The effects of emergencies and nuclear power-related knowledge flow: from the example of Fukushima crisis

Emergencies, nuclear power accidents, not only change people’s perception about risk of nuclear technology, but also influence the flow of nuclear power-related knowledge between different groups and among people in communities. However, the content of knowledge, the directions and effectiveness of the knowledge flow were varied leading to different results of the knowledge flow. This paper discusses the effects of emergencies and nuclear power knowledge flow by taking the network perspective. The example of Fukushima nuclear plant accident showed that the network ties, the size and diversity of networks, trust and shared interests were the key elements to facilitating the nuclear power-related knowledge flow triggered by the accident.

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