Breaking the connections: reducing and removing environmental health risk in the Canadian nuclear power industry

Abstract

In this paper, we examine how over the past twenty five years the nuclear industry has used various strategies to diminish or remove any environmental health risks that emanate from its practice and activities. Using both industry and critical website materials, we demonstrate how risk is removed by emphasizing its own safety culture in a complex process, its 'clean energy' credentials, its role in producing national energy options, close co-operation with its regulators, the ignorance of its critics, the suppression of opposing views and a narrowing risk assessment approach to potential environmental and health hazards. We suggest that the same strategies will be used after the recent Japanese nuclear disaster.