{"id":120398,"date":"2025-03-08T17:02:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T17:02:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/anthropology\/online-nuclear-regulators-trust-and-feelings-about-the-future-in-tanzania\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T17:02:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T17:02:38","slug":"online-nuclear-regulators-trust-and-feelings-about-the-future-in-tanzania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=120398","title":{"rendered":"Online Nuclear Regulators, Trust, and Feelings about the Future in Tanzania"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-ast-blocks-layout=\"true\" itemprop=\"text\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">\u2018When we talk about the National Atomic Energy Commission, what should an ordinary person think of?\u2019 asked Tanzanian journalist Ramadhan Mvungi in a 2021 morning show <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=503cQAvTXZw\">interview<\/a>. \u2018Many people think of a bomb\u2019, answered a Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) public relations officer. A second TAEC interviewee shifted the tone of the interview by affirming that nuclear technology can be beneficial to ordinary Tanzanians and not endanger their lives. He explained how building domestic laboratories helped strengthen Tanzania\u2019s regulatory capacity, and that nuclear technology can provide health benefits and improve agricultural outputs. Rounding out the interview on an optimistic, confident note, the TAEC regulator assured the public that, given \u2018the radiation sources we currently have in the country and the capacity that the commission has \u2026 we do not expect major harm\u2019.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Climate activists (and many others) are calling for increased investment in nuclear energy as a potentially carbon neutral energy source. At the same time, longstanding concerns about nuclear power, its antecedents, and its afterlives, remain essentially unresolved.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Mvungi\u2019s interview places atomic energy in Tanzania at the center of what may be a global reckoning for nuclear power. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2023\/aug\/29\/young-climate-activist-tells-greenpeace-to-drop-old-fashioned-anti-nuclear-stance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Climate activists<\/a> (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/energy\/netherlands-plans-build-two-nuclear-power-plants-by-2035-2022-12-09\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">many<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2024\/01\/nuclear-energy-transistion-climate-change\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">others<\/a>) are calling for increased investment in nuclear energy as a potentially carbon neutral energy source. At the same time, longstanding concerns about nuclear power, its <a href=\"https:\/\/anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/amet.13089\">antecedents<\/a>, and its <a href=\"https:\/\/thebulletin.org\/2024\/07\/the-thorny-social-problem-of-permanent-nuclear-waste-storage\/\">afterlives<\/a>, remain essentially unresolved. In what follows, I engage with digital ethnographic material from the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) to consider the ways that regulators from the Tanzanian government are shaping how ordinary citizens think of their country\u2019s management and regulation of atomic energy.<\/p>\n<p>The Tanzanian government\u2019s current relationship to the nuclear fits into a longer trajectory. Following the position of its first president, Julius Nyerere, Tanzania opposed mid-twentieth century French atomic testing in West Africa and South African Apartheid nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, the Tanzanian government repeatedly demonstrated interest in domestic uranium mining since independence in 1961 and the modernizing possibilities of nuclear energy generation. After discovering commercial-grade uranium deposits in the 1980s, the Tanzanian government approved a slew of exploration permits in the early 2000s. This ultimately led to the development of the Mkuju River Project (MRP) uranium mine, which opened in 2015, but has yet to begin commercial uranium mining. In 2021, TAEC Director General Lazaro Busagala announced a plan to build a radiopharmaceutical plant, reducing the time lag that diminishes the potency of nuclear medicines and cutting reliance on South African imports. In 2023, a Tanzanian official announced Tanzania\u2019s interest in small modular reactors (SMRs), marking a shift to vocally pursuing nuclear power generation. TAEC has been developing plans for a food irradiation facility and is supporting a government scholarship fund to send Tanzanian students abroad to study nuclear sciences (Figure 1).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"588\" height=\"598\" src=\"https:\/\/allegralaboratory.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Figure-2_TAEC-Twitter-Scholarship-.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44658\" style=\"width:434px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Figure 1: TAEC shared details of the nuclear science scholarship on X. Author\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Atomic energy regulators, in Tanzania as elsewhere, balance the possibilities of nuclear technologies for power, health, and technological advancement with the multifaceted risks of the infinite half-life of radioactive waste<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>TAEC and its public engagements offer a window into this particular moment in nuclear history from the perspective of a non-nuclear power, middle-income, East African nation, on the brink of commercial uranium mining, looking to nuclear science and its potential technological advantages. Mvungi\u2019s interview put TAEC regulators in the public eye to demystify their work regulating the safe use of radiation and promoting nuclear technology. Atomic energy regulators, in Tanzania as elsewhere, balance the possibilities of nuclear technologies for power, health, and technological advancement with the multifaceted risks of the infinite half-life of radioactive waste, which exceeds human time constraints and state boundaries. TAEC, as national regulator for natural and man-made radiation in Tanzania, has domestic branches providing day-to-day regulatory services, a headquarters engaged in national level planning and public engagement, and cross-scalar relationships with multinational nuclear energy agencies and advisory boards. Its digital communications are part of its efforts to fulfil a legal mandate to \u2018provide public education on the benefits and effects of nuclear technology\u2019 (<a href=\"https:\/\/taec.go.tz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/The_-Atomic_Energy_Act_of_2003.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">The Atomic Energy Act. No.7 of 2003<\/a>). By examining TAEC\u2019s digital engagements with the Tanzanian public, I focus on the political and social dimensions of the agency\u2019s regulatory work. I argue that the agency\u2019s digital messaging attempts to build the public\u2019s trust in regulatory authority by projecting an optimistic vision for a nuclear future through three tactics: 1) via links to the Tanzanian state; 2) by connecting with international institutions; and 3) by elevating TAEC experts. The texture of these futures comes out in two music videos, which I highlight in the next section.<\/p>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Music Videos: Aesthetics of Atomic Energy and Optimism<\/h5>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/allegralaboratory.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Figure-3_MSECHU-clip1.mov\"\/><\/figure>\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Figure 2: Clip from Tanzanian singer Peter Msechu\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oRvgXwZZIuY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">official music video<\/a> for TAEC.<\/p>\n<p>At this potentially decisive junction where Tanzania\u2019s interest in uranium mining and nuclear power generation runs high, TAEC places its regulators on traditional broadcast media platforms like TV and radio. At the same time, TAEC attempts to reach its publics through digital media, including through music videos (Figure 2). TAEC\u2019s official music video features recently built and remodelled TAEC facilities foregrounded by a familiar-sounding song style and visual cues from the country\u2019s popular music scene.<sup data-fn=\"d520b036-0d64-426c-83c5-4276116cd1e8\" class=\"fn\"><a id=\"d520b036-0d64-426c-83c5-4276116cd1e8-link\" href=\"#d520b036-0d64-426c-83c5-4276116cd1e8\">1<\/a><\/sup> Tanzanian singer Peter Msechu repeatedly invokes the TAEC agency tag line of \u2018Radiation for safe use\u2019 (<em>mionzi kwa matumizi salama)<\/em> alongsiderefrains congratulating President Samia Suluhu Hassan. Riffing on previous president John Magufuli\u2019s command \u2018<em>hapa kazi tu<\/em>\u2019 (only work here), Msechu sings the refrain: \u2018Let the work continue\u2019 (<em>Kazi iendelee). <\/em>The singer also echoes calls for nuclear technology for national development (<em>Teknolojia yenye nyuklia\u00a0kwa maendeleo ya taifa<\/em>).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/allegralaboratory.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Figure-4_-Msechu-still.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44676\" style=\"width:600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-2 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Figure 3: Tanzanian singer Peter Msechu in personal protective equipment, dancing alongside equipment in the new EU-supported laboratory at TAEC (still from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oRvgXwZZIuY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">music video<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Msechu\u2019s lyrics describe TAEC to listeners as:<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em>Controlling the safe use of radiation in the country<br \/>to protect the environment,<br \/>patients, workers, and citizens<br \/>from harm of radiation,<\/em><\/p>\n<p>issuing permits for the use of radiation sources in the country,<br \/>inspecting centres with radiation sources<br \/>to enforce the atomic energy law<br \/>and its regulations,<br \/>testing food samples,<br \/>fertilizer and animal feed,<br \/>tobacco and its products<\/p>\n<p>measuring radiation<br \/>levels on cell towers.<\/p>\n<p>This verse broadcasts TAEC\u2019s offline regulatory work, explaining who the agency works for (the environment, patients, workers, citizens), specific actions it takes (testing food, tobacco, animal feed), and various kinds of audits and certifications in its legal remit. Another verse details other regulatory responsibilities, and places TAEC\u2019s work in the national political context, as the result of President Samia\u2019s strong leadership.<\/p>\n<p>The upbeat rhythm of the music video and the adoring lyrics speak to TAEC efforts to project an image of itself as a confident regulator, behaving in predictable ways, in the interest of all Tanzanians. The music video also illustrates how Tanzania is positioning itself as a modern, regional hub for nuclear science and technology. The recently constructed laboratory in Arusha, with equipment provided by the European Union, for instance, features prominently in Msechu\u2019s music video. In this video and elsewhere on social media, TAEC representatives announce their expanding nuclear technology ambitions, but also almost never mention the uranium mine (MRP) or any other mines which may expose workers to radiation. Perhaps radiation in mines lies outside popular worries that TAEC understands need managing, or, like Gabrielle Hecht (2012) argues, Tanzania classified uranium from mines as harmless and segregated from the technoscientific scrutiny of refined uranium and its associated dangers.<\/p>\n<p>This two-pronged palliative approach (publicly minimizing the possibilities of harm and not mentioning the risks associated with mining) coexists with TAEC\u2019s public preparations for nuclear disaster. In 2024, Tanzania conducted a large-scale simulation for a chemical, biological, or radiological incident with support from the EU. Hosted with fanfare, the event was marked with another official music video, called \u2018Zokikita\u2019 (Figure 4).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video controls=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/allegralaboratory.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Figure-5_Zokikita-clip.mov\"\/><\/figure>\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Figure 4: Clip from Tanzanian singer Mrisho Mpoto\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ac21DPL0D1Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">official music video<\/a> highlighting Tanzania\u2019s nuclear disaster preparedness training.<\/p>\n<p>In the video, Tanzanians in full protective gear simulate a disaster involving a biological weapon or a small, radioactive device, and the associated decontamination procedures. In front of a distinguished audience including the Tanzanian Prime Minister, members of the military and the police, singer Mrisho Mpoto<sup data-fn=\"9f483cd5-b80e-46e8-9585-6a5cdfee3b7a\" class=\"fn\"><a id=\"9f483cd5-b80e-46e8-9585-6a5cdfee3b7a-link\" href=\"#9f483cd5-b80e-46e8-9585-6a5cdfee3b7a\">2<\/a><\/sup> repeatedly thanks the government for protecting the Tanzanian citizenry from a chemical, biological, or radiological disaster. Mrisho Mpoto raps that:<\/p>\n<p><em>we say thank you for signing<br \/>two important documents:<br \/>the national plan for addressing chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats,<br \/>and the national plan<br \/>for preparedness and response<br \/>to nuclear and radiological emergencies<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Mpoto\u2019s words link this disaster simulation with a legislative architecture for safeguarding Tanzania\u2019s nuclear future. Contrasting with the potentially scary or threatening content of the exercise, using a buoyant rhythm and optimistic tone, Mpoto goes on to praise President Samia, the TAEC Director General, and other politicians.<sup data-fn=\"a3facd4f-9e54-4b15-9677-bfbb690f3ecc\" class=\"fn\"><a id=\"a3facd4f-9e54-4b15-9677-bfbb690f3ecc-link\" href=\"#a3facd4f-9e54-4b15-9677-bfbb690f3ecc\">3<\/a><\/sup>  The lyrics celebrate the successes of (former) TAEC Director General Busagala, including opening the nuclear science laboratory in Arusha, as well as regional offices across the country. The video projects the image a regulatory ecosystem of multiple agencies with the capacity to cooperate and handle potential disasters in a calm, orderly manner.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/allegralaboratory.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Figure-6_zokikita-still.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44696\" style=\"width:600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Figure 5: Still from Mrisho Mpoto\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ac21DPL0D1Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">music video<\/a>, highlighting a nuclear disaster preparedness exercise in the foreground, with photographers covering the event seen in the background.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Atomic Regulators, Communication, and Trust<\/h5>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The regulators\u2019 public engagement echoes a modernizing optimism for the future, marked more by hope than by fear.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Tanzanian nuclear energy regulators\u2019 online communications focus on using nuclear technology to advance the country\u2019s development agenda. On digital media, their attitude towards nuclear power is less about a \u2018climate neutral\u2019 energy source, and instead about meeting growing energy needs and economic expectations. The regulators\u2019 public engagement echoes a modernizing optimism for the future, marked more by hope than by fear. TAEC\u2019s outreach engages with a wider sense of the possibilities of harnessing scientifically and technologically advanced, prestige infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>As in the music videos, across digital platforms TAEC positions itself as a trusted domestic institution, a reputable regulator of potentially harmful forces. TAEC\u2019s digital efforts to translate nuclear information across language and knowledge boundaries attempt to build trust in science and in government regulatory capacity. However, it remains unclear how this work leads to trust in nuclear science and TAEC officials themselves. Trust\u2014appearing here in a multiplicity of forms and strategies\u2014is not explicitly voiced in TAEC\u2019s digital rhetoric. But still, TAEC attempts to build and garner trust in a number of ways: 1) through legislated links to the Tanzanian state; 2) as connected to international institutions; and 3) by emphasizing the expertise of TAEC personnel.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"406\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/allegralaboratory.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Figure-7_-TAEC-Twitter-enforcing.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44704\" style=\"width:406px\"\/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-4 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\">Figure 6: TAEC, explaining increased compliance checks with the law on the safe use of radiation (posted on X, 2024). Author\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>First, TAEC as regulator embeds itself in its legal requirements, grounding its trustworthiness to its connection to the Tanzanian state and those figures and institutions who uphold it.<sup data-fn=\"2235a04b-1941-481c-8c7f-4031a83103d8\" class=\"fn\"><a id=\"2235a04b-1941-481c-8c7f-4031a83103d8-link\" href=\"#2235a04b-1941-481c-8c7f-4031a83103d8\">4<\/a><\/sup> On social media, TAEC presents itself as fulfilling requirements spelled out in specific laws (Figure 6). Government officials repeatedly feature in TAEC\u2019s digital engagement, like the music videos, highlighting how the government audits, approves of, and therefore endorses TAEC through engaging with the Commission, its officers, and its infrastructure. This strategically relates public figures who embody the Tanzanian state with the agency responsible for regulating radiation. This kind of internal-referencing is characteristic of hierarchical organizations which operate by two-directional gestures of trust to and from powerful actors (Therkildsen 2014).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"441\" src=\"https:\/\/allegralaboratory.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Figure-8_EU-LAB.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-44709\" style=\"width:600px\"\/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-5 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Figure 7: Local news <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecitizen.co.tz\/tanzania\/news\/national\/we-re-satisfied-with-tanzania-atomic-energy-commission-s-modern-lab-eu-2662016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">coverage<\/a> of the European Union\u2019s 2018 review of a sponsored TAEC laboratory. Author\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Second, trust in TAEC also builds on connection with international bodies, asymmetrical relations often associated with unequal power dynamics that are historically situated, with political, economic, and moral implications (Allard 2012). TAEC positions itself in conversation and collaboration with the likes of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union (EU) (Figure 7). TAEC\u2019s social media is peppered with visits from these international organizations and others. TAEC utilizes connections to international organizations to develop infrastructure and have greater capacity for nuclear research and regulation, making themselves a regional hub for radiation science and protection.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Trust, in this permutation, is based in knowledgeable officials. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Finally, this connection with international bodies situates the agency on the same playing field as international actors, and, in turn, the agency positions TAEC personnel as experts. Trust, in this permutation, is based in knowledgeable officials. Many different TAEC staff speak to the public in newspapers, and TV and radio interviews, and on TAEC\u2019s social media channels. There is no single face of TAEC, although the Director General is the most prominent. Communication of TAEC\u2019s responsibilities and about radiation science is an ongoing on and offline project for the agency, with regular appearances in-person. This includes educational outreach booths offering one-to-one discussions at national festivals like the agricultural exhibition and the international trade fair.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>The music videos highlight the construction of buildings, showcase equipment, and place this infrastructure and technology in connection with international organizations as well as Tanzanian government officials, visualizing the Tanzanian nuclear state for all Tanzanians.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>These three trust-building techniques all feature in the music videos. With these videos, TAEC is trying to place its work more in the public eye by creating music videos which sound, look, and feel like Tanzanian hits. This could be an innovative regulator trying to build trust with the public by laying down familiar beats and catchy refrains that make TAEC and its work accessible and knowable (not to mention \u2018modern\u2019 and, maybe even cool). The music videos highlight the construction of buildings, showcase equipment, and place this infrastructure and technology in connection with international organizations as well as Tanzanian government officials, visualizing the Tanzanian nuclear state for all Tanzanians.<\/p>\n<p>Still, in TAEC\u2019s digital engagement, the commission walks a fine line in attempting to explain its work to the Tanzanian public. In a country where <a href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SE.SEC.ENRR?locations=TZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">secondary school enrolment<\/a> hovers at around 30%, explanations about electrons and x-rays must be translated expertly for an audience with limited science education. Across TAEC\u2019s YouTube channel, for example, TAEC regulators show laboratory equipment, explaining what they are for, and how they work. These experts grapple with translating key scientific terms into Kiswahili, often adding in English words, creating fusion words, and sometimes providing Kiswahili explanations. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This digital ethnography needs to be further embedded in the realities of digital citizenship in Tanzania. 2024 estimates place around <a href=\"https:\/\/datareportal.com\/reports\/digital-2024-tanzania\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">1\/3 of Tanzanians as online, with about 8% using social media<\/a>. Sparse digital engagement speaks to the limitations of reaching various parts of the Tanzanian public via social media. TAEC\u2019s digital media presence is as noteworthy as are its aggressive ongoing efforts to place itself in traditional media outlets like radio, but also newspapers and TV, as illustrated by the morning show interview. TAEC seems to use the same tools online as it did offline for establishing its publics, translating scientific knowledge, building trust in its regulatory capacity, and also creating a shared vision for a technologically advanced future.<sup data-fn=\"f3ef2c92-192c-4e6b-b663-a75c1a5fcb12\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#f3ef2c92-192c-4e6b-b663-a75c1a5fcb12\" id=\"f3ef2c92-192c-4e6b-b663-a75c1a5fcb12-link\">5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>This research is ongoing, and many questions remain. With such limited digital engagement, how do Tanzanian atomic energy regulators gauge the success of their online outreach? How can analysis of TAEC\u2019s digital outreach also consider the ways in which this work echoes the rhythms, aesthetics, and relationalities of an emerging Tanzanian middle class? Addressing the opening question posed by the journalist, it seems like TAEC wants ordinary Tanzanians to think of their agency as a trusted regulator of powerful, but controllable substances and technologies that have the potential to improve the lives of citizens. Rather than interpret this as diverting resources and attention from \u2018real\u2019 regulatory work, I argue that the agency\u2019s digital messaging attempts to shape the public\u2019s responses to its work as a necessary step to building public trust in nuclear energy regulatory authority. Online, TAEC uses rhetorical, relational, and aesthetic tactics to herald a techno-optimistic vision of the future, featuring its role as the country\u2019s trusted voice on nuclear science, technology, safety, and security.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<p><em>Featured image: Still from Mrisho Mpoto\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ac21DPL0D1Y\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">music video<\/a> for \u201cZokikita\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notes<\/h5>\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h5>\n<p>Allard, Olivier. 2012. \u201cBureaucratic Anxiety: Asymmetrical Interactions and the Role of Documents in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela.\u201d In <em>HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory<\/em> 2 (2): 234\u201356.<\/p>\n<p>Degani, Michael. 2022. <em>The City Electric: Infrastructure and Ingenuity in Postsocialist Tanzania<\/em>. Durham: Duke University Press.<\/p>\n<p>Hecht, Gabrielle. 2012. <em>Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade<\/em>. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.<\/p>\n<p>Mwakibete, Edwin Anderson. 2021. \u201cPopular Musicians Escaping Political Censorship in Tanzania: Tactics of Mrisho Mpoto and Professor Jay.\u201d In <em>Utafiti: Journal of African Perspectives<\/em> 16 (1): 23\u201343.<\/p>\n<p>Therkildsen, Ole. 2014. \u201cWorking in Neopatrimonial Settings: Public Sector Staff Perception in Tanzania and Uganda.\u201d In <em>States at Work\u202f: Dynamics of African Bureaucracies<\/em>, edited by Thomas Bierschenk and Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan. Brill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#f7d1d9\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong>: This digital ethnography of an East African government agency examines online practices that communicate regulatory responsibilities and capacities. Focusing on Tanzanian nuclear energy regulators\u2019 online messaging, I consider how they share scientific knowledge and agency activities, and also how the agency\u2019s digital communications attempt to build the public\u2019s trust in its regulatory authority. On digital media, the regulator\u2019s focus towards nuclear power is less about a \u2018climate neutral\u2019 energy source, than about meeting growing energy needs and economic expectations. Concentrating on two agency-sponsored music videos, I trace how the agency heralds a particular vision of the (nuclear) future. The regulators\u2019 digital engagement projects a hopeful, modernizing optimism in which nuclear energy and technology emerge as a powerful and positive force to advance the country\u2019s development agenda. This nuclear future is underlined in the music videos and other digital communications by tactics which encourage Tanzanians to place their trust in the national nuclear energy regulator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018When we talk about the National Atomic Energy Commission, what should an ordinary person think of?\u2019 asked Tanzanian journalist Ramadhan Mvungi in a 2021 morning show interview. \u2018Many people think of a bomb\u2019, answered a Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) public relations officer. A second TAEC interviewee shifted the tone of the interview by affirming [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11767],"tags":[15254,2481,6321,10999,27715,2485,26312,5296,27566,3912,1313],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-120398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anthropology","tag-feelings","tag-future","tag-knowledge","tag-media","tag-nuclear","tag-online","tag-regulators","tag-state","tag-tanzania","tag-technology","tag-trust"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Online Nuclear Regulators, Trust, and Feelings about the Future in Tanzania - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=120398\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Online Nuclear Regulators, Trust, and Feelings about the Future in Tanzania - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018When we talk about the National Atomic Energy Commission, what should an ordinary person think of?\u2019 asked Tanzanian journalist Ramadhan Mvungi in a 2021 morning show interview. \u2018Many people think of a bomb\u2019, answered a Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) public relations officer. 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