Perceived risk and related attitudes have been implicated as major factors in many of the difficult policy problems that face modern society (nuclear power, genetically modified food, etc). Experts often argue that no or very small risks are involved; people are still worried. Why? The standard answer is lack of trust. Data on trust and risk perception, however, point to only a weak relationshi...

The siting of nuclear waste facilities has been very difficult in all countries. Recent experience in Sweden indicates, however, that it may be possible, under certain circumstances, to gain local support for the siting of a high-level nuclear waste (HLNW) repository. The article reports on a study of attitudes and risk perceptions of people living in four municipalities in Sweden where HLNW si...

Seabirds exposed to even a dime-sized amount of oil can die of hypothermia in cold-water regions, but despite repeated requests by Environment Canada, offshore oil operators are failing when it comes to self-monitoring of small oil spills, says new research. Chronic pollution from many small oil spills may have greater population-level impacts on seabirds than a single large spill, suggest rese...

Over the past 50 years a comprehensive regulatory framework for radioactive substances in the UK has been progressively introduced, important initial milestones being the white paper Cmnd 884 and the Radioactive Substances Act 1960. During the 1970s and 1980s there were a succession of enquiries and white papers which developed from the growing awareness of the problems of the nuclear waste leg...

Radioactive waste from different sectors such as nuclear energy, health care and food has become a discernible part of our environment. Several dumping methods are in routine practice to dispose radioactive wastes. Huge chemical and energy input in various skillful physico-chemical methods has limited their use while biological methods exploring the potential of micro-organisms could be a promi...

Radioactive wastes are generated during nuclear fuel cycle operation, production and application of radioisotope in medicine, industry, research, and agriculture, and as a byproduct of natural resource exploitation, which includes mining and processing of ores, combustion of fossil fuels, or production of natural gas and oil. To ensure the protection of human health and the environment from the...