Re: loosing, Tooth Fairy Project

["J. J. Rozental" <joseroze@netvision.net.il>]

In the proceedings on an NEA workshopN:659.4, 1987, “ Public Understanding
of Radiation Protection Concepts”,  Vincent Covello, wrote at the begin of
his paper "Informing People about Radiation Risks:  A Review of Obstacles to
Public Understanding and Effective Risk Communication":

"The goal of informing the public about radiation  risks seems easy in
principle but surprisingly difficult in practice"
To be effective, according with Covello, government and industry officials
must overcome a number of significant obstacles. I'll mention three
discussed by him:
a) Limitation of government officials, industry officials an other sources
of information about radiation risks;
b) Limitations of human mind in assimilating and understanding information
about radiation risks
c) Limitation of media in reporting information about radiation risks;

I do believe, after  more than 10 years of Chernobyl lessons learned, that
many lessons  we did not learn yet, nevertheless we wrote about them, Taking
into account the items a, b, c of  Covello’s paper, in my opinion,   the
best improvement was from media, as we could learn recently in the Tokaimura
and Thailand accidents.

Another point concerning the item a, above, I learned in Goiania, when
public told me: “Government spikes by means of abstract jargons”

To finalize, about three weeks ago I sent an e-mail to the IAEA suggesting
by the year 2000 an International Conference on Communications, based on the
recent IAEA (April 1999) TECDOC 1076 - Communications on nuclear, radiation,
transport and waste safety. This document was sent to more than 100
RADSAFFERS that have requested it.


Jose Julio Rozental
joseroze@netvision.net.il
Israel



----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy Perle <sandyfl@earthlink.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2000 10:30 PM
Subject: Re: loosing, Tooth Fairy Project


> Al,
>
> > Might such an analysis of all "indicators" assist in clarifying our
thinking about this
> > subject?
>
> Definitely. During my attendance at this week's Nuclear Energy
> Institute Health Physics Forum, one primary factor discussed during
> the workshop on Risk Communication, was the nuclear utility executive
> management's lack of understanding the public, how to talk to them,
> how to deal with them, and to address the public's primary concerns
> and perceptions.
>
> In order to determine appropriate counter,measures, one must first
> identify the root causes. There are many. We have only identified the
> tip of the iceberg. To be successful, we need to address all of the
> primary root causes, honestly and candidly, and where there are real
> issues, we need to effectively mitigate them.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Sandy Perle Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100
> Director, Technical Extension 2306
> ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division Fax:(714) 668-3149
> ICN Biomedicals, Inc. E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
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> Costa Mesa, CA 92626
>
> Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
> ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
>
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