ABSTRACT
1 The treatment of risk has become an important issue in energy planning. It no longer seems possible or desirable to leave the issue in the hands of technical experts; attention must be paid to the values and beliefs of various public groups, thereby adding new complexities to the planning process. Researchers in the emerging field known as risk assessment have produced quantitative studies of technical risks and the social reactions to them. This chapter reviews the kinds of analyses that have been done, giving special emphasis to two empirical studies that demonstrate the measurement of "risk perceptions." The relevance of risk research results to regulatory policy making is discussed.
