Informing the Public about the Risks from Ionizing Radiation

Designers of programs for informing the public about radiation hazards need to consider the difficulties inherent in communicating highly technical information about risk. To be effective, information campaigns must be buttressed by empirical research aimed at determining what people know, what they want to know, and how best to convey that information. Drawing upon studies of risk perception, this paper describes some of the problems that any information program must confront.