Kenrick and Sophie are discussing the relative merits of nuclear power in light of the consequences of the tsunami that damaged the nuclear reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor in Japan. Kenrick defends the overall safety of nuclear energy by pointing out that the damage was caused by a natural disaster as opposed to any human error. Sophie responds by explaining that, according to some sociologists, these kinds of disasters are predictable consequences of the complexity of new technology. How do these sociologists refer to these events?
A) normal accident
B) statistical anomaly
C) catastrophic outlier
D) planned obsolescence

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The sociologists are referring to these events as normal accidents, which are predictable consequences of the complexity of new technology. This concept was developed by Charles Perrow, who argued that even with the best engineering, accidents are inevitable in complex systems. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident is considered a normal accident because it resulted from the interaction of multiple failures in a complex system, rather than a single cause or operator error.

Kenrick and Sophie Are Discussing the Relative Merits of Nuclear