Contemporary China has stepped into a risk society.In recent years，environmental issues such as the nuclear fuel project in Heshan，Guangdong Province has triggered a series of collective actions.Yet some of these issues can be characterized as “low-hazard，high outrage”.Taking the theoretical framework of “social amplification of risk”，this paper explores the mechanisms in the process of social amplification of environmental risks in China.Based on the case studies of Shandong people’s opposing Shidaowan Nuclear Power Plant and Rushan Nuclear Power Plant，we have come to a conclusion that environmental risks are amplified during the process of information communication and society response.In the process of information communication，the public debate and the way in which information is constructed by the media，experts and opinion leaders will determine whether risk information is amplified.In the process of social response，whether people attach a stigmating label to a certain issue and whether people interpret information in a confrontational way will also affect the amplification of risk.This study is a theoretical attempt to introduce western theory of “social amplification of risk” into the context of contemporary Chinese society.