Representation of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in media opinion pieces

Abstract The Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown is the second worst accident in the history of nuclear power. As nuclear power is a controversial policy option, interpreting the significance of the disaster is important in the struggle over the legitimacy of nuclear power. This article compares the representation of Fukushima between a corpus of five pro-nuclear and five anti-nuclear media opinion pieces published in English-language online newspapers. It uses systemic functional linguistics to examine the verbal process types and clausal positioning of Fukushima, focusing on themes in the data and how these representations construct competing arguments about the disaster. In pro-nuclear articles Fukushima has more frequent Relational and Mental process types and has more foregrounded clausal positioning, which reflects the need to emphasise alternative interpretations to the narrative of Fukushima as an unacceptable disaster. In anti-nuclear articles there are more frequent Material processes and backgrounded clausal positioning, which reflects a focus on the physical damage of the disaster and an assumption that Fukushima is evidence of the fallibility of nuclear power. Discursive differences over three specific aspects are identified – the lesson to be taken from Fukushima, the assessment of damage caused, and the performance of the nuclear plant.