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Elite Risk Perceptions

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Energy, Risk and Governance

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Abstract

This chapter presents an insider view of how the nuclear elite thinks about risk. In unpacking their underlying rationales for developing nuclear energy, the risk perception of India’s nuclear elite is reconstructed around three core narratives of the growth imperative; technological nationalism; and faith in systems and technology. Each of these was further supported by a larger web of ideologies, histories and material realities that together served to amplify certain risks and attenuate others. Nevertheless, important indicators reveal that the nuclear establishment is less than homogenous in the way it thinks about risk. Some nuclear elites displayed the capacity for self-critique and reflexivity, indicating that the allegiance of an organisation’s members, even at its highest order, are only partial at best.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Sect. 2.2 for the theoretical background to this.

  2. 2.

    See Sect. 3.1.3 for explanation.

  3. 3.

    See Chap. 5 for a more extensive discussion of this.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

    Catherine Mei Ling Wong

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  1. Catherine Mei Ling Wong
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Wong, C.M.L. (2018). Elite Risk Perceptions. In: Energy, Risk and Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63363-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63363-3_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63362-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63363-3

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