Psychological distress as a factor in environmental impact assessment: Some methods and ideas for quantifying this intangible intangible

A case study describing citizensʹ contentions that restarting Three Mile Islandʹs nuclear reactor (TMI-1) would cause psychological distress provides historical and legislative impetus for federal agencies to consider psychosocial dimensions in their environmental impact statements (EISs). Although the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) rejected citizensʹ complaints on the grounds that distress is not easily quantifiable, experts associated with the case noted that the NRCʹs contention was not entirely valid and that the National Environmental Protection Act missed a golden opportunity to promote the development of methodology and models for incorporating psychosocial factors into the EIS. This study describes some of the methods that have subsequently been used for measuring distress in the context of technological hazards.