Japan: Risk communication programs after the Fukushima nuclear accident: a comparison of epistemic cultures

Fukushima Global Communication Programme Working Paper Series Number 13, December 2015

This paper explores the citizen radiation measuring organizations as an example of risk communication and contrasts their ‘epistemic culture’ with that of the nuclear industry’s risk communication programs. Two policy recommendations are made in the paper. First, risk communication needs to be firmly decoupled with public relations. Second, the cost (including remunerating citizens for their participation) of open, participatory, and sustained dialogue about radiation risks needs to be factored in any cost estimate of nuclear power.