Discursos de divulgação da ciência na imprensa escrita - o desastre de Fukushima nos jornais Correio da Manhã e Público

Dissertação para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Ensino de Biologia e Geologia

Die politische Kommunikation der Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel zur Energiewende : Fukushima – Bruch oder Kontinuität in der Kommunikationsstrategie?

Die Arbeit untersuchte im Zeitraum vom Sommer 2010 bis Sommer 2011 die Äußerungen der Bundeskanzlerin Merkel zur Energiewende und den Laufzeitverlängerungen der Kernkraftwerke. Fokus war dabei die Strategie der politischen Kommunikation, rhetorische Merkmale der Kommunikation sowie das Verhältnis von Darstellungs- und Entscheidungspolitik.

Uranium reserve, nuclear fuel cycle delusion, CO2 emission from the sea, and electricity supply: reflections after the fuel meltdown of Fukushima nuclear power units

The Great Tohoku-Kanto earthquake and resulting tsunami has brought considerable attention to the issue of the construction of new power plants. We argue in this paper, nuclear power is not a sustainable solution to energy problems. First, we explore the stock of uranium-235 and the different schemes developed by the nuclear power industry to exploit this resource. Second, we show that these methods, fast breeder and MOX fuel reactors, are not feasible. Third, we show that the argument that nuclear energy can be used to reduce CO2 emissions is false: the emissions from the increased water evaporation from nuclear power generation must be accounted for. In the case of Japan, water from nuclear power plants is drained into the surrounding sea, raising the water temperature which has an adverse affect on the immediate ecosystem, as well as increasing CO2 emissions from increased water evaporation from the sea. Next, a short exercise is used to show that nuclear power is not even needed to meet consumer demand in Japan. Such an exercise should be performed for any country considering the construction of additional nuclear power plants. Lastly, the paper is concluded with a discussion of the implications of our findings.

What role for nuclear power in Japan after Fukushima?

This chapter brings a human security lens to bear on the energy-mix question in post-Fukushima Japan. In particular, two of the four elements of human security identified in the 1994 Human Development Report (HDR), prevention and people-centeredness, are mobilized. We trace developments in Japan’s post-Fukushima nuclear politics through the demise of DPJ rule to the advent of the LDP government, and evaluate the current nuclear energy strategy of the Abe administration. Using a human security framework, we consider the economic security dimension of the arguments for and against the use of nuclear power, and weigh the result of this consideration against a concern with the six other elements of human security identified in the 1994 HDR. We conclude that the risks and threats to human security engendered by the use of nuclear energy outweigh any benefits that could reasonably be argued to accrue from its use. The notion of prevention, so central to the concept of human security, performs a further ‘trumping’ function, in leading us to put a premium on the downside risk of the use of nuclear energy.

Fukushima Effects on Media Coverage and Attitudes in Germany

The paper examines the question, in how far Fukushima caused changes in the media coverage and the public opinion about nuclear power in Germany. To answer this question we used two methods, content analysis and survey. Firstly we analysed data from a quantitative content analyses to examine changes in the media coverage about nuclear power between 2010 and 2011. The first investigation period lasted from 10.07.2010 to 04.09.2010, immediately before the German Bundestag vote for the lifetime extension of nuclear power stations. The second investigation period covered the first two months of media coverage after Fukushima from 12.03.2011 to 16.5.2011. Secondly our data consist of a representative telephone panel survey (n=341). As the first wave was carried out from 16.8.2010 to 06.9.2010 and the second wave from 15.5.2011 to 04.06.2011 these data set gives us the unique possibility to investigate attitude changes about nuclear power on the individual level.

Fukushima und die Folgen. Medienberichterstattung, Öffentliche Meinung, Politische Konsequenzen

Am 11. März 2011 ereignete sich vor der japanischen Küste ein schweres Erdbeben. Es löste einen gewaltigen Tsunami aus, der an der Ostküste Japans schwere Schäden hervorrief und fast 20.000 Menschen das Leben kostete. Im Atomkraftwerk Fukushima verursachte der Tsunami eine Reaktorkatastrophe, in deren Folge insbesondere in Deutschland eine heftige Diskussion über die Atomenergie entflammte, die schließlich zum deutschen Atomausstieg führte. Die Reaktorkatastrophe erfuhr international eine große öffentliche (Medien-) Aufmerksamkeit und rief auch die kommunikationswissenschaftliche Forschung auf den Plan. Ergebnisse dieser Forschungen, die an verschiedenen Stellen unabhängig voneinander durchgeführt wurden, sind in diesem Band versammelt. In insgesamt 13 Beiträgen werden die medialen und öffentlichen Reaktionen auf das Unglück empirisch analysiert. Die Beiträge befassen sich zum einen mit der Darstellung der Atomenergie in historischer Vergleichsperspektive, wobei die Reaktorkatastrophe in Tschernobyl als Referenzpunkt für Fukushima diente. In weiteren Beiträgen wird die Dynamik der Berichterstattung in Deutschland fokussiert. Fünf Beiträge betrachten die Reaktionen der Medien in internationaler Vergleichsperspektive und weitere vier untersuchen die Reaktionen der Bevölkerung auf die Ereignisse in Fukushima. Die Beiträge beruhen überwiegend auf quantitativen Inhaltsanalysen und Befragungen, aber es wurden auch qualitative Methoden sowie automatisierten Verfahren der Textanalyse verwendet. Zudem wurden in mehreren Studien verschiedene Formen der Datenerhebung kombiniert. Durch die Zusammenführung der unterschiedlichen Perspektiven wird eine differenzierte Einschätzung der medialen und gesellschaftlichen Konsequenzen des Extremereignisses möglich. Die Umrisse eines Forschungsprogramms für die Nachhaltigkeits-, Energie- und Umweltkommunikation werden sichtbar.

Collaboration patterns, external shocks and uncertainty: Swiss nuclear energy politics before and after Fukushima

Energy shocks like the Fukushima accident can have important political consequences. This article examines their impact on collaboration patterns between collective actors in policy processes. It argues that external shocks create both behavioral uncertainty, meaning that actors do not know about other actors' preferences, and policy uncertainty on the choice and consequences of policy instruments. The context of uncertainty interacts with classical drivers of actor collaboration in policy processes. The analysis is based on a dataset comprising interview and survey data on political actors in two subsequent policy processes in Switzerland and Exponential Random Graph Models for network data. Results first show that under uncertainty, collaboration of actors in policy processes is less based on similar preferences than in stable contexts, but trust and knowledge of other actors are more important. Second, under uncertainty, scientific actors are not preferred collaboration partners.