In 1980, a group of scientists from national laboratories, universities, and other research organizations gathered informally in a series of meetings to consider the state of research on risks to health, safety, and the environment. Each scientist had conducted research on the subject. All felt that the traditional disciplines and professional societies to which they belonged were neither ade­ quate nor appropriate for addressing the extraordinarily complex problems of assessing the risks inherent in modern society. The con­ sensus of the group was that a new society was needed to address these problems in a scientific and objective way. From these initial meetings, the Society for Risk Analysis was formed The major aims of the Society for Risk Analysis, as stated in its constitution, are ¿ to promote knowledge and understanding of risk analysis techniques and their applications; ¿ to promote communication and interaction among those engaged in risk analysis; and ¿ to disseminate risk analysis information and promote the advancement of all aspects of risk analysis. Members of the Society are drawn from a variety of disciplines, including the health sciences, engineering, the physical sciences, the humanities, and the behavioral and social sciences. An import­ ant function of the Society is the annual meeting, at which var­ ious aspects of risk analysis are discussed. The first annual meet­ ing, represented by this volume, was the International Workshop on the Analysis of Actual vs.

Springer Book Archives

I. Automobile Accidents: The Problem of Passenger Restraints.- Effectiveness of Automobile Passenger Restraints.- Public Perception and Behavior in Relation to Vehicle Passenger Restraints.- Motor Vehicle Occupant Restraint Policy.- Summary of Panel Discussion and Commentary.- II. Nuclear Power Plant - European Perspective.- The Assessment of Nuclear Risk. Some Experiences from the Swedish Energy Commission.- Nuclear Power Plant: West German Management of Risk 3- A Problem Analysis.- Coping with the Risks of Nuclear Power Plants in the United Kingdom.- Risk Assessment Following Crisis in the United States: The Kemeny Commission.- III. Cancer Chemotheraphy.- Role of Risk in Treating Advanced Lung Cancer.- IV. Smoking Cigarettes.- Cigarette Smoke: Cancer Risk at Low Doses.- Perceiving the Risk of Low-Yield Ventilated-Filter Cigarettes: The Problem of Hole-Blocking.- Reactions to Perceived Risk: Changes in the Behavior of Cigarette Smokers.- Perceived vs. Actual Risks: The Problem of Multiple Confounding.- V. Nuclear Power Plant - U.S. Perspective.- The Public Perception of Risk.- Impact of the Three Mile Island Accident as Perceived by Those Living in the Surrounding Community.- ldThe Publicd vs. ldThe Expertsd: Perceived vs. Actual Disagreements about Risks.- Coping with Nuclear Power Risks: A National Strategy.- VI. Health Impact of Toxic Wastes.- Health Impact of Toxic Wastes: Estimation of Risk.- Perception of Risk: A Journalist's Perspective.- VII. Depletion of Stratospheric Ozone.- Depletion of Stratospheric Ozone as a Result of Human Activities.- Relationship of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion to Risk of Human Skin Cancer.- Depletion of Stratospheric Ozone: Impact of UV-B Radiation Upon Nonhuman Organisms.- Chairman's Summary.- VIII. Panel Discussion.