Abstract
Residents of within 50 miles of the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island (TMI), Pennsylvania, were surveyed in 1979, 1980, and 1982 to assess their general attitudes toward nuclear power, to assess their individual coping responses to the March 1979 accident, and to monitor changes in attitudes over the three-year period. Most respondents feel that future accidents like TMI will occur once or twice more in their lifetimes, that operating nuclear power stations should have improved safeguards and should continue operating, and that major institutions—government and utility companies—are experiencing a continued erosion of public trust.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Barkan, S. E. 1979. Strategic, tactical and organizational dilemmas of the protest movement against nuclear power.Social Problems 27:19–27.
Cutter, S., J. Brosius, K. Barnes, and J. K. Mitchell. 1979. Special session on Three Mile Island: risk evaluation and evacuation responses. Proceedings, Middle States Division, Association of American Geographers 13:80–88.
Cutter, S. and K. Barnes. 1982. Three Mile Island: risk assessment and coping responses of local residents. A summary report. Rutgers University Department of Geography discussion paper #20. New Brunswick, NJ.
Cutter, S. and K. Barnes. 1982. Evacuation behavior and Three Mile Island.Disasters 6(2): 116–124.
Dynes, R. R., A. H. Purcell, D. E. Wenger, P. S. Stern, R. A. Stallings, and Q. T. Johnson. 1979. Report of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Task Force: the Presidents Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Fischhoff, B., P. Slovic, and S. Lichtenstein. 1979. Weighing the risks.Environment 21:17–20, 32–38.
Fischhoff, B., S. Lichtenstein, P. Slovic, S. L. Derby, and R. L. Keeney. 1981. Acceptable risk. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Flynn, C. B., and J. A. Chalmers. 1980. The social and economic effects of the accident at Three Mile Island: findings to date. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NUREG/CR-1215).
Flynn, C. B. 1982. Reactions of local residents to the accident at Three Mile Island. Pages 49–63in D. L. Sills, C. P. Wolf, and V. B. Shelanski (eds.), Accident at Three Mile Island: the human dimensions. Westview, Boulder, CO.
Goodwin, R. E. 1980. No moral nukes.Ethics 90:417–49.
Harriss, R. C., C. Hohenemser, and R. W. Kates. 1978. Our hazardous environment.Environment 20:6–15.
Kasperson, R. E., G. Berk, D. Pijawka, A. B. Sharof, and J. Wood. 1980. Public opposition to nuclear energy: retrospect and prospect.Science, Technology and Human Values 5:11–23.
Mitchell, R. C. 1980. Public opinion and nuclear power before and after Three Mile Island.Resources (Resources for the Future) 64:5–8.
Mitchell, R. C. 1981. From elite quarrel to mass movement.Transaction/Society 18:76–84.
Nelson, J. P. 1981. Three Mile Island and residential property values: empirical analysis and policy implications.Land Economics 57:363–372.
Otway, H. J., D. Maurer, and K. Thomas. 1978. Nuclear power: the question of public acceptance.Futures 10:109–18.
Schulman, M. A. 1979. The impact of Three Mile Island.Public Opinion June/July:7–9, 23–26.
Schwing, R. C., and W. A. Albers, Jr. (eds.). 1980. Societal Risk Assessment How Safe is Safe Enough? Plenum, New York.
Slovic, P., B. Fischhoff, and S. Lichtenstein. 1979. Rating the risks.Environment 21:14–20, 36–39.
Slovic, P., F. Fischhoff, and S. Lichtenstein. 1980. Facts and fears: understanding perceived risk. Pages 181–214in R. C. Schwing and W. A. Albers, Jr. (eds.), Societal risk assessment: how safe is safe enough? Plenum, New York.
Whyte, A. V. and I. Burton. 1980. Environmental risk assessment. Wiley, New York.
Ziegler, D. J., S. D. Brunn, and J. H. Johnson, Jr. 1981. Evacuation from a nuclear technological disaster.Geographical Review 71:1–16.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cutter, S.L. Risk cognition and the public: The case of Three Mile Island. Environmental Management 8, 15–20 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01867869
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01867869