After a semester abroad in Japan and starting an independent study on nuclear power, I have been trying to connect Japan’s nuclear power industry to my concentration topic of resiliency. Resiliency, to a certain extent, focuses on the way that systems (both human and nonhuman) react to disaster or change. I think this makes the term especially important for nuclear power because it poses a different and more powerful threat than other types of energy production. As we, humans, react to climbing global temperatures , we have to change the way we produce and consume power, making the question of nuclear energy a hot topic.
Given this, I am initially interested in two strains of the resilience-nuclear relationship, that of the community and that of the power source itself. Given the way that resiliency is already a very intersectional approach to environmental problems, my two interests are not necessarily separate. The resiliency of one relies on the resiliency of the other. However, I think that look at them from different ends of the relationship can tell us different things. For example, I believe that how well a community is resilient to a power plant is a reaction of the plants existence, but how resilient the industry of a power source is can help determine whether or not countries can and should continue supporting expansion of the industry. To help me flush out more of how these topics could look, I compiled questions that can better help me understand my questions:
#1
Framing Question: Is nuclear power a resilient power source?
Focus Question: Is it possible for Japanese communities surrounding nuclear power plants to be resilient? How can disaster resiliency be applied to daily life?
Descriptive: What is resiliency? What is nuclear power?
Explanatory: Why do nuclear power disasters occur? Why do countries or communities choose to use nuclear power?
Evaluative: Is it more important for nuclear disaster preparedness/resiliency to be implemented on a local level or federal? How well does Japan implement resiliency framework?
Instrumental: How can a community be resilient if their previous land is subject to radiation? (How can one be resilient outside of physical location?) How can disaster resiliency be applied to daily life?
#2
Framing Question: Is nuclear power a resilient power source?
Focus Question: How does Japan’s nuclear power program differ from the country’s use of other power sources?
Descriptive: What is resiliency? What is nuclear power? What other power sources does Japan rely on? How does resiliency and sustainability differ in power production?
Explanatory: Why do countries or communities choose to use nuclear power?
Evaluative: Is it more important for resiliency to be implemented on a local level or federal? How well does Japan implement resiliency framework?
Instrumental: How can disaster resiliency be applied to daily life?
These topic options are not fully developed and I think one important direction of research to help do so would be to investigate why countries have developed nuclear energy programs, how those programs are doing, and how communities with nuclear power plants near them are functioning (especially those who have experience nuclear power disaster).
Hey Tasha! I really like the connection you are making between resiliency and nuclear energy but I think you could emphasize the connection between the two through posing more questions that connect the two tppics. You state that resiliency is already a very intersectional approach to environmental problems and I think you could represent this by connecting the two more explicitly in the questions. I think formulating questions is extremely difficult and I think you are doing a great job. I really like the following question “it more important for nuclear disaster preparedness/resiliency to be implemented on a local level or federal? How well does Japan implement resiliency framework?” because you are more explicitly connecting the two topics.
Tasha these sets of questions look really great. I especially like the first set and the first focus question in particular. I suppose a question I have about your second focus question is just the typical ‘why should we care’ question. I don’t mean that in a rude way, but I do think that the first question is more engaging right off the bat, so I’d love to hear what makes you excited about finding the difference between power programs. I also think there must be more low hanging descriptive questions you can think of for your first set. I think that talking about it out loud with someone might shed some light on that.
Anther thing that I wonder about your first set is if there is already literature on the relationship between resilience and nuclear power. Maybe you’ve already covered this, but I think that could be very helpful just in the theory section.
This looks great Tasha! I think reworking questions is the best way to challenge yourself to find more clarity. I am really interested in your question: “How can a community be resilient if their previous land is subject to radiation? (How can one be resilient outside of physical location?)”. I would love to hear more about this, as it is not exactly self-explanatory. What do you mean by this? I feel like there could possibly be more that one question in this.