Psychological distress as a factor in environmental impact assessment: Some methods and ideas for quantifying this intangible intangible

Abstract A case study describing citizens' contentions that restarting Three Mile Island's nuclear reactor (TMI-1) would cause psychological distress provides historical and legislative impetus for federal agencies to consider psychosocial dimensions in their environmental impact statements (EISs). Although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rejected citizens' complaints on the grounds that distress is not easily quantifiable, experts associated with the case noted that the NRC's contention was not entirely valid and that the National Environmental Protection Act missed a golden opportunity to promote the development of methodology and models for incorporating psychosocial factors into the EIS. This study describes some of the methods that have subsequently been used for measuring distress in the context of technological hazards.

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