nuclear power, as opposed to 51.1 percent a year earlier. Some
20.6 percent, up from 7.4 percent in 2011, said they didn’t feel
either “secure” or “insecure” about the use of atomic energy.

Only 23.4 percent, down from 43.8 percent a year earlier, said they
“can agree” with the view that “the safety awareness and efforts of
those engaged in the use of nuclear energy are trustworthy.”……..

September 22, 2012 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | Japan, psychology - mental health