What is the role of perceived risk?
It is generally accepted that something that carries risk will drive property prices down. Probabilistic risk assessments are based on computer models and probabilities, and are impersonal. They weigh probabilities and come up with a risk assessment number, but they do not account for how people actually perceive risk and act on their perceptions of risk. “How people perceive risk will have economic, social, and other behavioral consequences,” says Joe Strolin, administrator for the Planning Division for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. “If for example people perceive the transportation of high-level radioactive waste to be a high risk activity, even if the probability number shows it not to be . . . they will act on those perceptions, not the actual risk.” Strolin says a recent New Mexico Supreme Court case could have far-reaching affects in Nevada. The New Mexico Supreme Court case in August 1992 held that governments must pay damages for loss of a person’s property value if f
