Social Amplification of Risk: An Empirical Study
- Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)
- Clark Univ., Worcester, MA (United States)
The social amplification of risk is a theoretical framework that addresses an important deficiency of formal risk assessment methods and procedures. Typically assessments of risk from technological mishaps have been based upon the expected number of people who could be killed or injured or the amount of property that might be damaged. The diverse and consequential impacts that followed in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident make it clear that risk assessments that exclude the role of public perceptions of risk will greatly underestimate the potential costs of certain types of hazards. The accident at Three Mile Island produced no direct fatalities and few, if any, expected deaths due to cancer, yet few other accidents in history have had such costly societal impacts. The experience of amplified impacts argues for the development of a broadened theoretical and methodological perspective capable of integrating technical assessment of risk with public perceptions. This report presents the results to date in an ongoing research effort to better understand the complex processes by which adverse events produce impacts. In particular this research attempts to construct a framework that can account for those events that have produced, or are capable of producing, greater societal impacts than would be forecast by traditional risk assessment methods. This study demonstrates that the social amplification of risk involves interactions between sophisticated technological hazards, public and private institutions, and subtle individual and public perceptions and behaviors. These factors, and the variables underlying the intricate processes of social amplification that occur in modern society, are not fully defined and clarified in this report.
- Research Organization:
- Nevada Nuclear Waste Project Office, Carson City, NV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG08-85NV10461
- OSTI ID:
- 6006858
- Report Number(s):
- NWPO-SE--027-90; ON: DE91010601
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Perceived risk, stigma, and potential economic impacts of a high-level nuclear waste repository in Nevada
Perceived risk, stigma, and potential economic impacts of a high-level nuclear waste repository in Nevada
Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220500 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Environmental Aspects
220900 -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290600* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
ACCIDENTS
ATTITUDES
BEHAVIOR
DATA COVARIANCES
DEATH
DECISION MAKING
DISEASES
ENERGY
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LEAST SQUARE FIT
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MAXIMUM-LIKELIHOOD FIT
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEAR ENERGY
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
POWER REACTORS
PUBLIC OPINION
PUBLIC RELATIONS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIATION HAZARDS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
RISK ASSESSMENT
SAFETY
SAMPLING
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
THREE MILE ISLAND-2 REACTOR
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS