2005 Volume 3 Pages 165-174
This paper looks at new social decision making processes in Japanese local community in dealing with nuclear power plant siting and draws lessons for future processes, but not intended to analyze nuclear policy itself. The paper analyzes two cases; one is Maki-machi in which nuclear project was cancelled, and the other is Hokkaido in which siting of new plant was allowed. The major findings are: (1) both "formal" (legally binding, or institutionalized by law) and, "informal" process should be taken into account for analysis, (2) social learning, evaluation of options and renewal of agenda, are the notable functions, (3) "procedural fairness" is important, (4) common understanding of objective and approaches is a key factor, (5) who and how to set up "decision making arena" is an issue to be studied.
