Acceptable risk is embodied in, for example, all earthquake building codes and regulations, and what is an acceptable risk for a jam factory and for a nuclear power plant are not the same.
Received wisdom in the seismological community is that scientists should steer well clear of trying to define acceptable risk; it really is a political matter. If the politicians decide that 1 in 10,000 years is acceptable, the seismologist can put a value to that, but it is definitely not the role of the seismologist to say, "Well, you know, 1 in 5,000 years would be fine".
Roger Musson
British Geological Survey
West Mains Road
Edinburgh EH9 2NA
Scotland
tel:+44-(0)131-650-0205
fax:+44-(0)131-667-1877
email: [log in to unmask]
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