Facts or values -- how do parliamentarians and experts see nuclear power?

Abstract An intractable problem in energy policy formulation is how to separate value-related political factors from economic and technical factors. The results from a unique decision-aiding project in the parliament of Finland show that when dealing with nuclear power there are preferential value differences as well as different opinions about the facts and data both among and between the politicians and experts. This paper illustrates how decision analysis was used to point out these differences and to structure the nuclear debate.