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Abstract JU324Full Paper + Presentation
Using PRA Insights to Inform Public Perceptions of Nuclear Safety: Implications for Singapore's SMR Considerations
Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) has long served as one of the primary elements of nuclear reactor safety analysis, providing systematic insights into risk triplet: scenarios, likelihoods, and consequences. As the global nuclear landscape evolves with the emergence of new reactor technologies, such as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), and the entry of newcomer nuclear countries into the energy conversation, the role of PRA could potentially expand beyond its uses to support plant operations and maintenance, and for making regulatory decisions. Specifically, there is the potential to utilize risk information and insights from PRA to facilitate risk communication with general public audiences. While nuclear risk communication has received growing attention in this context, the specific mechanisms through which PRA insights could be translated into public-facing communication remain underexplored.
This paper presents the initial efforts by the authors to address this research gap. Recent literature on nuclear safety and public risk communication published between 2020 and 2026 is reviewed, and preliminary findings are reported. While past papers have identified public risk communication as an underexplored area and a future research need within nuclear safety literature, no structured mechanism has yet been proposed for translating PRA-generated risk information and insights into public-facing risk communication.
Drawing on these findings, the paper discusses two key considerations for a PRA-informed public risk communication. First, a selection of which PRA outputs are translatable for general audiences. Second, an implementation tactic to translate the chosen PRA-generated information and insights into plain language comparisons that lay audiences can meaningfully engage with. The practical implications of these two key considerations is illustrated through Singapore’s SMR deployment activity as an illustrative case study.
In this research, Claude (Anthropic) and NotebookLM (Google) were used to assist in literature synthesis, extraction of insights and refinement of written content. AI-assisted outputs were reviewed and verified by the authors, who take full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of this work.
← Check another abstractThis paper presents the initial efforts by the authors to address this research gap. Recent literature on nuclear safety and public risk communication published between 2020 and 2026 is reviewed, and preliminary findings are reported. While past papers have identified public risk communication as an underexplored area and a future research need within nuclear safety literature, no structured mechanism has yet been proposed for translating PRA-generated risk information and insights into public-facing risk communication.
Drawing on these findings, the paper discusses two key considerations for a PRA-informed public risk communication. First, a selection of which PRA outputs are translatable for general audiences. Second, an implementation tactic to translate the chosen PRA-generated information and insights into plain language comparisons that lay audiences can meaningfully engage with. The practical implications of these two key considerations is illustrated through Singapore’s SMR deployment activity as an illustrative case study.
In this research, Claude (Anthropic) and NotebookLM (Google) were used to assist in literature synthesis, extraction of insights and refinement of written content. AI-assisted outputs were reviewed and verified by the authors, who take full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of this work.