I wonder how this will impact Japanese society down the road? Not in terms of radiation issues, but in terms of trust of their national institutions.
Thats a great question...the Japanese have historically been a very compliant people. This could lead to a little more free thinking and even a "question authority" mentality.
One of the things I've been wondering over the last few days is, if this situation might lead people around the world to be more receptive to nuclear power. I know that sounds crazy right now but we keep getting so many "end of the world" headlines that most folks outside of Japan think that millions are going to die from radiation. If, after all is said and done, very few die and the land around the Dai-Ichi plant does not need to be evacuated long term then maybe folks will think that the world can indeed live with nuclear power.
The truth of the matter is that without nuclear power the world will stagnate both economically and in quality of life. If nuclear can be perceived as something that can be controlled and as having issues that are bad but not uncatastrophic then people might be willing to agree to continuing its use.
What institutions would you trust in our country anymore to design, build and operate a modern nuclear power plant, with full accountability and transparency, in our modern corrupt era?
I mean, besides the Navy.
Nobody thinks rationally about this topic. People are more apt to remember Three Mile Island (0 dead) than major disasters like Texas City (581 dead), Bhopal (20,000 dead), or the numerous and sundry pipeline/industrial accidents.
It’s not like Japan hasn’t been through some damn catastrophic events in the past. That little dust up called WWII comes to mind. Will this latest change their culture? Doubtful imho.