Besides the inherent risks which technology itself has, nowadays, diverse faceted risk issues stemming not only from the technology-dependent society but also the deviation between technology and society (e.g., no interest in science and technology, perception gap between professionals and the general public, social resistance, and refusal of technology) are becoming prominent. In order actually to cope with these technological risk issues in contemporary complex society, it is important for individuals to develop the capability to examine risk information critically and understand the true nature of the problem, i.e., risk literacy. Meanwhile, on a social level, institutional arrangements and governance systems should be established to minimize risks effectively. Risk communication activity plays a key role in the process of these realizations.

The importance of risk communication has been pointed out vigorously since the mid-90s in Japan in the context of a transparent policymaking process and consensus building concerning nuclear energy issues. But no concrete activity has been undertaken by the government, electric power companies, or research institutes.Looking at recent activities in the chemicals and food safety fields by government, industry and NPOs in Japan, we are anxious that the nuclear community may lose social trust due to falling behind other industries and sectors. Moreover, in Tokai village, which is the birthplace of Japan’s atomic energy research, the residents who experienced unprecedented accidents at nuclear facilities in 1997 and 1999 are calling for risk communication activities in order to realize a model municipality for ensuring nuclear safety, which means living together with a healthy and tension-free atmosphere.

Aiming at the establishment of risk communication in our society, we have been conducting risk communication experiments on some risk issues associated with nuclear technology and its utilization in Tokai village with the financial support of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of METI since October 2002.

The objective of the research project is to draw up practical guidelines or manuals for 1) process design and its implementation, 2) risk message design, 3) assessing public needs and concerns, 4) developing risk communicators and facilitators, as well as to clarify the social effects of risk communication activities, through experiments involving voluntary residents, village officers and nuclear professionals in Tokai village.

The research is comprised of the following three parts.

1. Social experiments involving risk communication on nuclear technology and its utilization

The social experiments for risk communication involving the local government (Tokai Village Office), residents of Tokai village, owners of the nuclear facility (Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, Tokai Works), and the research institutions (universities/Central Research Institute of the Electric Power Industry) are to be carried out at Tokai village (Naka-gun, Ibaraki). In the experiment, specific issues and an appropriate communication platform are selected by the stakeholders, including residents.

2. Evaluation of social effects of risk communication activities

The research team is mainly organized of social science researchers (sociology, public administration, social psychology, etc.), and the social significance and effects of the risk communication activities are evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively through social surveys (interviews with stakeholders and questionnaires, etc.) and the social experiments.

3. Preparation of practical guidelines for risk communication

Using the knowledge and experiences gained in part 1 and the evaluation results in part 2, the project is going to prepare guidelines for each stakeholder, as well as guidelines for process design and message preparation.