Historical Trends in Energy Risk Comparisons

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Abstract
A historical review of comparisons of risks from various energy and electricity technologies indicates a changing focus over time. Studies published in the 1970s addressed health and safety risks to the public and to workers from a power plant of standard size and design, assumed to be located at a generic site. Beginning in the late 1970s, more systematic studies were conducted that considered how additions of new generating capacity affected an entire generating system. More recent studies have considered risks not appropriately accounted for on a per‐power‐plant basis including those from energy end use, where, for example, risks from electrical shock or fire are independent of the technology used for generation, and global risks where the marginal framework inherent in a per‐power‐plant analysis fails to capture the key aspects of the risks (for example, greenhouse gas emissions). These studies have not been particularly influential in energy technology choices in particular cases; they have contributed to the public debate on the desirability of alternative technologies based on their health and environmental risks.