The Truth About Risk Assessment A t the gates of a nuclear power plant, protesters form a gauntlet of signs. Clenching his fists, the manager turns back to the crowd. Both sides have performed a risk assessment and both sides are somewhat right, according to Paul Slovic, President of the non-profit organization Decision Research Inc., and a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon.
Danger is real but risk is socially constructed.
Slovic's results may help resolve such contentious issues as risk management of nuclear power and the priorities of government agencies, including the Environ-mental Protection Agency. Someone has to decide if deaths of healthy and sick should rank equally. Defining risk is an exercise in power. Different definitions of risk will lead to different solutions. Different groups in the United States perceive risk differently.