This award will provide partial support to the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Risk Perception and Communication to research and develop a report that would analyze and evaluate approaches for improving the process of communicating about risk associated with technologies, and for improving public understanding about related policy questions. The study's conclusions and recommendations will help improve public understanding of technological hazards and appropriate responses to them, and will assist decision-makers within and outside the government as other participants in the process to anticipate problems and develop adequate responses to them. These results should enable policy makers to improve the performance, public understanding, and cost-effectiveness of new programs.
