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In 2010, there were more nuclear power units under construction worldwide than in any year since 1988. Even before Fukushima, however, status indicators for the international nuclear industry were showing a negative trend. Fewer countries are operating nuclear fission reactors for energy purposes than in previous years, and many countries are now past their nuclear peak. Worldwide nuclear production is generally declining, and many new projects are experiencing construction delays. Even if reactors can be operated for an average of 40 years, 74 new plants would have to come on line by 2015 to maintain the status quo, which is impossible given current constraints on fabricating reactor components. Developments in Asia, particularly in China, do not fundamentally change the global picture. The dramatic post-Fukushima decisions in two of the four largest economies, Japan and Germany, and in several other nuclear countries could accelerate the decline of a rapidly aging industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many aspects of Japanese and Korean national health insurance systems were modelled after the German system of social insurance where non-competitive sickness funds were based on a corporatist principle. Far from converging or remaining on a corporatist path, however, each country has followed a distinctive reform trajectory in an era of globalisation: Germany choosing to grant freedom of choice between different sickness funds, Japan maintaining a multiplicity of insurance societies, and Korea merging all health insurance societies into one. This article examines the reform process underpinning health insurance funds in these three countries where significant similarities as well as differences exist. It then argues that looking into the unique institutional opportunities of the time explains how and why these governments have adopted these paths to achieve dual objectives of cost containment and social solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]