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Nuclear power is a highly controversial and salient example of environmental risk. The siting or operating of a nuclear power plant often faces widespread public opposition. Although studies of public perceptions of nuclear power date back to 1970s, little research attempts to explain the spatial heterogeneity of risk attitude toward nuclear power among individuals or communities. This article intends to improve the knowledge about the major factors contributing to nuclear power plant risk perceptions by mapping the geographical patterns of local risk perception and examining the determinants in forming the nature and distribution of the perceived risk among potentially affected population. The analysis was conducted by a case study of the Second Nuclear Power Plant (SNPP) in Taiwan by using a novel methodology that incorporates a comprehensive risk perception (CRP) model into an ethnographic approach called risk perception mapping (RPM). First, we examined the determinants of local nuclear power risk perceptions through the CRP model and multivariate regression analysis. Second, the results were integrated with the RPM approach to map and explain the spatial pattern of risk perceptions. The findings demonstrate that the respondents regard the nuclear power plant as an extremely high-risk facility, causing them to oppose the SNPP and reject the compensation payment to accept its continuing operation. Results also indicate that perceptions of nuclear power risk were mainly influenced by social trust, psychological and socioeconomic attributes, proximity, and the perceived effects of the SNPP on the quality of everyday life.

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In the developing countries of Asia local authorities rarely use risk analysis instruments as a decision-making support mechanism during planning and development procedures. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology to enable planners to undertake such analyses. We illustrate a case study of seismic risk-benefit analysis for the city of Taipei, Taiwan, using available land use maps and surveys as well as a new tool developed by the National Science Council in Taiwan--the HAZ-Taiwan earthquake loss estimation system. We use three hypothetical earthquakes to estimate casualties and total and annualised direct economic losses, and to show their spatial distribution. We also characterise the distribution of vulnerability over the study area using cluster analysis. A risk-benefit ratio is calculated to express the levels of seismic risk attached to alternative land use plans. This paper suggests ways to perform earthquake risk evaluations and the authors intend to assist city planners to evaluate the appropriateness of their planning decisions.

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Abstract. To prepare for the potential impact of climate change and related hazards, many countries have implemented integrated river basin management programs. This has led to significant challenges for local authorities to improve their understanding of how the vulnerability factors are linked to losses in climatic disaster. This article aims to examine whether highly vulnerable areas experience significantly more damage at the river basin levels due to weather extreme events, and 10 investigates the vulnerability and hazard impact factors determine losses in a disaster. Using three river basins in southern Taiwan that were seriously affected by Typhoon Morakot in 2009 as case studies, a novel methodology is proposed that combines a geographical information system (GIS) and a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) to evaluate and map composite vulnerability to climatic hazards across river basins. The linkages between the hazard impacts, vulnerability factors and disaster losses are then tested using a disaster damage model (DDM). The results of the vulnerability assessments 15 demonstrate that almost all of the most vulnerable areas are situated in the regions of the middle, and upper reaches and some coastlines of the river basins. The losses and casualties due to typhoon are significantly affected by local vulnerability contexts and hazard impact factors. Finally, policy implications to minimize vulnerability and risk and for integrated river basin governance are suggested.