This report presents a comparative analysis of media coverage of fusion and fission energy before and after the accident in the nuclear reactors of Fukushima, Japan. The analysis is based on research conducted under the EFDA Workprogramme 2012, addressing three national-based print media – Germany, Spain and Portugal as well as
English-language print media addressing transnational elite. The general hypothesis conducting the study is that the accident in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on 11th March 2011 impacted negatively in the public image of
conventional nuclear power, while contributing to bring forward the debate over fusion technology as an alternative pathway to nuclear energy production. It was also important to assess if perceptions and representations of fission energy conveyed in the media after Fukushima had a negative effect on the image of fusion energy. This analysis provides a contribution to understand the social construction of nuclear power imagery in contemporary societies.
Publication associated with Project Nuclear fusion in Portuguese media speech
