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This dissertation uses multilevel modeling to examine the effects of corporate and community characteristics on rates of sulfur dioxide emitted by facilities in the electrical power industry. The conceptual framework draws from ecostructural theory to emphasize the social-structural causes of pollution. It also draws from organizational resource dependence theory and the shareholder conception of value. This framework suggests the contemporary transformation in corporate form and the changes in the basic relationship between the corporation and its shareholders have created dependencies, opportunities, and incentives that affect pollution. At the local community level, the conceptual framework also draws from theoretical insights of environmental justice scholars and other scholars in the environmental sociology and social-movement literature. The power plants examined in this dissertation are owned by the largest corporations in the electrical power industry and are located in many different communities across the United States. The multilevel models include three corporate characteristics and four local community characteristics as independent variables. They also include several facility and local community characteristics as control variables. In accordance with ecostructural theory, the findings demonstrate that the total number of subsidiaries in the corporate structure and the dividend payments to shareholders have significant positive effects on the power plant emissions rates. The analysis of community demography shows that relationships involving the power plant emissions rates and percent African Americans, percent families in poverty, and median home values are contingent on the geographic unit of analysis. Hence, the demographic analysis does not consistently support any theory of environmental inequality. On the other hand, all models show that the prevalence of non-profit organizations in the county has a significant negative effect on the power plant emissions rates. This follows in accordance with both ecostructural theory and the path of least resistance theory that underpins the sociopolitical model of environmental inequality. Lastly, all models show that facility control variables involving size, age, and fuel mix have significant effects on the emissions rates. In sum, this dissertation brings together and simultaneously tests theoretical insights from several lines of research to demonstrate that different levels of social structure explain environmental pollution.

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Project finance is a debt finance and risk allocation technique. In Mexico, contracts of this nature mostly arise as a result of a government procurement process. In such projects, there is a limited amount of freedom for the negotiation of the contractual terms and conditions. / Contracts for the engineering, procurement and construction of power plants implemented under the project finance structure are subject to the ordinary law of contracts as opposed to the administrative law which may place the government in a stronger bargaining position. Regardless of the application of the private or administrative law the principle of autonomy of will may seem to be relegated to a secondary level in these transactions. Given this aspect it is interesting to evaluate what role the parties play in negotiating the contract in order to establish whether freedom of contract is a mere fiction in such transactions.

In this work, description and explanation for the conditions of emergency preparedness is given. The aim was to establish the technical basis for emergency response plans in the event of a nuclear incident that might occur at the PBMR nuclear power station. The Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Technical Basis for Emergency Planning was basically used as a guideline and PC COSYMA, a programme that runs on PC, was used to help ,model the release as described or specified by the regulations set in [5] for South Africa. PC COSYMA runs were done to calculate doses to specific organs and to the whole body. These runs were done considering two weather categories (Pasquill stability category D and F) for neutral and moderately stable weather conditions. Wind speed of 2m/s was used for exposure dose integration periods 1, 10, 30 and 70 days. All dose results (organ and effective) were given by pathways: groundshine, cloudshine and inhalation, except thyroid doses whereby it was assumed that all doses are essentially committed through inhalation. A run for Thyroid including inhalation only as a pathway was also done and a run for iodine prophylaxis as protective action to see the effectiveness of the countermeasures. All the calculated doses were lower than the individual radiation dose limit (50mSv) set by the regulator (NNR) for PBMR [20]. The implementation of countermeasures prevented a further dose accrual. Therefore, there is no need for implementation of countermeasures at PBMR, since they are well below the set criterions. But it will be a good safety culture and Defense in Depth to make an allowance for an emergency plan. Since Defense in Depth is a principle that requires that there should be multiple layers of overlapping safety provision and good safety culture looks at the behaviour on doing things, / MSc. (ARTST) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2003