This paper analyzes the causes, responses, and consequences of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident (March 2011) by comparing these with Three Mile Island (March 1979) and Chernobyl (April 1986). We identify three generic modes of organizational coordination: modular, vertical, and...

This paper compares the sustainability of two light water reactor, LWR, fuel cycles: the once-through UOX (low-enriched uranium oxide) cycle and the twice-through MOX (Mixed Uranium-Plutonium Oxide) cycle (increasing the input efficiency of available uranium) by assessing their probable...

This volume collects 22 articles by Masahiko Aoki, selected from writings published over the course of his 45-year academic career. These fascinating essays cover a range of issues, including mechanism design, comparative governance, corporate governance, institutions and institutional change,...

This paper examines the cost structure of fabricating light water reactor (LWR) fuel with low-enriched uranium (LEU, with less than 5% enrichment). The LWR-LEU fuel industry is decades old, and (except for the high entry cost of designing and licensing a fuel fabrication facility and its fuel),...

This paper examines the relationship between organizational structure and operation and outage durations at nuclear power plants in the United States. It empirically examines Aoki's (1990) proposition that (1) hierarchical control increases productivity in situations that are very stable or very...

In Brazil construction began in 1971 on Angra 1, a 626 MW Westinghouse pressurized water reactor (PWR). It was completed in 1984. Later, Angra 2 (a Kraftwerk Union PWR) achieved commercial operation in 2000. Brazil is considering the construction of seven nuclear power plants over the next 15...

State public utility commissions in the United States have implemented incentive regulations to promote the operating efficiency of nuclear power plants. This paper surveys these incentive programs, focusing on the perfomance-based pricing approach. Our findings suggest that the...