Researchers have determined that the lay public makes risk judgments in ways that are very different from those advocated by scientists. Noting that these differences have caused considerable concern among those who promote and regulate health and safety, a study examined media coverage of the accident at the Robert E. Ginna nuclear power plant…

Critics of coverage of nuclear power have charged that the media overemphasize the importance of nuclear accidents, encourage public fear, and omit information vital to public understanding of nuclear power and risk. Some also feel there is an anti-nuclear bias among reporters and editors. A study was conducted to determine if such charges were…

Considers who is at risk in a disaster such as Chernobyl. Assesses the difficulty in translating information regarding radiation to the public and in determining the acceptability of technological risks. (NKA)

A study examined the coverage of the scientific aspects of the atomic bomb in four representative newspapers (New York "Times," New York "Herald Tribune," Chicago "Daily Tribune," and Boston "Daily Globe") and in 14 general mass circulation magazines in the time period immediately following the dropping of the bomb. Among the conclusions of the…

Designed to test the effects of knowledge acquisition on attitude formation and change, this study investigated whether knowledge-oriented instruction would have a different effect on students' nuclear attitudes than attitude-oriented instruction. High school students (N=331) from six schools who had not studied nuclear energy in any class or…

Guidelines are presented for institution administrators considering the initiation of programs to train energy-related technicians at the associate degree level. Two essential preliminary steps are outlined: Acquiring and analyzing all available information about the proposed field including national legislation and surveying the probable need for…

Arranged into four parts, the paper discusses the importance of international and institutional cooperation and the appropriate use of technology in the search for new and renewable energy sources. The first part of the paper discusses the inevitable depletion of the world's oil supply, the increasing interdependency of nations, the implications…

An evaluation of the Nuclear Skill Related Training Program at Memphis State University was conducted to identify possible motivational and attitudinal variables that may contribute to the retention-attrition rates of Job Corps students (40 percent) admitted to the program compared to non-Job Corps students who are migrant workers (2 percent). The…

After conducting a comprehensive evaluation of its curriculum, staff at the Westinghouse Nuclear Training Center in Zion, Illinois, undertook a research and development project aimed at upgrading the center's curriculum to the competency-based format. Included among the main activities of the curriculum development process were the following:…