Germany and the Fukushima Accident in Japan
The Fukushima case asks how societies should respond when a technological disaster changes public perception of risk, even if the objective risk elsewhere may not have changed. In 2011, a major earthquake and tsunami caused meltdowns in three reactors at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan after emergency generators needed for cooling were flooded. The accident sparked a major debate about nuclear power in Germany, where nuclear energy provided a significant share of the country’s electricity. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Germany would shut down several reactors immediately and phase out the rest, even though German reactors were not exposed to the same earthquake and tsunami risks as Fukushima. The main question of this case is whether it was ethically justified to phase out nuclear power in Germany because of an accident in Japan. This case highlights the difference between objective risk and perceived risk, and it asks whether democratic governments should follow public fear, expert risk assessment, or some combination of both.