Open Forum

Abstract

All the preceding chapters are written by people who in some sense are ‘experts’. As some of them have noted, there can be a wide gulf between ‘expert’ assessments and how the man in the street perceives the risks. Public attitudes will in the end determine whether the transport of irradiated fuel in particular and nuclear power in general are socially acceptable. This chapter presents the range of views expressed from the floor during the GLC Conference and questions and answers which supplement the specialist contributions in the previous chapters. As far as possible, I have tried to capture all the viewpoints that were expressed — by politicians, trade unionists, anti-nuclear campaigners and unaligned individuals. The only omissions I am aware of were questions which are answered in the preceding chapters. Although it cannot be assumed that every statement made from the floor necessarily represents the views of the speakers’ organisations, the speakers’ affiliations are given because they give important clues to opinions among the types of organisation which collectively are likely to reflect or shape public attitudes generally.