US hegemony and the origins of Japanese nuclear power : the politics of consent

This paper deploys the Gramscian concepts of hegemony and consent in order to explore the process whereby nuclear power was brought to Japan. The core argument is that nuclear power was brought to Japan as a consequence of US hegemony. Rather than a simple manifestation of one state exerting material ‘power over' another, bringing nuclear power to Japan involved a series of compromises worked out within and between state and civil society in both Japan and the USA. Ideologies of nationalism, imperialism and modernity underpinned the process, coalescing in post-war debates about the future trajectory of Japanese society, Japan's Cold War alliance with the USA and the role of nuclear power in both. Consent to nuclear power was secured through the generation of a psychological state in the public mind combining the fear of nuclear attack and the hope of unlimited consumption in a nuclear-fuelled post-modern world

Chemical and isotopic switching within the subglacial environment of a high Arctic glacier.

Natural environmental isotopes of nitrate, sulphate and inorganic carbon are discussed in conjunction with major ion chemistry of subglacial runoff from a High Arctic glacier, Midre Lovénbreen, Svalbard. The chemical composition of meltwaters is observed to switch in accordance with subglacial hydrological evolution and redox status. Changing rapidly from reducing to oxidizing conditions, subglacial waters also depict that 15N/14N values show microbial denitrification is an active component of nutrient cycling beneath the glacier. 18O/16O ratios of sulphate are used to elucidate mechanisms of biological and abiological sulphide oxidation. Concentrations of bicarbonate appear to be governed largely by the degree of rock:water contact encountered in the subglacial system, rather than the switch in redox status, although the potential for microbiological activity to influence ambient bicarbonate concentrations is recognised. Glaciers are therefore highlighted as cryospheric ecosystems supporting microbial life which directly impacts upon the release of solute through biogeochemically mediated processes

The tidal flushing of multiple-loop animal burrows

Tidal flushing of animal burrows in mangrove swamps provides an effective and important mechanism for transport of salt and other soluble substances. The burrows have complex morphologies consisting of multiple loops. Using established computational modelling techniques, burrow geometries were simulated from characteristic burrow dimensions and the effect of multiple loops on flushing is studied. The computational models show that flushing is enhanced in multiple-loop burrows as upper loops can be completely evacuated, increasing the volume of burrow water removed. The models indicate that there may be a depth limit to which flushing occurs in complex burrow structures. Periscope loops extend further than one characteristic loop depth and are shown to affect the flushing of burrows if the surface-water plume penetrates to their lower depth. Periscope loops with surface openings on the downstream side of the burrow, relative to the tidal inundation, most frequently experience this condition and thus have a great impact on burrow flushing. Field measurements of salinity agree with the hypothesis that there is a depth limit of flushing for complex burrows that is independent of burrow salinity, and suggest a value of 30–35 cm. The measurements also support the suggestion that significant flushing of burrows occurs within a single tidal event. An experiment considered the movement of animals across the interface created by low-salinity surface water and high-salinity burrow water after a partial flushing event. The motion enhances the effective diffusion coefficient of salt by a factor of at least 102, as compared with free diffusion of salt in water, resulting in a more even distribution of dissolved salt in the burrow water between tidal inundations. This distribution may lead to an increase in the depth to which flushing occurs during subsequent inundations