An article from The New York Times
By Norimitsu Onishi and ken Belson
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Subject: Nuclear power in Japan
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Occasion: Nuclear meltdown caused by the earthquake and Tsunami
on March 11, 2011
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Audience: Americans and other English speakers interested in the
nuclear disaster
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Purpose: Persuasive - To convince the reader that corruption made
the Daiichi disaster worse, and to expose the “nuclear power village”
as a continuing danger to Japan and the world.
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Speakers: 3rd Person - Norimitsu Onishi (liberal Canadian-Japanese)
and Ken Belson (writer in Tokyo)
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Tone: conspiratorial
Point (claim):
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“Investigators may take months or years to decide to what extent safety
problems or weak regulation contributed to the disaster at Daiichi, the worst of its
kind since Chernobyl. But as troubles at the plant and fears over radiation
continue to rattle the nation, the Japanese are increasingly raising the possibility
that a culture of complicity made the plant especially vulnerable to the natural
disaster that struck the country on March 11. “
Evidence:
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Unenforced Regulations (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency): Low Sea Wall,
Backup Diesel Generators, 10-year extension (2002) -40 year statutory limit
Explanation (warrant):
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“…many Japanese and Western experts…” – Vague
Kei Sugaoka (inspector) 2000 “cracked steam dryer” – Whistle Blowers,
Blackballing: “…least want to do: undertake costly repairs.”
Point (claim):
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“Though it is charged with oversight, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is part of the Ministry of
Trade, Economy and Industry, the bureaucracy charged with promoting the use of nuclear power. Over a
long career, officials are often transferred repeatedly between oversight and promotion divisions,
blurring the lines between supporting and policing the industry.
Influential bureaucrats tend to side with the nuclear industry — and the promotion of it — because of a
practice known as amakudari, or descent from heaven. Widely practiced in Japan’s main industries,
amakudari allows senior bureaucrats, usually in their 50s, to land cushy jobs at the companies they once
oversaw.”
Evidence / Explanation (Warrant):
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Kuzuo Oshima (Democratic Party “lawmaker”) – Rissho Kosei-Kai (Buddhist) “Taboo”
Communist Party vs.(Toru Ishida - Example of amakudari) Kazuhiro Hasegawa – Tepco “best people”–
Whose standards?
Hiroaki Koide – Tokyo University (Grant $) amaagari (technical experts from industry) Satoshi Sato –
“30 years experience working in the nuclear insdustry” – the regulatory agency “Lacks technical
capability”
Comparison to NRC (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) -Navy, Brookhaven, Oak RidgeTaro Kono (Liberal Democratic “lawmaker”) – “Both parties are captive to the power companies”
Tokio Kano (VP Tepco) Keidanren (Business Lobby) -12 years in parliament (2010 back to Tepco!)
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Opposed deregulation of power industry, parliamentary records (solar vs. nuclear in textbooks)
He said he served out of “conviction”
Point (claim):
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“So entrenched is the nuclear power village that it easily survived postwar Japan’s
biggest political shake-up. When the Democratic Party came to power 20 months ago,
it pledged to reform the nuclear industry and strengthen the Nuclear and Industrial
Safety Agency…
[but instead] Japan would make the sale of nuclear reactors and technology the
central component of a long-term export strategy to energy-hungry developing
nations. A new company, the International Nuclear Energy Development of Japan,
was created to do just that. Its shareholders were made up of the country’s nine main
nuclear plant operators, three manufacturers of nuclear reactors and the government
itself.
The nuclear power village was going global with the new company. The government
took a 10 percent stake. Tepco took the biggest, with 20 percent, and one of its top
executives was named the company’s first president.”
Evidence / Explanation (Warrant):
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Akihiro Ohata (Hitachi nuclear division) – unavailable for interview!
14 new reactors by 2030, up to 70%
Only one article quotes a person currently working in the Japanese Nuclear
Industry.
CNN- “We have followed safety protocol but this is a situationwe could not have
predicted.”
BBC- “ It was clear that Japanese authorities could have predicted the problems of
placing a nuclear station in such a geographically dangerous position.”
All articles from outside of Japan discuss Japanese culture in a negative way
CNN- “…Japan’s fierce insularity…”
BBC- “… a culture where conformity is the norm.”
The words used to describe the workers in Japan’s nuclear industry all paint
them as passive people who follow rules.
Japan Times- “ The passing on of responsibility…”
Aljazeera- “…workers who follow rules…”
All articles insinuate that money is values over safety.
CNN- “Concerns with the reactor were pointed out several times but ignored.”
BBC- “… keen to avoid costly repairs…”