period from 11 to 15 March 2011; the site is subject to ongoing natural threats
(from another earthquake or tsunami) and the facilities remain severely damaged.
When question of when the accident will end raises the issue of uncertainty in a
post-accident context where many parameters cannot optimized. One of the lessons
learned from the Fukushima Daiichi crisis is that many countries now consider the
post-catastrophe phase of preparations for a “return to normal” to be equally as
strategic as crisis management preparations [9]. Confirmation comes from the
Director of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Masao Yoshida. Yoshida testified that the
operator, TEPCO, had not provided any emergency measures in the case of a power
failure, which meant that there was no way to cool the reactors [21]. Even today,
certain events remain unexplained and there are clear cases of ambiguity.
1
Therefore, rather than the concept of the accident, a more useful concept appears
to be that of the ‘extreme situation’. Gilbert [23] argues that “some situations have
become real black boxes” due to a blatant lack of investigation and analysis. Safety
approaches are limited to compliance with risk analysis principles and standards,
and therefore tend to underestimate extreme phenomenon that cannot be planned
for.
A situation is called ‘extreme’ when conditions are radically different from those
of so-called ‘normal’ life and are unusually intense, becoming excessive, or even
unbearable [24]. Dealing with the extreme situation pushes people to their limits; to
the edge of the abyss [10]. The individual, group, organization, company, or more
simply, the system is faced with extreme violence, a radical shake-up of life as they
know it.
The extreme situation leads to the destruction of identity, the loss of benchmarks
and frames of reference. The explanation is simple; identity is shaped or manufactured by external relationships (specifically, compliance) with current social
norms, adherence to common and therefore shared values, responses to social
expectations, and dependency or even subordination between actors in the system.
From the moment the (existing) value system is shattered, a change occurs—and a
new system appears.
The concept of the extreme situation therefore places the individual and the
organization that must face the unthinkable at the heart of the analysis [24]. The
unthinkable takes the form of three ‘entities’ that become, through the forces of
nature and human weakness, uncontrollable and ‘unleashed’. Following a period of
‘devastation’ and predictions of ‘certain death’ [25], the actors involved in the
Fukushima Daiichi accident began a phase of ‘coping’, which enabled them to
mobilize multiple resources in order to survive in the short term [26]. They then
began a return to an acceptable situation, despite extensive damage, widespread
pollution and the hazards that endangered, and continue to endanger the site.
1
For example, the causes of the malfunction of the core of the reactor cooling system (Reactor
Core Isolation Cooling) of Unit 2 remain unclear [22].
4
F. Guarnieri
(from another earthquake or tsunami) and the facilities remain severely damaged.
When question of when the accident will end raises the issue of uncertainty in a
post-accident context where many parameters cannot optimized. One of the lessons
learned from the Fukushima Daiichi crisis is that many countries now consider the
post-catastrophe phase of preparations for a “return to normal” to be equally as
strategic as crisis management preparations [9]. Confirmation comes from the
Director of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Masao Yoshida. Yoshida testified that the
operator, TEPCO, had not provided any emergency measures in the case of a power
failure, which meant that there was no way to cool the reactors [21]. Even today,
certain events remain unexplained and there are clear cases of ambiguity.
1
Therefore, rather than the concept of the accident, a more useful concept appears
to be that of the ‘extreme situation’. Gilbert [23] argues that “some situations have
become real black boxes” due to a blatant lack of investigation and analysis. Safety
approaches are limited to compliance with risk analysis principles and standards,
and therefore tend to underestimate extreme phenomenon that cannot be planned
for.
A situation is called ‘extreme’ when conditions are radically different from those
of so-called ‘normal’ life and are unusually intense, becoming excessive, or even
unbearable [24]. Dealing with the extreme situation pushes people to their limits; to
the edge of the abyss [10]. The individual, group, organization, company, or more
simply, the system is faced with extreme violence, a radical shake-up of life as they
know it.
The extreme situation leads to the destruction of identity, the loss of benchmarks
and frames of reference. The explanation is simple; identity is shaped or manufactured by external relationships (specifically, compliance) with current social
norms, adherence to common and therefore shared values, responses to social
expectations, and dependency or even subordination between actors in the system.
From the moment the (existing) value system is shattered, a change occurs—and a
new system appears.
The concept of the extreme situation therefore places the individual and the
organization that must face the unthinkable at the heart of the analysis [24]. The
unthinkable takes the form of three ‘entities’ that become, through the forces of
nature and human weakness, uncontrollable and ‘unleashed’. Following a period of
‘devastation’ and predictions of ‘certain death’ [25], the actors involved in the
Fukushima Daiichi accident began a phase of ‘coping’, which enabled them to
mobilize multiple resources in order to survive in the short term [26]. They then
began a return to an acceptable situation, despite extensive damage, widespread
pollution and the hazards that endangered, and continue to endanger the site.
1
For example, the causes of the malfunction of the core of the reactor cooling system (Reactor
Core Isolation Cooling) of Unit 2 remain unclear [22].
4
F. Guarnieri