Integration of social aspects into nuclear research: The SCK•CEN public opinion BAROMETER

The Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN initiated in the late 90's the Programme for Integration of Social Aspects into nuclear research (PISA). One of the objectives of the PISA programme is to assess people's perception of radiation risks and their attitudes towards nuclear technologies, and the evolution of these factors with time in the Belgian population. The main research intrument used for this purpose is the so-called "SCK•CEN Barometer", a large-scale (N > 1000) public opinion survey among the Belgian population. In this paper we report of results of studies based on empirical data from the Barometer. First we describe the methodology in the survey and we remind about the specific topics adressed in the various editions and some interesting results obtained. Next, we look in detail at two topics: i) risk communication in nuclear emergencies and ways to improve it; and ii) Changes after Fukushima in the perception of radiation risks and attitude towards nuclear energy.