Nuclear policy responses to Fukushima: Exit, voice, and loyalty

M. V. Ramana, whose work is supported in part by Carnegie Corporation, reviews international response since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accidents that happened two years ago this month. He identifies several common elements that seem to be at play in countries that are staying the course on nuclear power, including: hasty dismissals by government officials, pronouncements about the safety of deployed or proposed reactor designs, propaganda campaigns, international financing for reactor construction, and an emphasis on projected growth in energy demand. 

Read more in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

M. V. Ramana is currently appointed jointly with the Nuclear Futures Laboratory and the Program on Science and Global Security, both at Princeton University, and works on the future of nuclear energy in the context of climate change and nuclear disarmament. He is the author of The Power of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy in India (Penguin, 2012). Ramana is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials and the Bulletin 's Science and Security Board.