Suchergebnisse

This paper surveys trends and conclusions in federally sponsored studies of nuclear reactor safety and their implications for nuclear regulation. The paper finds that recent studies do not rule out the possibility of light water reactor accidents equal to or even larger in size than the 1986 Chernobyl accident. The probability of such an event–involving both core melt and prompt containment failure–is quite small, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) estimated probability of core melt is significantly higher. The paper reviews the NRC's use of these findings through a probabilistic cost‐benefit framework, and it concludes that a greater and focused NRC commitment to risk reduction is justified.

In the coming decades, about one in five drivers will be aged 65 or more years in many Western nations. Given the increased fatal crash risk of older adults coupled with the continuing need for effective mobility, the issue of older adult safety and mobility is complex. Indeed, researchers have suggested that this issue has two interdependent, underlying goals for research and programs: to help those who are able to drive safely continue to do so and to identify and provide community mobility support to those who are no longer able to drive. This article briefly discusses the issues and research needs related to older adult safety and mobility including population and driving trends, crash risks, skills needed for safe driving, the effects of medical conditions and medicines on driving skills, screening and assessment, strategies for extending safe driving, and driving cessation and the use of alternative transportation options.

The transfer of tactical aviation technology into automobiles is creating information display requirements that are likely to be met by use of the head-up display (HUD). These developments are based largely on conclusions that the HUD-related safety issues raised in the aviation HUD literature can be dismissed and that the benefits of using HUDs are certain. Such conclusions either neglect relevant research or are supported by a very small amount of evidence, much of which is either irrelevant or generated within a flawed methodological paradigm. This critical review covers the issues of (a) HUD focal distance and its effect on the perception of outside objects and (b) the effects of HUD imagery on visual attention. The issues of focal distance, cognitive capture, and the inherent connection between the two may have a greater impact on safety in the automotive context than they do in aviation.