It must be remembered that there is always a gap between intuitive percep­tions and probabilistic evaluation of risk, in any field: we know that the probability of having a fatal accident when travelling by plane is far lower than having one when travelling by car but, nevertheless, many people are more afraid of being in planes than they are of being in cars. In the energy field, many studies comparing lethal risks resulting from different energy sources (ExternE, NEA, 2010) show that nuclear energy’s risk of a lethal accident is lower than that for fossil sources (coal, oil and even gas). Nevertheless, the risk of accident is more spontaneously linked to nuclear power than to coal mining or oil extraction. This risk remains the main argument of nuclear opponents and it is also an obstacle for people who have ambivalent perceptions of nuclear energy.

In the 2007 Eurobarometer, respondents had to choose between two answers: ‘The advantages of nuclear power as an energy source outweigh the risks it poses’ and ‘The risks of nuclear power as an energy source out­weigh its advantages’ (NEA, 2010: Fig. 2, p. 22). With regard to nuclear power, people’s threats are focused on catastrophic accident and radiologi­cal risk for human health, often seen as insidious in the neighbourhood of nuclear sites. Objective knowledge may limit fear of these threats, but there always remains some unconscious distrust. But the more people feel well informed on nuclear safety, the less they feel threatened by nuclear safety risks (NEA, 2010, pp. 22-23).

The best way to convince people of nuclear safety is by the example of safe operation: this is why confidence in safety authorities is more pro­nounced in nuclear countries than in non-nuclear countries and, moreover, more pronounced in the neighbourhood of nuclear plants (Eurobarometer, NEA, 2010, p. 22): 59% of respondents in nuclear countries think that nuclear plants can be operated safely against 31% who do not. This puts the NIMBY syndrome into perspective: opposition particularly applies before the building of a nuclear facility in newcomer countries but is less observed in nuclear countries in the neighbourhood of nuclear plants.