Communities in Fukushima and Chernobyl—Enabling and Inhibiting Factors for Recovery in Nuclear Disaster Areas

This chapter provides case studies on disaster recovery in the context of community participation. It presents two cases that explore, compare and contrast the nuclear disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima. Despite differences in the socio-economic circumstances between the Soviet Union (Soviet–Ukraine) in 1986 and Japan in 2011, the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters provide an opportunity to discuss power relations in disaster management and the role of local communities. These large-scale nuclear disasters are amongst the most traumatic experiences for the disaster-impacted communities worldwide. This chapter discusses the implementation of relocation and resettlement measures with socio-political power relations within and between the stakeholders. The combination of these is shown to significantly affect the everyday lives of those within the communities throughout the recovery process. Along with government documentation, the interviews with evacuees, community leaders and decision-makers conducted between 2012 and 2016 form the basis of the case studies discussed in this chapter.

Exchanging Disaster Science Expertise Between Countries—A Japanese Personal Perspective

Having experienced firsthand the catastrophic Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011, Tohoku University founded the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) in 2012. IRIDeS staff, with a broad array of relevant specializations, conducts world-class research on disaster science and disaster mitigation in collaboration with organizations from many countries. As a member of IRIDeS, Prof. Osamu Murao, the founder and manager of the International Strategy for Disaster Mitigation Laboratory (ISDM), has conducted several international collaborative research projects. This chapter briefly reports on the activities of the IRIDeS and ISDM and highlights key factors for successful international collaborative research and exchange experiences with other countries. The author recounts his initial collaborative research experience in a long-term project examining Taiwan’s recovery from the impact of the 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake which was the foundation of the international research collaboration at ISDM. The chapter concludes with a summary of the valuable lessons learned from the author’s participation in this research.

Long-Term Mass Displacements—The Main Demographic Consequence of Nuclear Disasters?

Human history has witnessed several major disasters that have affected the economic, social and environmental conditions of their respective regions. The nuclear disaster of Chernobyl (1986, Ukraine, that time the Soviet Union) and Fukushima (2011, Japan) appears to be the most significant disasters in terms of negative outcomes produced for their population over a long time. Despite this, the analysis of the socio-economic outcomes of these disasters has attracted much less scientific attention than health or radiation-related issues (UNDP 2002a; Lehman and Wadsworth 2009, 2011). Although nuclear accidents are deemed to be rare events, the Fukushima disaster occurred only 25 years after Chernobyl. These disasters highlighted the need for a detailed long-term socio-economic analysis of these accidents to acquire sufficient knowledge to be applied when considering new construction sites for nuclear power facilities (Lehman and Wadsworth 2011). This chapter focuses on the problem of permanent resettlement resulting from nuclear disasters and its effects on regional demographic trajectories and spatial shifts. Based on the results of this study we argue that mass displacement after a nuclear disaster rather than the radiation itself has a much more significant impact on deteriorating health, natural reproduction and economic performance of the affected population. Furthermore, given the differences in radio-ecological conditions, reconstruction policy and the time framework, Fukushima may demonstrate demographic consequences that are different from the Chernobyl case.

The 2010 Catastrophic Forest Fires in Russia: Consequence of Rural Depopulation?

Catastrophic forest fires hit the European part of Russian Federation during summer 2010 as result of a two-month-long period with temperatures above the average by 10 °C coupled with an unusually long drought period. Even though forest fires are usual for Russia, these are typically located in the sparsely populated Asian part of the country. As a consequence of the 2010 summer fires in the densely populated European part of Russia, the mass media poured forth reports of burning forests, villages, victims, about lost crops by fires. The situation was further dramatized by the fact that the extreme smoke from these fires reached Moscow. Seventeen million people lived in the regions where the state of emergency has been declared, and another 10 million in Moscow suffered from smoke. Over one-third of the population of the Russian Federation lived in those regions where the fires were very intense in summer 2010. Still, the main question remained after the disaster which I attempt to answer in this chapter; was the heat the only cause?

Designing Resilient Cities that Work for Women, Too

Urban landscapes can—and do—influence multiple aspects of our lives, including our overall quality of life and disaster resilience. Research has confirmed that some populations experience negative outcomes in disasters at least partially attributed to poorly designed urban environments; and women's and girls’ resilience in particular can be impacted by their experience of the urban landscape. In response, urban designers have an opportunity and an obligation to incorporate gender-sensitive design approaches in all of their projects to ensure the whole community has access to the benefits of urban landscapes. This chapter examines current evidence and strategies for successful urban design that supports resilience in women and the cities they occupy.

Disasters and Demographic Change of ‘Single-Industry’ Towns—Decline and Resilience in Morwell, Australia

In 2014, an open-cut coal mine fire burned for 45 days in the small single-industry town of Hazelwood in Victoria (Australia) spreading smoke and ash across the adjacent community of Morwell. This chapter examines the extent to which the mine fire acted as a catalyst for demographic and socio-economic change and considers how, if at all, it impacted Morwell’s resilience to disasters. We report on a range of secondary data analyses augmented with qualitative insights captured in government reports (namely, the Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry reports), as well as from related research papers and media articles. We suggest that a succession of structural and demographic changes meant that the town and its residents were accustomed and resilient to relatively large shocks. In this sense, the Morwell and broader Latrobe Valley population banded together around various community-led initiatives to fight for a better future for their community.

Compounding Impacts of Lifeline Infrastructure Failure During Natural Hazard Events

Critical infrastructures, such as transportation systems, communication networks, power and water utilities, have become so integrated into our modern and globalised world that they are commonly taken for granted. That is, until their services are disrupted. The failure of these lifeline services during natural hazard events has the potential to impact populations by exacerbating the hazard itself and/or hindering their ability to respond to or recover from the event. The failure of lifeline infrastructure can also propagate outside the reach of the hazard footprint, causing disruption in regions not directly impacted by the event. Understanding the potential flow-on effects from lifeline failure during natural hazard events is vital for future disaster mitigation, response and recovery. The 2009 South-Eastern Australia heatwave and the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland are drawn on to highlight and discuss the vulnerability of lifelines to disruption from natural hazard shocks and the compounding impacts of lifeline failure during natural hazard events.

Land Use Planning for Demographic Change After Disasters in New Orleans, Christchurch and Innisfail

Land use planning is dominated by the growth paradigm—planning and development strategies of cities and regions to encompass increased demand for housing and infrastructure. Urban and Regional planning strategies are focused on enhancing development and growth to counter decline. In contrast, an emerging literature is concerned with planning for decline—managing population and infrastructure loss, decommissioning settlements and planning for reduced population and economy. The advent of a disaster is frequently a catalyst for local decline, but such loss is often connected to longer term issues and trends of population decline. New Orleans, Christchurch and Innisfail are examined in this chapter, to illustrate issues of population loss and demographic change against the impacts of specific disasters. The case studies exhibit multiple patterns of migration both spatially and temporally. Net migration has reflected population loss, but is not homogenous across the community. Specific demographic, cultural and socio-economic groups exhibited different patterns of migration and mobility. Reconstruction of such settlements faces changed demography with a shift in service and infrastructure needs. A reduced population requires land use rezoning, new strategic plans, land use change, removal of structures and re-siting of infrastructure while climate change related adaptation strategies identify protect, accommodate or retreat. Case studies illustrate various approaches to these issues.

Introduction: Conceptualising the Demography of Disasters

Understanding and documenting intersects between disasters and human demographic change is an emerging academic field. Both the study of disasters and demographic issues are broad constructs in their own rights. While it may seem obvious to link the two, as we have in this book, disasters can impact on populations and population change in multifarious, obtuse and complex ways. Our aim in this book is to extend the nascent work to improve disaster policy and planning processes through enhancing knowledge about the demography-disaster nexus. In this chapter, we overview contemporary debates and paradigm shifts within the field of disaster studies to provide conceptual links between these and the field of demography. To conclude, we outline the topics and case studies which form the basis for individual chapters in this book.

Estimating Migration Impacts of Wildfire: California’s 2017 North Bay Fires

This chapter examines a cluster of wildfire conflagrations that hit northern California during October 2017, which resulted in significant loss of housing units (6874 residential structures destroyed or damaged). To assess the magnitude of the migration response and network of destinations, a method to estimate migration drawing from a proxy universe of households with students enrolled in public schools was proposed, using data on school exits and re-enrollments from a longitudinal student database. The analysis finds that a small minority of households affected by the fires moved out of the area. Out of nearly 7800 persons displaced by the central fire complex in one city, this study estimated fewer than 1000 changed neighborhoods; of those, fewer than 500 moved out of Sonoma County. These findings are applicable to other wildfires and localized disasters where a substantial portion of housing is lost but public infrastructure in the region remains intact.