Fukushima in Brazil: undone science, technophilia, epistemic murk

Abstract

After the Fukushima catastrophe, people in many different countries turned their attention to the nuclear power stations located closest to them. What were the risks of a nuclear meltdown? Were there lessons to be learned from Fukushima? It was in this context that I approached nuclear discourse in Brazil. In 2012 and 2015, I interviewed scientists, engineers, security experts, anti-nuclear activists and public health officials connected to the Centro Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA), Brazil’s nuclear complex located in Angra dos Reis. Did Brazilians care about Fukushima? This essay focuses on nuclear discourses of anti-nuclear activists and pro-nuclear professionals working in the Brazilian nuclear sector. Advancing the concepts of technophilia, undone science and epistemic murk, the essay explores why Brazil has pursued construction of a third nuclear power plant in spite of the Fukushima disaster, even while its citizens share apocalyptic visions of what a catastrophic nuclear event would look like at Angra.