Social and Institutional Management Leading to Risk Mitigation of Nuclear Power

Abstract

  All of the accidents that have led to serious reactor core damage at a nuclear power plant have been surprising and different from the events that have been considered in the design and licensing of the respective nuclear power plants. The experiences show that social and institutional management would be valuable for controlling the risks already before they lead to abnormal events at nuclear power plants. This requires that the responsibilities of different organizations are defined and recognized and the lessons are effectively learned from the past events. Clear processes are needed to transform the lessons to safety enhancing measures. Proactive communication on nuclear risks with the general public and the news media is needed, in order to build the trust to the licenses and regulators and to ensure rational public response to abnormal events at nuclear power plants.