New Nuclear Energy, Risk, and Justice: Regulatory Strategies for an Era of Limited Trust

Regulatory organizations responsible for implementing safety in the civil energy sector must address a triad of factors: the risk tolerance of the community, the methodology used to measure and enforce risk levels, and the resources available to the regulatory agency. Attempts to balance these factors have often focused on attempting to align public perceptions of risk with those of government personnel, technical specialists, and industry. This information deficit approach has largely been unsuccessful because the shortfall, particularly in respect to dread risk, has not been one of knowledge but of trust. Given the difficulty of countering distrust, reinforcing public trust in a just regulatory process is proposed in lieu of confidence in regulatory organizations. Justice has two related elements-distributive and retributive. This article explores novel approaches to the achievement of both aspects of justice to better ensure the fair and tolerable apportionment of risk in nuclear energy regulation.