Abstract
Reflecting on the nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, in Le Bluff technologique (1988: 109), Jacques Ellul reflected on the paradox of increased unpredictability linked to technological power defined in terms of efficiency. Modern technological progress brings with it the desire to control nature and tame chance by means of calculating rationality that reduces contingencies, yet contemporary technological society has increasingly been confronted with incalculable complexities and become vulnerable to unexpected threats. Far from disappearing, as modernity claimed, unpredictability has become endemic as a result of the prodigious multiplication and power of our means of action.
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Notes
- 1.
Economic organizations do not so much “bypass” regulations as convince governments to weaken them in the name of interests that appeal to voters more directly than the delayed benefits that regulations realize. In the case of nuclear power, the real driver has been government prestige, energy independence of foreign oil (certainly in Japan and France), and actually pressures from some segments of the environmental movement to reduce carbon emissions.
- 2.
For a more detailed narrative, see Ribault and Ribault (2012). For a record that oscillates between personal experience and reportage, see Ferrier (2012) and Vollmann (2011). Three (unidentified) writers of the Chernobyl generation have put together articles and documents on the Fukushima disaster and published them under the name of Arkadi Filine (2012), one of the 800,000 “liquidators” of Chernobyl.
- 3.
Tepco was saved from bankruptcy by the government itself, with an injection of one trillion yen ($12.5bn) (The Guardian, 9.05.2012).
- 4.
In technical terms, the reactors are in a state of “cold shutdown,” a concept which describes intact reactors with fuel cores that are in a safe and stable condition.
- 5.
Since 1986 there have been six “serious incidents” (Gravelines, France, 1989; Vandellos, Spain, 1989; Tokaï-Mura, Japan, 1997; Davis-Besse, USA, 2002; Paks, Hungary, 2003; and Thorp, Sellafield site, United Kingdom, 2005) and two “accidents with local consequences” (Tomsk-7, Russia, 1993; and Tokaï-Mura, Japan, 1999). Before Chernobyl, there was one “serious accident” (Maïak, Russia, 1957), two “accidents with wider consequences” (Windscale, United Kingdom, 1957; and Three Mile Island, USA, 1979), six “accidents with local consequences” (Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux, France, 1969; Lucens, Switzerland, 1969; Windscale/Sellafield, United Kingdom, 1973; Lubmin, Germany, 1975; Bohunice, Slovakia, 1977; and Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux, France, 1980) and one “serious incident” (La Hague, France, 1981) (Valin 2011: 54).
- 6.
Note that Japan, however, has a poor track record of space vehicle launches. Over 50 % have failed in some way. There seems to be some cultural problem in Japan with the management of technology. India, by contrast, has an almost perfect space launch record. So does China. Note too that in the list of nuclear accidents both India and China, which have a considerable number of reactors, are conspicuous by their absence. We thank Carl Mitcham for this comment.
- 7.
Yoshihiko Noda succeeded Naoto Kan. These two prime-ministers have differing attitudes toward nuclear power. While Naoto Kan became one of the strongest advocates of the abandonment of nuclear power, Yoshihiko Noda has gone ahead with a policy of reactivating reactors that have been assessed safe.
- 8.
One year after the accident, it was announced that the country’s largest solar power station will be built in Kagoshima province, in the south-west. It will be able to supply energy to 22,000 homes.
- 9.
“Probability of contamination from severe nuclear reactor accidents is higher than expected”, 22 May 2012. http://www.mpic.de/Probability-of-contamination-from-severe-nuclear-reactor-accidents-is-higher-than-expected.34298.0.html?&L=2. Accessed in 25 May 2012.
- 10.
Iran’s nuclear program is a case in point. Iran alleges that it is developing nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but a number of countries in the international community suspect that those purposes are of a military nature or that they could rapidly be converted to military ends.
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Garcia, J.L., Jerónimo, H.M. (2013). Fukushima: A Tsunami of Technological Order. In: Jerónimo, H., Garcia, J., Mitcham, C. (eds) Jacques Ellul and the Technological Society in the 21st Century. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6658-7_10
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