Perceptions and acceptance of public risks

Let me start with some recent newspaper headlines which I found somewhat disturbing. I. Public agitation against the Koodankulam nuclear power project II. National moratorium on Bt Brinjal III. Inter-state controversy over the Mullaperiyar Dam The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is building two 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants on Tamil Nadu coast at a cost more than Rs.10,000 crores. The plants have been under construction for nearly a decade and are almost ready for commissioning. Suddenly, there is a public uproar against the safety of the plants, presumably in the backdrop of the Fukushima nuclear event, with a demand that the project be scrapped. Repeated assurances by the experts do not seem to be convincing the agitators. That this country cannot afford to say NO to nuclear power is also not convincing to the agitators