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Showing papers in "Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy in 2010"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the concept of policy and geographical proximity as a means to show how different types of crises alter the incentives for policy action within policy subsystems, and discuss an integrated set of proposals on how geographical and policy proximity affects the prospects of change in a policy subsystem.
Abstract: What mechanisms link external events to policy change in a policy subsystem? This paper responds to this question by offering a nuanced re-conceptualization of external events and by identifying the mechanisms that link disruptive crises to policy change Building from the tenets of the advocacy coalition framework and a synthesis of the crisis management and policy change literatures, this paper (1) introduces the concept of policy and geographical proximity as a means to show how different types of crises alter the incentives for policy action within policy subsystems; (2) discusses an integrated set of proposals on how geographical and policy proximity affects the prospects of change in a policy subsystem; and (3) presents hypothesized scenarios outlining plausible intervening pathways linking a crisis to changes as contingent on policy subsystem structures

207 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate contemporary processes of public involvement in nuclear activities in Europe and conclude that "the participatory turn" in the nuclear sector focuses too strongly on procedural matters, while deflecting attention away from the possibilities of using participation as a more genuine means of enabling public issues and concerns to reach a higher level of articulation.
Abstract: In this paper we critically evaluate contemporary processes of public involvement in nuclear activities in Europe. Our focus is two collaborative “technology platforms” at the European level, one for implementing the geological disposal of nuclear waste, the other for rendering nuclear energy sustainable. In key documents and statements connected with the launching of these two platforms, public participation is assigned a vital role in their construction. While participation is presented in both cases as important for heightening the legitimacy of national nuclear industry programs and creating more room for public influence, the nature of this participation tends to remain obscure. From our analysis of the European Union documents and statements, informed by recent discussions in science and technology studies (STS), we conclude that “the participatory turn” in the nuclear sector focuses too strongly on procedural matters—on public involvement as a good in itself—while deflecting attention away from the possibilities of using participation as a more genuine means of enabling public issues and concerns to reach a higher level of articulation. Attempting to resolve legitimacy problems by conceiving of public participation as a way of maneuvering around public concerns is problematic since the latter must be more properly conceived as remaining the foundation for the former. If the issues calling for enlarged public participation in nuclear activities in Europe were awarded greater attention, then the legitimacy of these activities might indeed be improved. It can be imagined, for example, that the connections between the disposal of legacy wastes and the authorization of new build would be rendered more transparent.

38 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the development of the problem's definition and its associated research since socioeconomic, political, and policy issues were first given consideration and nuclear waste management became recognized as more than a technical problem.
Abstract: Research on high-level nuclear waste management has focused on technical and scientific issues since the U.S. National Academy of Sciences first studied the problem in the mid-1950s and recommended long-term disposal in deep salt formations. In this review, we trace the development of the problem's definition and its associated research since socioeconomic, political, and policy issues were first given consideration and nuclear waste management became recognized as more than a technical problem. Three somewhat overlapping time periods can be identified. First, from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, initial research explored institutional dimensions of nuclear waste, among other subjects, while several countries attempted to officially solve the problem. The second period began in the early 1980s with a concerted effort to site nuclear waste repositories, and ended in the mid-1990s with some progress in Sweden, Finland, and the United States, and general stalemate elsewhere. This period accelerated research on risk perception and stigma of nuclear waste, and elevated a focus on public trust. Special attention was given to repository siting conflicts in particular. The last period, since the mid-1990s, has been characterized by failure and continuing political stalemate, with the major exception of Scandinavia, and increased attention to public participation, political systems, and international solutions. Questions of ethics have been given serious attention, while research on risk perceptions and siting conflicts continues. Thus, we see some signs of progress toward final disposal. We frame these periods in a broader context of the shifting role of applied social scientists. The paper concludes with a general discussion of this research area and prospects for future research.

32 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used Tobit regression technique to identify the determinants of mitigation and preparedness at the organizational level and found that organizational size and concern over disaster impact are strong positive determinants in organizations.
Abstract: Disaster researchers have established the determinants of mitigation and preparedness at the household level of analysis. However, at the organizational level, there is limited research and no theory to guide research on the determinants of mitigation and preparedness. The research question is “what are the determinants of mitigation and preparedness at the organizational level?” The data come from a survey of 227 organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. This study uses Tobit regression technique to identify the determinants and finds that organizational size and concern over disaster impact are strong positive determinants of mitigation and preparedness in organizations. In addition, there is a significant and nonlinear relationship between organizational obstacle and mitigation and preparedness activities. This study concludes with policy implications and recommendations for future studies.

29 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the ways in which reversibility and retrievability have been dealt with in the national-level radioactive waste management (RWM) policies in France, Finland, and the UK, and examine the role of the debates around R&R in fostering deliberative democracy.
Abstract: The possibilities of recovering radioactive waste deposited for final disposal (retrievability), and of reversing decisions concerning the management of the waste (reversibility) have emerged as central issues on the policymaking agenda in a number of countries. Calls for reversibility and retrievability (R&R) have emanated mainly from civil society and politicians, and have subsequently, and to varying degrees in different countries, been translated into technical and administrative solutions. This paper examines the ways in which R&R have been dealt with in the national-level radioactive waste management (RWM) policies in France, Finland, and the UK, and examines the role of the debates around R&R in fostering deliberative democracy. The focus of the analysis is on the participatory and deliberative planning and decision-making processes instigated by the state and the nuclear industry. The paper argues that in France and the UK the broad societal debates over the years concerning R&R have to a certain degree contributed to an “opening up” of the RWM policymaking to new options and new actors. In Finland, by contrast, R&R were addressed briefly, as an essentially technico-economic issue, with a rapid closure of the debate around the notion that retrievability had been ensured in the RWM company’s original disposal concept. The paper identifies

26 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The risk of death for the flood-exposed population is estimated, mapped, and discussed in this article, where a preliminary univariate regression model with water depth as the independent variable is presented, and applied to Hurricane Gustav, which impacted the region in August 2008.
Abstract: The unprecedented tragedy of Hurricane Katrina produced unprecedented data for studying the impacts of natural disasters. The current paper looks at one public health outcome of this event: direct flood deaths in Orleans and St. Bernard parishes of Louisiana. In particular, the risk of death for the flood-exposed population is estimated, mapped, and discussed. Of the nearly 1,500 deaths that Louisiana officially counts as Katrina deaths, approximately 600 are determined to be associated with exposure to floodwaters. Additionally, it is estimated that approximately 63,000 persons were exposed to floodwaters. The ratio of flood deaths to flood-exposed population, termed the flood fatality rate, provides an empirical measure of flood risk. Georeferenced datasets on both the flood deaths and the flood-exposed population are developed, and then used to estimate and map the flood fatality rate. For the overall event, the flood fatality rate is estimated to be 7 11 deaths per 1,000 persons exposed, which is consistent with other coastal flood disasters. At the blockgroup level, the highest values of the flood fatality rate are observed in the Lower Ninth Ward, while comparatively lower values are observed in New Orleans East. A preliminary univariate regression model with water depth as the independent variable is presented, and applied to Hurricane Gustav, which impacted the region in August 2008.

19 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, in the context of securitization theory, human security, and sustainable security, discusses the phenomena of global warming and climate change, examines the destabilizing effects of climate change and describes how such effects are being perceived as transnational threats to security.
Abstract: Security studies in the 21st Century have broadened to encompass a variety of transnational phenomena newly defined as threats. Climate change is one of these phenomena. In theoretical terms, climate change is being securitized. Climate change, in which man-made global warming is a major factor, is an internationally recognized phenomenon that is projected to produce dramatic, accelerating, and long-lasting human, economic, and political consequences with profound security implications. These will be most pronounced in places where the effects of climate change are greatest, particularly affecting weak states already especially vulnerable to environmental destabilization. National security establishments in the United States and elsewhere are hurriedly attempting to come to grips with climate change and how to respond to its strategic challenges. This paper, in the context of securitization theory, human security, and sustainable security, discusses the phenomena of global warming and climate change, examines the destabilizing effects of climate change, describes how such effects are being perceived as transnational threats to security, and argues that securitization of climate change is necessary, timely, and irreversible.

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted an empirical study on the perception of time, time periods, and responsibilities related to the final repository for spent nuclear fuel in Sweden and found that the importance of future generations' life situations was reported as high and perceived to be of greater importance to oneself than to others.
Abstract: An empirical study, financed by the Swedish Radiation Authority (SSI), on perception of time, time periods, and responsibilities related to the final repository for spent nuclear fuel was conducted in 2002. Citizens of the Oskarshamn and Osthammar municipalities (N=1,501) responded to a postal questionnaire regarding their participation in site-specific investigations for the building of the Swedish repository, administered by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co (SKB). Approximately 41% of the sampled citizens responded to an eight-page questionnaire, which included tasks of time estimates of specified historic events (e.g., when the first human landed on the moon, the development of Homo sapiens) and possible future events (e.g., a new glacial ice period, a radiation leakage from canisters in the repository). Some questions asked for risk estimations in relation to the repository, i.e., for oneself and for others in the community. Other questions inquired about perceptions of risks and responsibilities related to future generations. SSI was especially interested in the respondents' ratings of the importance of the authority's reviews of SKB's research programs for specified time periods, i.e., during operation, in a thousand years, ten thousand years, hundred thousand years, and up to a million years. The overall results showed rather restricted time horizons among the respondents. Risk estimations relating to nuclear wastes were not extremely high, and as usual the risk to others rated higher than the risk to oneself. Regarding the importance of SSI's review of SKB's research programs, people emphasized the importance of such reviews in the near future in contrast to the distant future, i.e., while under operation and up to 1,000 years, rather than for the longer time periods of relevance for the reviews. People also perceived the consequences to be much more severe in the shorter time perspectives than in the longer ones, given a leakage from the canisters in the repository. The importance of future generations' life situations was reported as high, and perceived to be of greater importance to oneself than to others. The construction of a safe final repository for spent nuclear fuel ranked the highest on a list of topics when respondents indicated the responsibilities of current generations. Ranked second and third were the items “to fight criminality” and “to give children and youth a good education.” The responsibility for depositing spent nuclear fuel in a reassuring manner was mainly attached to the entrepreneur, SKB, closely followed by the authorities (SSI and the Swedish Nuclear Safety Authority, SKI). The discussion focuses on the apparent paradox involving participants rather short time horizons, especially into the future, decreasing risk estimates across long time perspectives, and very high ratings regarding current generations' responsibilities for the life situations of future generations.

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that it would not be possible without the pioneering work of Sweden and Finland in providing a technological and sociopolitical solution to the industry's longstanding "Achilles' heel", the safe, permanent, and locally acceptable disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
Abstract: This article focuses on the growing prospects for a nuclear power renaissance in Europe. While accepting the conventional wisdom that the incipient renaissance is being driven by climate change and energy security concerns, we argue that it would not be possible without the pioneering work of Sweden and Finland in providing a technological and sociopolitical solution to the industry’s longstanding “Achilles’ heel”: the safe, permanent, and locally acceptable disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In this article, we track the long decline and sudden resurgence of nuclear power in Europe, examining the correlation between the fortunes of the industry and the emergence of the Swedish model for addressing the nuclear waste problem. Through an in-depth exploration of the evolution of the siting model initiated in Sweden and adopted and successfully implemented in Finland, we emphasize the importance of transparency, trust, volunteerism, and “nuclear oases”: locations already host to substantial nuclear facilities. Climate change and concerns about energy independence and security have all opened the door for a revival of nuclear power in Europe and elsewhere, but we argue that without the solution to the nuclear waste quandary pioneered by Sweden and Finland, the industry would still be waiting for the nuclear renaissance.

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors describes National VOAD member operations, the "relief and disaster assistance" missions, as a current of activities that run through the preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery stages of the disaster cycle, and argues that by developing a better understanding of the types of services NationalVOAD members provide and the motivations for providing them, FEMA and state and local governments will be better able to utilize the nonprofit sector in post-disaster operations.
Abstract: FEMA currently divides post-disaster operations into two phases: Response and Recovery. The nonprofit sector, primarily through the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (National VOAD) member organizations, provides services and distributes goods in ways that straddle both Response and Recovery. In terms of provision of goods and services to individuals, these two phases invoke ESF-6 and ESF-14. FEMA has traditionally had a difficult time categorizing National VOAD members' activities, partially because of the difficulty in categorizing whether their work fits into Response or Recovery. As FEMA is currently drafting the National Recovery Framework, this paper suggests that this is a particularly strong opportunity for FEMA to better capture the way in which National VOAD members participate in post-disaster operations. The paper describes National VOAD member operations, the “relief and disaster assistance” missions (hereinafter referred to interchangeably as “Relief” or “Relief and Disaster Assistance”), as a current of activities that run through the preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery stages of the disaster cycle. This paper argues that by developing a better understanding of the types of services National VOAD members provide and the motivations for providing them, FEMA and state and local governments will be better able to utilize the nonprofit sector in post-disaster operations.

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article used the H5N1 strain of avian influenza as a case study to expand Thomas Birkland's concept of focusing events to encompass anticipatory-conjectural policy problems.
Abstract: Rarely, if ever, is the American policymaking process described as being a proactive one wherein policymakers strive to stave off or prepare for problems that have yet to have any substantive impact on a given population. Such problems, or “anticipatory-conjectural policy problems,” are marked by acute uncertainty and thus demand a reconsideration of many of our fundamental assumptions about the nature of public policymaking. Using the H5N1 strain of avian influenza as a case study, the following work seeks to expand Thomas Birkland's concept of focusing events to encompass anticipatory-conjectural policy problems. In addition, I will explore the unique agenda setting dynamics of these problems, paying particularly close attention to their definitional characteristics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines some of the trends in the work on strategic culture including definitional and methodological and proposes some approaches which may make the concept more accessible for researchers within the field, which is an important topic to which strategic culture may provide some answers but the process of applying it is difficult.
Abstract: Strategic culture has become a concept of significant debate within security studies over the last decade. It represents an attempt to integrate cultural influences about how actors within the international system made decisions regarding the use of force. Learning more about how and why actors use force in the system is an important topic to which strategic culture may provide some answers but the process of applying it is difficult. This article examines some of the trends in the work on strategic culture including definitional and methodological and proposes some approaches which may make the concept more accessible for researchers within the field.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address several basic questions about community capacity and preparedness for hosting large numbers of evacuees as the result of disaster incidents using evaluations made by local government officials.
Abstract: Evacuations on a large scale are complex and difficult enterprises. While facilitating the egress, or removal, of people from a hazardous incident site is a major challenge, accommodating a wide range of evacuee needs as they temporarily shelter away from their homes is an equally significant challenge. However, the ingress dimension of evacuations is not as well studied nor understood as its more familiar counterpart. This paper addresses several basic questions about community capacity and preparedness for hosting large numbers of evacuees as the result of disaster incidents. Using evaluations made by local government officials, the analysis presented here indicates reported hosting capacity of evacuees on a large scale is related in part to aspects of the built environment and to geographic effects. Likewise, indicators of local government evacuation preparedness for evacuations generally and evacuation ingress specifically are related to aspects of community hazard vulnerability and administrative capacity. These findings provide a basis for future work investigating other critical dimensions of evacuation ingress management.

Journal ArticleDOI
Jennifer Giroux1
TL;DR: It is concluded that energy infrastructure security will become a centerpiece in future energy security debate due to the growing dependence on ONG imports from conflict-prone supplier and transit regions as well as the vulnerability of EI to natural disasters brought on by climate change.
Abstract: This article analyses the emergence of new actors and contemporary challenges that have increased the complexity of the global energy system and brought to light the significant role of energy infrastructure security. Working in two parts, the article first provides a general overview of ONG supply-demand trends and the role of energy infrastructure (EI) in production and transport activities. The second part examines new security-risks to EI by exploring similarities and distinctions of natural and human-caused threats to EI. The argues concludes that energy infrastructure security will become a centerpiece in future energy security debate due to the growing dependence on ONG imports from conflict-prone supplier and transit regions as well as the vulnerability of EI to natural disasters brought on by climate change.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine recent government activities in response to diseases to determine whether any disease has actually become a national security issue and the conditions under which this might happen in the future.
Abstract: Recent spread of the diseases SARS, Bird Flu, and H1N1 have raised questions about how the US government will address the implications of a major pandemic. One of the key issues is whether a disease can become part of the national security agenda. This paper examines recent government activities in response to diseases to determine whether any disease has actually become a national security issue and the conditions under which this might happen in the future.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In 2005, Hurricane Katrina left more than 1,300 people dead in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and many more homeless as discussed by the authors, and it is this paper's hypothesis that with a better, more large-scale evacuation plan in place, fewer people may have died.
Abstract: In 2005, Hurricane Katrina left more than 1,300 people dead in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and many more homeless. This paper will attempt to address the question, “Could the huge casualty number instigated by the impact of Hurricane Katrina been mitigated or even avoided with better emergency evacuation planning?” It is this paper's hypothesis that with a better, more large-scale evacuation plan in place, fewer people may have died. This paper looks at the following: •What hurricane evacuation plan(s), if any, were in place? Who were the agencies in charge of their implementation? When were these plans last updated? Were people aware of them, and were the evacuation procedures in place? •In the actual Hurricane Katrina evacuation, where were the critical breakdown points? For example, it has been reported that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin delayed his emergency evacuation order until less than a day before landfall, which led to the deaths of hundreds of people who (by that time) could not find any way out of the city. Also, the federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as other public agencies, have been criticized for their slow response. •What were the recommended strategies that could have been implemented to mitigate the impact? These might consist of a vertical evacuation as opposed to just a horizontal evacuation. In a vertical evacuation, people are sheltered on the upper floors of buildings temporarily, as opposed to a horizontal evacuation, where people leave a threatened area on a highway. Also, there probably should have been more transportation options available to assist the mobility-impaired segment of the population. •What are the lessons learned, and what are the ramifications for evacuation policies and regulations for cities, regions, and states in other vulnerable areas? •What hurricane evacuation plan(s), if any, were in place? Who was/were the agency(ies) in charge of its/their implementation? When were these plans last updated? Were people aware of it/them, and the evacuation procedures in place? •In the actual Hurricane Katrina evacuation, where were the critical breakdown points? For example, it has been reported that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin delayed his emergency evacuation order until less than a day before landfall, which led to the deaths of hundreds of people who (by that time) could not find any way out of the city. Also, the Federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as other public agencies, have been criticized for their slow response. •What were the recommended strategies that could have been implemented to mitigate the impact? These might consist of: a vertical evacuation as opposed to just a horizontal evacuation. In a vertical evacuation, people are sheltered on the upper floors of buildings temporarily, as opposed to a horizontal evacuation, where people leave a threatened area on a highway. Also, there probably should have been more transportation options available to assist the mobility-impaired segment of the population. •What are the lessons learned—and what are the ramifications for evacuation policies and regulations for cities/regions/states in other vulnerable areas?

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the dynamics of spent nuclear fuel management in the Soviet Union, from the origins of nuclear engineering in the 1930s to the collapse of the country in 1991.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to explore the dynamics of spent nuclear fuel management in the Soviet Union, from the origins of nuclear engineering in the 1930s to the collapse of the country in 1991. ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is little guidance to assist healthcare facility planners to make a shelter-in-place versus evacuation decision in response to a hurricane and associated flooding emergencies or wildfires, and guidance for actions after a decision has been made is determined.
Abstract: There is little guidance to assist healthcare facility planners to make a shelter-in-place versus evacuation decision in response to a hurricane and associated flooding emergencies or wildfires. In such advance notice events, planning steps may be taken that factor in the calculated risk and predictability of the event, allowing planners greater opportunity to implement a systematic response. The authors completed a review of literature and determined that there is only guidance for actions after a decision has been made, but little to help facility administrators weigh their options. The authors conducted a series of structured interviews with community and hospital planners who have dealt with the decision to evacuate or shelter-in-place in the face of real events. Insights derived from these real-event experiences are summarized, and proposed next steps for further research are outlined.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline the evolution of the global public policy debate concerning the management and disposal of used nuclear fuel, with particular attention to the central points of contention that have shaped that debate.
Abstract: This paper outlines the evolution of the global public policy debate concerning the management and disposal of used nuclear fuel, with particular attention to the central points of contention that have shaped that debate. Utilizing the experience in Sweden and the U.S., we provide a frame for the application of a diverse range of social science perspectives (including law) to the used nuclear fuel policy debate, and introduce a set of papers that apply those perspectives.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a critical investigation of the epistemological, ontological, and moral foundations for the legitimacy of the permanent geological disposal option for high-level radioactive waste is presented.
Abstract: In this paper we propose a critical investigation of the epistemological, ontological, and moral foundations for the legitimacy of the (internationally accepted) permanent geological disposal option for high-level radioactive waste. We do so through a reading of Nietzsche's second untimely meditation, “On the uses and disadvantages of history for life.” In particular, we offer an interpretation of some of the central concepts in this text and Nietzsche's work in general—perspectivism, pluralism, active forgetting, etc.—and investigate the effects of the confrontation between these lines of thought and present practices in the management of medium- and high-level long-lived radioactive waste (categories B and C). Furthermore, we argue that this untimely meditation comes at a timely moment, i.e., at a time when modernity's way of dealing with waste could be undergoing a major transformation. The paper ends with some preliminary reflections on our nuclear inheritance and its link with nuclear power of the future (GenIV).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a mechanism for injecting government funds as needed to restore financial stability during a crisis while ensuring that any taxpayer rescue funds that a firm is unable to repay serve to trigger individual financial losses for the financial industry professionals who were responsible for the lost taxpayer funds.
Abstract: This article proposes a mechanism for injecting government funds as needed to restore financial stability during a crisis while ensuring that any taxpayer rescue funds that a firm is unable to repay serve to trigger individual financial losses for the financial industry professionals who were responsible for the lost taxpayer funds. This mechanism involves bonds that convert to equity after five years, in combination with regulations requiring that a significant portion of compensation must be deferred and paid in the form of stock options whose value would depend on the safety of decisions made in prior years. This mechanism is analyzed using a model of systemic risk and calculations of the magnitude of incentives to reduce risk.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results show that a sizable portion of those who did not evacuate from Katrina before landfall were suffering from some ailment, especially chronic diseases commonly associated with the urban poor, with six different neighborhoods having approximately 10% of their 911 calls mentioning the disease.
Abstract: This paper will add to the health and disasters literature by considering the spatial patterns of a factor not commonly associated with evacuation decisions, the existing chronic health burden of the population. 911 calls for the period from August 29 to September 8, 2005, were mapped using a Geographic Information System for 15 neighborhoods of New Orleans. For each neighborhood the total number of calls was reduced to unique residences, and any mention of a health-related problem was recorded. By using single locations and then reinterpreting medical attributes as a percentage of all such locations, or as a percentage of those mentioning medical information, an approach is presented to spatially standardize knowledge from these data. The results show that a sizable portion of those who did not evacuate from Katrina before landfall were suffering from some ailment, especially chronic diseases commonly associated with the urban poor. Of particular note is the diabetes rate, with six different neighborhoods having approximately 10% of their 911 calls mentioning the disease. The paper concludes with suggestions as to how this research should progress, with fine spatial scale geographic analysis of health data becoming more common in understanding evacuation impediments and the post-disaster landscape in general.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the planning and execution of air evacuations in Louisiana and Texas, as well as future concepts for catastrophic disasters such as a New Madrid earthquake, key components and processes essential to successful implantation of an air evacuation plan are identified and discussed.
Abstract: Federally supplied aircraft has been and can be an effective means of supplementing surface transportation modes for moving people who need assistance in evacuation prior to a disaster. It is easily integrated into a multi-modal mass evacuation transportation system. Planning and execution of air evacuations in Louisiana and Texas will be reviewed as well as future concepts for catastrophic disasters such as a New Madrid earthquake. Key components and processes essential to successful implantation of an air evacuation plan will be identified and discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare the indemnification policy to optimal liability rules under public-private co-production of risk and show that the shared liability created by indemnification rules decreases the incentive of both parties to take care relative to the optimum.
Abstract: Using rockets to launch communications satellites and other spacecraft poses risks to the uninvolved public, including persons and property under the flight path of the launch vehicle. The federal government plays a pivotal technical role during the actual launch by carrying out certain risk-related procedures, thus causing third-party risk to be jointly produced by the company and the government. In addition, under the Commercial Space Launch Act, the government partially indemnifies commercial launch companies for third-party damages. We compare the indemnification policy to optimal liability rules under public-private co-production of risk. Under modest assumptions, shared liability created by the indemnification rules decreases the incentive of both parties to take care relative to the optimum. If care were observable, it would be preferable for the government to fully indemnify companies that take due care. The role of the government as an agent for third parties may qualify these findings.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of these models and their potential application shows how a number of communities could make better decisions about the best methods and routes for evacuation in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Abstract: Evacuations from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005 illuminated the issues with clearing large numbers of residents via urban areas' roadways and public transportation systems. In the Gulf Coast of Texas, problems arose from people not observing the designated evacuation zones and protocol. This was particularly acute in the Houston area when residents of that city in large numbers failed to await the exiting of people from Galveston Island and other coastal communities. Consequently, the roadways were clogged inland and residents in extremely high-risk areas were unable to leave. Newly developed software for transportation planning and traffic simulation can make a big impact on the way transportation professionals work. Rapid developments in computer power, mobile phone technology, and data transfer speeds, plus radical improvements in software are transforming the way in which information can be linked to government. A number of models exist that purport to forecast evacuation volumes under a variety of scenarios. A review of these models and their potential application shows how a number of communities could make better decisions about the best methods and routes for evacuation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the views and potential reactions of the general public living within nuclear power plant (NPP) Emergency Planning Zones (EPZs) to protective action strategies were investigated.
Abstract: Among the most important factors affecting the viability of alternative sheltering and evacuation strategies are the views and reactions of the public within the threat zone. If the general population does not believe that undertaking prescribed protective actions will make them safer, or if they do not see protective action messages as credible and practicable, then even the most technically sound plans can be rendered totally ineffective. To gain a deeper understanding of the views and potential reactions of the general public living within nuclear power plant (NPP) Emergency Planning Zones (EPZs) to protective action strategies, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sponsored focus groups and a national telephone survey of the public living in EPZs. Data from the research can be used by NPP industry officials and emergency planners in developing appropriate protective action recommendations to radiological accidents. Findings of this research can also be extended to other similar types of emergencies or generalized to any emergency condition.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, applicable domestic, EU, and international rules affecting site selection and the nature and allocation of responsibility for long-term hazard management are compared and analyzed using Sweden as a focal point, and it is inter alia concluded that the legal terminology is partly misleading and there are many similarities, but also some significant differences, with respect to spatial and temporal aspects of risks and benefits.
Abstract: Carbon capture and storage or sequestration (CCS) and production of nuclear energy are both associated with potentially hazardous geological disposal or storage operations (of captured carbon dioxide [CO2] and spent nuclear fuel, respectively). Using Sweden as a focal point, applicable domestic, EU, and international rules affecting site selection and the nature and allocation of responsibility for long-term hazard management are compared and analyzed in this article. It is inter alia concluded that the legal terminology is partly misleading and that there are many similarities, but also some significant differences, with respect to spatial and temporal aspects of risks and benefits. Whereas disposal of spent nuclear fuel is mainly the reserve of domestic law, storage of CO2 is the subject of extensive EU regulation. With neither activity is the operator expected to pay for supervision of storage/disposal sites or remedial action for any extensive period of time, though the CCS regime is slightly more in keeping with the polluter pays principle. Neither regulatory framework purports to guarantee funds, knowledge, or technology to address problems that may arise beyond some decades into the future.