How people perceive risk or threats is important to many disciplines that seek to assist policy makers in developing policies, regulations and laws. Using the previous work of Slovic et al. (Fischhoff, Slovic, Lichtenstein, Read and Combs, 2000; Slovic P., 1992; Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein, 2000) in development of the psychometric paradigm, a sample of residents (n=600) from a region with a large number of nuclear reactors was surveyed. The question set was expanded to include demographic questions to determine if they impact risk perception. Two aspects of risk perception were examined, perception of overall risk and perception of riskiness along specific dimensions of concern identified previously in the literature. For both risk and riskiness, respondents’ perceptions of nuclear power were compared to three other perceptions of technologies including use of modern farming methods using chemicals, railroad transportation and coal-generated electricity. The recent increase in public concern about nuclear power following the meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant led to the expectation that nuclear power would be rated higher in overall risk and riskiness than the other three technologies consistent with Slovic’s earlier work on risk perception. This expectation was generally supported although respondents tended to perceive modern farming methods using chemical as similar in overall risk and riskiness to nuclear power. The research specifically tested five hypotheses concerning the impact of five demographic factors: gender, race, income, education and political orientation on the overall perception of risk and riskiness. Subsequent analysis using analysis of variance and linear regression found that select demographics only explained 2% of the risk perception for nuclear power generation.

The regulation of atomic energy has had a long and unique history in the United States and it is the effectiveness of that regulation which poses the problem analyzed here. Government documents and secondary sources are used to provide data and critical opinion about atomic energy regulation. The first chapter deals with the history of the earliest attempts to deal vith atomic energy while the second chapter is concerned with the political nature of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Questions o secrecy and potential environmental danger from the nuclear enterprise are topics for the third and fourth chapters respectively. A concluding chapter indicates the future direction the regulation of nuclear power may take under the newly established Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration.

Text in English / Energy is the natural power stored in matter which can be potential and kinetic energy. This occurs in nature in various forms such as chemical energy, thermal energy, electromagnetic radiation, gravitational energy, electric energy, elastic energy, nuclear energy, and rest energy. The scientific research relating to nuclear energy has revealed that atoms are the foundation of matter. In 1905 Albert Einstein initiated the quantum revolution utilising the Newtonian mass-energy equivalence concept in order to put his famous equation: E =mc2, where energy is (E). This facilitated the nuclear research which focused on manufacturing the first atomic bomb. In 1945 the USA acquired its first two atomic bombs which were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, killing 200 000 people; mostly civilians. But nuclear energy research has been redirected by scientists in order to industrialise nuclear technology in order to address growing power needs. This encouraged policy makers to consider the risks posed by utilising nuclear energy for civil purposes. The shift towards peaceful nuclear energy applications has been motivated by the many valuable contributions to humankind which nuclear energy offers - for instance in the fields of energy generation, human health, agriculture and industry. The nature of nuclear energy lends itself to becoming an important component of the world energy and global economic system. Nuclear energy is a viable option for many countries including South Africa, because it offers an economic and clean source of electricity; the primary engine for socio-economic development. South Africa operates the only two nuclear power reactors in Africa, (Koeberg 1 and Koeberg 2) generating 1.8 GWe. South Africa’s energy supply infrastructure consists fundamentally of coal-fired power plants which pose serious threats to the environment. Therefore, it is assumed that the planned 9.6 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2030 will meet the requirements of South Africa’s policy regarding the diversification of available energy resources to secure energy supply, support economic growth, and contribute to environmental management. Consequently, the legal system which governs nuclear energy programme is intended to prohibit the proliferation of nuclear weapons, ensure security and maintain the safe operation of nuclear facilities. / Public, Constitutional, & International Law / LL.D.

Energy is the natural power stored in matter which can be potential and kinetic energy. This occurs in nature in various forms such as chemical energy, thermal energy, electromagnetic radiation, gravitational energy, electric energy, elastic energy, nuclear energy, and rest energy. The scientific research relating to nuclear energy has revealed that atoms are the foundation of matter. In 1905 Albert Einstein initiated the quantum revolution utilising the Newtonian mass-energy equivalence concept in order to put his famous equation: E =mc2, where energy is (E). This facilitated the nuclear research which focused on manufacturing the first atomic bomb. In 1945 the USA acquired its first two atomic bombs which were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, killing 200 000 people; mostly civilians. But nuclear energy research has been redirected by scientists in order to industrialise nuclear technology in order to address growing power needs. This encouraged policy makers to consider the risks posed by utilising nuclear energy for civil purposes. The shift towards peaceful nuclear energy applications has been motivated by the many valuable contributions to humankind which nuclear energy offers - for instance in the fields of energy generation, human health, agriculture and industry. The nature of nuclear energy lends itself to becoming an important component of the world energy and global economic system. Nuclear energy is a viable option for many countries including South Africa, because it offers an economic and clean source of electricity; the primary engine for socio-economic development. South Africa operates the only two nuclear power reactors in Africa, (Koeberg 1 and Koeberg 2) generating 1.8 GWe. South Africa’s energy supply infrastructure consists fundamentally of coal-fired power plants which pose serious threats to the environment. Therefore, it is assumed that the planned 9.6 GW of new nuclear capacity by 2030 will meet the requirements of South Africa’s policy regarding the diversification of available energy resources to secure energy supply, support economic growth, and contribute to environmental management. Consequently, the legal system which governs nuclear energy programme is intended to prohibit the proliferation of nuclear weapons, ensure security and maintain the safe operation of nuclear facilities. / Public, Constitutional, and International Law / LL. D.