Facility siting: the theory-practice nexus

The paper focuses on the relationship between the production and utilisation of knowledge in the siting of facilities. It suggests that the siting literature has evolved over time and has moved away from seeing siting as a technological problem to seeing siting as social and political problem facing all nations. It has developed into a fully-fledged literature which uses a fun range of theoretical and methodological approaches to explore siting conOicts and their management and has produced a variety of middle-range theories to explain the management of siting conflicts. The literature is highly policy relevant and can provide not only important conceptual insights to siting practitioners in terms of basic perspectives and orientations, but can also offer important instrumental insights in strategic and functional terms. The challenge for the literature in the future will be to build on these achievements and address several theoretical and empirical shortcomings in ways which are seek to fulfill the needs of siting practitioners

Managing Conflict In Facility Siting: an international comparison

The siting or development of risky facilities, such as nuclear power plants or waste repositories, remains an intractable policy problem for all democratic nations. In this valuable new book, the authors present a comparative study of various siting controversies in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia. They argue that devising effective policies for dealing with siting conflicts will require social learning and changes in both institutional design and policy process. This volume studies the issue of siting in the context of a transactions cost framework. It analyses the extent to which the institutional and policy environment can assist in managing siting conflicts, as well as considering the effect of other important factors such as equity, incentive structures, social pressures, alliances, the nature of decision processes and information strategies. By adopting a broad comparative perspective and using international case studies, the authors are able to identify the similarities and differences in siting problems between nations, and the approaches and policies adopted. As well as extending the theoretical and comparative knowledge of siting conflicts, they also help to develop more robust and effective policies for managing and resolving future disputes. This book addresses a growing policy problem confronting all democratic nations. By exploring the lessons to be learned from international siting experiences, it will prove invaluable reading for academics, policymakers, government agencies, NGOs, and other societal interests involved in environmental and siting issues

The m6A‑methylase complex and mRNA export

During synthesis, mRNA undergoes a number of modifications such as capping, splicing and polyadenylation. These processes are coupled with the orderly deposition of the TREX complex on the mRNA and subsequent recruitment of the NXF1-P15 heterodimer which stimulates the nuclear export of mature mRNAs. mRNAs also undergo a number of internal modifications, the most common of which is the N6‑methyladenosine (m6A) modification. In this review we discuss the recent evidence of coupling between the m6A modification, RNA processing and export

Transaction costs and institutional change

[Extract] The development or siting of unwanted facilities remains a major policy problem for industrialized countries around the world. Throughout Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, intense local opposition almost always greets attempts to site facilities that are perceived to be highly hazardous and risky, such as nuclear plants, high-level waste projects, and industrial projects. Local residents often view any local benefits as being small relative to the risks and burdens. These projects may be justified from a broader national perspective, but local communities often want them located somewhere else, a response often referred to as the 'not in my backyard'(NIMBY) syndrome (Popper, 1983). Such outcries generate political resistance, and makes siting a major policy challenge for both the private and public sectors in all democratic nations alike

Markets, transaction costs and institutions: compensating for nuclear risk in Japan

This article explores the nature, role and effectiveness of compensation mechanisms in managing the political constraints to the siting or development of nuclear projects in Japan. Statistical analysis reveals that the relationship between compensation and income is a key dynamic characterising the history of the marketplace for nuclear facilities in Japan. The commodification and trading of risks for benefits is governed by a sophisticated institutional and policy framework which acts to lower the transaction costs of market exchange. The interaction between the market and the institutional dynamic has generated a curious pattern of both NIMBY ('not in my backyard') and YIMBY ('yes, in my backyard') responses to nuclear development in Japan

The insuring state: Japanese oil import security and the Middle East

This article investigates Japanese approaches to managing oil import security in the period 1970-2005 by developing a framework that integrates portfolio and inducement approaches to managing import security. It argues that Japan is an insuring state and, in the context of continuing asymmetric dependence, seeks to ensure its security not only through portfolio strategies that aim to reduce systemic and specific risks, but also through political and economic inducements that reinforce those portfolio strategies. Empirical evidence suggests that these strategies have enhanced Japan's insurance cover against oil unanticipated supply disruptions and has enhanced its relative security over the period. The Japanese case suggests the importance of exploring portfolio strategies and structures as power in addition to other forms of non-military power, such as economic aid and diplomacy, in understanding international economic security

Diversification and energy security risks: the Japanese case

This article explores the relationship between diversification and energy security risks. It uses portfolio theory to conceptualise energy security as an insurance mechanism against disruptions to energy import markets. It provides quantitative measures of systematic and specific risks associated with Japanese energy imports during the period 1970—99. It suggests that Japan's policy of diversification of energy import sources has reduced specific risks, although fundamental changes in the political and economic structure of international energy and, in particular, oil markets have also significantly reduced systematic risks. The article concludes that, despite their limitations, portfolio measures provide a much more theoretically and methodologically robust indicator of energy import security than traditional measures of dependence

NIMBY Politics in Japan: energy siting and the management of environmental conflict

Negative reaction to undesirable facilities in one’s neighborhood--“not in my back yard”--isn’t limited to the United States. Japanese communities have also resisted siting decisions for power plants, and have often delayed or killed projects for which a legitimate social need exists.\ud \ud NIMBY Politics in Japan is the first detailed account in English of energy siting disputes in postwar Japan. Based on an investigation of a hundred conventional and nuclear plants, the book draws on a wide range of local and corporate sources, as well as interviews with participants, to reveal the bargaining processes involved in social choices and their public policy outcomes.\ud \ud S. Hayden Lesbirel examines why some siting decisions have taken an extraordinarily long time to complete while others have proceeded rapidly. He focuses on the intensity of conflict, relative strengths among participants, and the role of compensation, and he shows how innovative uses of compensation often enable negotiated compromises to be reached. Stressing the importance of dynamic bargaining and creative responses to social and political problems, Lesbirel shows the value of negotiated compromises in Japanese consensual politics