Researcher(s):
Tasha Addington-Ferris
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2017 Completed: May 2018 Go to project site
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My thesis explores the boundaries of resilience in social-ecological systems (SES) experiencing nuclear power plant disasters by studying the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan through the question, to what extent has Japan demonstrated resilience to the Fukushima Nuclear Plant meltdown? I use two models to assess events and actions in Japan before, during, and after the meltdown in order to break down the definition of resilience at different scales of space and time. The first model is a panarchy of adaptive cycles, formulated by C.S. Holling (2001), depicting a traditional SES spatial-temporal cycle - including levels of growth, accumulation, restructuring, and renewal. The second model is the Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) as formulated by Michael Lindell and Ronald Perry (2012), depicting contextual, psychological, and situational impacts on decision-making. In my research, I use Fukushima as context for expanding the foundation and use of each model so that they are more relevant to the unique characteristics of radiation. I find that while the social-ecological system in the immediate Fukushima prefecture decouples, the respective social and ecological systems continue to express signs of resilience separately, creating new SES opportunities elsewhere. Outside of Fukushima, individual and national scales in Japan use the processes from a panarchy of “revolt” and “remembering” to attempt to recover resilience after disaster.