Safety Regulation Impact on Weakened Economy: Japan nuclear industry and macroeconomic analysis post Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear disaster that occurred, displacing thousands of lives, became one of the well-known nuclear disasters in history that shaped the nuclear safety regulations held up till date. However, organizations such as the NRA (nuclear regulatory authority) were opened to enforce regulation, a strict policy known to decrease economic activity. With the decrease of nuclear energy by 18% months after the Fukushima accident, the investigation qualitatively aims to examine the role safety regulation had to play on the nuclear industry and whether it was the sole reason for a decrease in industrial activity from nuclear energy. Data from public data bases were examined and analyzed to understand how safety regulation could’ve affected the economy along with many articles detailing events that occurred during the scope of 2010 to 2021. Upon examining the data of industry activity and how the nuclear industry was affected, several factors as to how Japan’s safety regulations on nuclear energy were received was then examined to see the effects on the economy and if safety regulation was the sole reason for the nuclear energy to decrease activity.