Skip navigation
Skip navigation

Organisational risk perception and transformations in Indias nuclear establishment

Wong, Catherine

Description

The discourse on nuclear power and risk has shifted over the last few decades from security concerns emanating from nuclear weapons to threats to public safety in the event of industrial nuclear accidents. While the main focus of existing scholarship has been on public risk perceptions, comparatively little is known about organisational risk perceptions and the factors that influence organisations’ willingness to accept the incalculable risks of nuclear power. This paper provides insights into...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorWong, Catherine
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-24T22:41:42Z
dc.identifier.issn1366-9877
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/98784
dc.description.abstractThe discourse on nuclear power and risk has shifted over the last few decades from security concerns emanating from nuclear weapons to threats to public safety in the event of industrial nuclear accidents. While the main focus of existing scholarship has been on public risk perceptions, comparatively little is known about organisational risk perceptions and the factors that influence organisations’ willingness to accept the incalculable risks of nuclear power. This paper provides insights into how the nuclear establishment in India thinks about risk. Drawing on interviews with the senior management of nuclear organisations, the analysis shows that organisational risk perception is not merely a human construct or the outcome of simple technical cost-benefit rationalities. It is the result of interactions between material and ideational conditions of risk. These conditions are expressed through three core organisational narratives: (1) the growth imperative, (2) technological nationalism and (3) faith in systems and technology. While there is generally a strong consensus on these narratives within and among the nuclear organisations in India, the data also show that organisations are not homogenous entities. Instances of self-critique and reflexivity exist which could open new spaces for change towards a more inclusive organisational discourse on nuclear risk in India
dc.publisherCarfax Publishing Ltd.
dc.sourceJournal of Risk Research
dc.titleOrganisational risk perception and transformations in Indias nuclear establishment
dc.typeJournal article
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.citationvolume18
dc.date.issued2015
local.identifier.absfor160801 - Applied Sociology, Program Evaluation and Social Impact Assessment
local.identifier.ariespublicationU3488905xPUB7568
local.type.statusPublished Version
local.contributor.affiliationWong, Catherine, College of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU
local.description.embargo2037-12-31
local.bibliographicCitation.issue8
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage1012
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage1029
local.identifier.doi10.1080/13669877.2014.910697
dc.date.updated2016-02-24T10:14:24Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-84938965173
CollectionsANU Research Publications

Download

File Description SizeFormat Image
01_Wong_Organisational_risk_perception_2015.pdf369.34 kBAdobe PDF    Request a copy


Items in Open Research are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Updated:  17 November 2022/ Responsible Officer:  University Librarian/ Page Contact:  Library Systems & Web Coordinator