Communicating Risk: The Media and the Public Reporting on Radiation: A Content Analysis of Chernobyl Coverage

Almost every new technology creates some fear at its inception. But probably no technology has generated more public fear than nuclear power, which "appears to evoke greater feelings of dread than do any other activities except terrorism and warfare" (13). In a 1979 study, nuclear power was rated as highest in risk by two groups of respondents, almost 40 percent of whom expected more than 10,000 fatalities from nuclear power if there were to be a disastrous year. Its risks were seen as "involuntary, delayed, unknown, uncontrollable, unfamiliar, potentially catastrophic, dreaded and severe (certainly fatal)" (12).