Nuclear acceptance and the regulatory environment: hard lessons from American experience

Abstract

This chapter discusses the U.S. nuclear regulatory process from the standpoint of its impact on public acceptance. From the perspective of America's nuclear power program, it is bitterly ironic that an industrial technology whose developers sought from the outset to earn and maintain acceptance by the public has found this acceptance to be such an illusive goal. Any appreciation of the American experience requires an understanding of the political and social origins of the U.S. nuclear power program. The focus and tone of public participation in regulatory decision making was influenced by the supposed omnipresence of the hypothetical catastrophic accident and licensing hearings too often took on the character of theatre rather than arenas for arriving at sober technical judgments. The ultimate aim is a healthier regulatory process and the stakes for the nuclear option in the United States are very high indeed, both in terms of industrial viability and public acceptance.