Article ID: CBB754363980

Healing Fukushima: Radiation hazards and disaster medicine in post-3.11 Japan (June 2019)

unapi

What happens when expertise is forced to face disasters of unprecedented scales? How is knowledge produced in critical moments when every action and decision is a matter of life and death? And how are local social networks mobilized to cope with unforeseen crisis? This paper addresses these questions by examining the emergence of disaster medicine expertise in the aftermath of Fukushima nuclear disaster that struck Japan in 2011. Studies on Fukushima’s impact have to date revolved around the suffering of Tōhoku citizens and the development of Japan’s nuclear energy industry. Acknowledging the gravity of such work, this paper offers an alternative, but equally crucial angle on the disaster: that of the medical caregiving and public health system built in response to radiation hazards resulting from the triple meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. Through detailed interviews conducted with eight medical practitioners in Fukushima Prefecture, this paper analyses the significance and impact of Japan’s most recent radiation disaster on its public health infrastructure. To describe the contingent nature of radiation disaster medicine developed in response to radiation risk in Fukushima, we draw on Jasanoff’s characterization of scientific knowledge as ‘serviceable truths’ with regards to public policy and the law, suggesting that expertise in relation to disasters is usefully understood in analogous terms.

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Authors & Contributors
Amir, Sulfikar
Fatima K. Espinoza Vasquez
Richter, Lauren
Kimura, Aya Hirata
Rea, Jaclyn
Riedlinger, Michelle
Concepts
Technoscience; science and technology studies
Disasters; catastrophes
Fukushima disaster
Risk
Expertise
Technology and society
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
Places
Japan
Hiroshima-ken Japan
East Asia
Puerto Rico
United States
China
Institutions
Accountable Care Organizations (Medical care)
Radiation Effects Research Foundation
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