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Nuclear Society: Atoms for Peace and the Origins of Nuclear Power in Japan, 1952-1958

Nelson, Craig D.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1409013318

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, History.
This project seeks to explain why Japan developed nuclear power despite its negative experiences with nuclear weapons and fallout. It focuses on the period from the end of the American Occupation in 1952, when the Japanese regained full sovereignty, until the signing of the agreement to import a commercial British nuclear reactor in 1958. The Japanese experience with atomic bombs and radioactive fallout made Japan a seemingly unlikely candidate to develop nuclear power. These fears were renewed following the Lucky Dragon Incident when an American hydrogen bomb test showered a Japanese fishing vessel with radioactive fallout and contaminated deep water tuna throughout the Pacific. Japan, however, had ample reasons to embrace nuclear power as it: provided a potential solutions to Japan’s energy crisis, while offering Japan a way to secure its place in the international community and a means of defining itself as a nation dedicated to scientific, technological, and economic development. Pro-nuclear advocates identified nuclear power as a key to the advancement of Japan, partaking in what Hiromi Mizuno termed “scientific nationalism.” Although Japanese policy makers were interested in the adopting nuclear power before the US offered to extend aid to Japan, the process of doing so was influenced by the American approach to the Cold War and was heavily informed by American efforts to maintain the support of both the government and the general public. While Japanese policy makers moved forward with their investigations of nuclear power, the United States addressed the Japanese public through a series of exhibitions as part of the Atoms for Peace program to direct the national conversation away from nuclear bomb testing. As they toured Japan, these exhibitions presented nuclear power as a suite of technologies that would greatly benefit scientific research, medicine, agriculture, industry, and transportation. Seven different national and regional newspapers cosponsored the various legs of these exhibits and presented media campaigns that proselytized for nuclear power far and wide. These exhibitions and the media campaigns that surrounded them helped forge a pro-nuclear consensus in Japan, which would remain durable for decades. This study combines the political, diplomatic, and social aspects of the adoption of nuclear power. It uses media reports, popular culture, interviews, and polls to gauge the public’s reaction to nuclear power. American efforts to influence nuclear power are examined through the records of the CIA and the United States Information Agency, which was responsible for American public diplomacy efforts. Japanese policy issues are explored using the proceedings of the Diet, the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission’s reports, the Foreign Ministry archives, and trade publications.
James Bartholomew (Advisor)
Philip Brown (Committee Member)
Christopher Reed (Committee Member)
364 p.
History
Nuclear; atomic; Atoms for Peace; Japan; Cold War; propaganda; United States Information Agency; USIS; USIA; history of technology; promotion of science; Shoriki Matsutaro; Lucky Dragon Incident; Godzilla

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Nelson, C. D. (2014). Nuclear Society: Atoms for Peace and the Origins of Nuclear Power in Japan, 1952-1958 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1409013318

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nelson, Craig. Nuclear Society: Atoms for Peace and the Origins of Nuclear Power in Japan, 1952-1958. 2014. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1409013318.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nelson, Craig. "Nuclear Society: Atoms for Peace and the Origins of Nuclear Power in Japan, 1952-1958." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1409013318

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.