Risk Analysis and Decision Processes: The Siting of Liquefied Energy Gas Facilities in Four Countries

Abstract

This book fills a gap in the growing literature on risk, analysis, and technology assessment by examining the political, institutional, and social processes that underlie public policies on questions such as the siting of large-scale technologies, involving health and safety risks to the public. Specifically it investigates the decision processes for siting liquefied energy gas (LEG) facilities in four countries: the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The book also compares different risk assessments prepared by analysts in each of the four countries and reveals some rather wide discrepancies between estimates of the probability of accidents even for the same facility. The concluding portion of the book examines the analyst's role within the social and political context of the siting debates and suggests selected institutional and procedural reforms. A cross-national approach to these questions serves to highlight various aspects of national procedures that otherwise might go unnoticed.