Assessing radiation risk perception by means of a European stakeholder survey

It is increasingly recognized that stakeholder views can be essential to ascertain the credibility of those entrusted with protection of the public and workers against radiation risks, the robustness of the approaches to protection and the relevance of research underpinning radiation protection. The CONCERT European Joint Programme of radiation protection research included consideration of stakeholder views. These were surveyed by means of a publicly available survey that was made available in fifteen languages to help encourage responses from a wide range of European countries. The survey ran in 2017 and received some 1961 responses over many countries, though response rates varied widely between countries. The survey respondents were largely highly educated with many having a professional connection to radiation protection or the use of radiation in medicine or industry. Survey results indicated a high level of scientific/technical knowledge relevant to radiation protection and indicated a general trust of most actors involved in the radiation protection field, perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of the sampled population. Most expressed a reasonable level of satisfaction with the information available to them on radiation risk, but there is clearly room for improvement. Additionally, the survey identified potential training needs amongst the groups responding. It is concluded that, while the survey results are limited by the non-representativeness of the respondents by comparison with the EU population as a whole, it has been successful in gaining insights into areas where communication could be improved, where professional training gaps are present and where research could help to build wider trust in radiation protection.