This study is about the impacts of the transportation of low level radioactive waste
(LLRW) on American Indians. The terms American Indians, Native Americans, and Indians are used interchangeably throughout this report to refer to people who are members of tribes in the United States. The information contained in this report is valuable to non -Indian individuals, communities, and governments as well as to the tribes and the U.S. Department of Energy/Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) for which it was prepared. Many of the individuals who agreed to participate in this study asked if their non -Indian neighbors were also being given the opportunity to share their views and perspectives on the transportation of LLRW near and through their neighborhoods. Although this study was designed to include only Native Americans, it can serve as a model for additional studies in non –Indian communities. American Indian tribes have a unique status as sovereign nations within the U.S., and this study was designed to address that relationship.This study includes an assessment of social and cultural impacts. One type of impact assessment concerns the estimation and communication of risks associated with potentially dangerous technologies or substances. Such an assessment, a technological "risk assessment," is generally conducted by natural or physical scientists and focuses on the probability and magnitude of various scenarios through time (Wolfe 1988). The specialists who conduct the assessment believe their estimates reflect the "real risks" of a technology or project because the estimates were made using scientific calculations. This study is not a risk assessment. Instead, this study pays attention to the public perceptions of impacts and risks. Like other social scientists, the researchers and American Indian partners who designed and conducted this study focus on public perceptions and frame the discussions in terms of locally defined values and concerns.This study involves 29 tribes and subgroups and is therefore very complex. Every effort has been made to present information systematically to help the reader make sense of what is being presented. Information about the tribes is presented in the same order throughout the report.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/273029 |
| Date | 09 1900 |
| Creators | Austin, Diane E., Stoffle, Richard W., Stewart, Sarah, Shamir, Eylon, Gardner, Andrew, Fish, Allyson, Barton, Karen |
| Contributors | Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona |
| Publisher | Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Report |
| Source | University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections |
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