Safety Reliability and Efficiency in the Nuclear Industry

Abstract

The development of the nuclear industry in many parts of the "western" world has been brought almost to a standstill by an uncontrolled rise in real costs and a decline of assured commercial viability. A primary underlying cause is unfounded anxiety about the risks of the nuclear industry arising from (a) failure to study and understand the real nature of risk (b) exaggeration of particular very small risks and (c) failure to appreciate the role of wealth production in increasing safety in our societies.

A companion paper (ref. 1) reviews the problem of safety from the viewpoint of society as a whole. This paper examines the situation within the nuclear industry and how it should be changed for the overall public benefit.