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This paper aims to explain the changes to the liability regime for nuclear installations before reviewing the traditional heads of damage under the 1965 Act. It argues that while there is some welcome clarification of what amounts to an “occurrence” in the purposes of the 1965 Act, disappointingly, little has been done to clarify how concepts of personal injury and property damage under the Act sit alongside traditional tort notions leaving the law highly dependent on earlier, but not always consistent, case law. The paper then goes on to consider the impact of the new categories of compensation, introduced by the Order, evaluating the extent to which these draw upon EU law structures for environmental impairment liability. Again, it questions whether this approach will achieve sufficient clarity and certainty.

This paper is a desk-based legal research.

This study is a discussion of statutory material and case law.

This paper is a first in-depth treatment of changes to liability principles in the Nuclear Installations Act 1965.

Return-entry is understudied in the disaster science literature. This paper provides an overview of the return-entry process, identifies key factors informing the selection of return strategy, proposes a simple classification of return strategies and offers ideas for advancing research in this area.

This paper explores previous research and recent return-entry processes in order to advance understanding of strategies emergency managers employ and decisions they make when managing the return movement of evacuees home after disasters.

The paper offers new insights into the management of the return movement, proposes primary factors considered when developing return strategies and offers a framework for the selection of strategies utilized by emergency managers.

Given that return-entry is a burgeoning area of inquiry in disaster science, this paper advances knowledge and understanding of return-entry movements after disasters and outlines key research needs.

The study aims to showcase public sentiments via social media, Twitter, during 2014 floods of Jammu and Kashmir, India.

The study is based on content analysis of tweets related to Kashmir floods. Search was performed with “#kashmirfloods” and was confined to tweets posted from 4 September 2014 through 3 November 2014. A naturalistic approach was applied to examine the content and classify tweets into 5 major and 25 sub categories. Data as such collected were tabulated in SPSS 21 for analysis.

During the study period, individuals, news channels, and organisations posted a total of 36,697 tweets related to Kashmir floods. It all started with an outburst of tweets which goes on declining (exponentially) with every passing day. People express themselves in a number of ways with informational tweets used more during the time of disaster. Individuals expressing their sentiments outscore other types of sentiments with text-based tweets ranking high. About 44 per cent of tweets were retweeted, and nearly 31 per cent tweets were marked favourite. Comparatively, more number of informational and help tweets were retweeted or marked favourite. Contextual richness of tweet (i.e. number of embedded expressions) enhances its visibility by means of getting liked and/or retweeted. A statistically significant positive association is observed between the number of expressions in a tweet and the number of times it is liked (favourite) or retweeted.

Twitter plays a pivotal role during natural calamities like Kashmir floods to connect people in the hour of need and help. It provides a platform where the plight of people is heard across the globe and which encourages people to unite and overcome hurdles together.

This study examines the sentiments of people expressed during Jammu and Kashmir (India) Floods 2014 on social media – Twitter.

Though some disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) abstractions and core concepts may appear transparently obvious to some readers, others might not easily grasp the complexities embedded in them. This chapter focusses on the main arguments connected to DRRM. It unravels some of the complexities that abound in the framing of key disaster risk reduction concepts in literature. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part focusses on understanding the dynamics of disasters. This part revisits definitions of disasters in literature, how they have been conceptualised in academia and what makes them different from other related concepts such as hazards, crisis, vulnerabilities and emergencies. Furthermore, considering that some impacts of disasters are more obvious than others, it examines some of the less conspicuous relationships between disasters and other phenomena. The second part examines the concept of DRRM in existing literature, highlighting the importance of resilience in DRRM and revisiting key methodological approaches in building resilience among communities. The third part places the concept of DRRM within the African context. It demonstrates the delicate aspects embedded in successful DRRM in Africa amid institutional development and policy issues. This part concludes with the identification of key knowledge gaps in DRRM in Africa. These knowledge gaps identified in the wider literature are used to justify why the chapters in this book and the context covered (sub-Saharan Africa) are of utmost importance in DRRM.

The paper aims to examine Igor Ansoff's research on environmental turbulence and to extend the paradigm.

Ansoff's contribution was examined and applied to a variety of situations. The scale as designed did not capture certain strategic surprises.

The increasingly discontinuous environment requires a modified scaling of depicting changes in the environment.

This study highlights the need for researchers to extend theories and premises due to environmental discontinuities.

A new assessment tool to measure turbulence and discontinuity is provided.

The paper makes a contribution to the understanding of discontinuity in the environment.

This paper aims to provide an insight into the future for disaster relief (DR) and search and rescue (SAR) robots by considering research activities which seek to address real-world applications and by identifying key user requirements and development priorities.

Following a short introduction, this first provides a brief overview of the use of robots in DR and SAR and gives examples of organisations promoting their use. This is followed by details of development programmes aimed at meeting users’ requirements. Specific needs are identified and considered in detail and were derived from both the literature and through discussions with users. This paper concludes with a tabulated summary of key development priorities.

This study shows that several collaborative research programmes aim to address real DR and SAR applications, with robots being tested in simulated disaster scenarios. A number of key user requirements and development priorities are identified for aerial, ground and marine robots.

By identifying a number of specific requirements, this paper will assist in focussing research and development activities towards real users’ needs.