Examining the role of perceived risk and benefit, shared concern for nuclear stigmatization, and trust in governments in shaping citizen risk acceptability of a nuclear power plant

Abstract

This study aims to present a more balanced perspective of risk acceptability through integrating economic individualism and social constructivism and examining the impact of trust in the national and local government on citizens' attitudes toward risk and nuclear power plants, respectively. The data were gathered from surveys of local residents engaged in fierce debates on whether they agreed to accept a nuclear power plant in their local area, the city of Samcheok in South Korea. To capture the causal links among the determinants of risk acceptability of a nuclear power plant and their relationships, the authors utilized a structural equation model. Demonstrating that a shared worry about nuclear stigmatization has both a positive impact on risk perception but also a negative impact on trust in local government, our findings emphasize that risk studies of nuclear energy should pay attention to the social, cultural, and historical contexts of nuclear energy as well as its economic aspects when examining the determinants of risk acceptability. This study also enriches our understanding that national and local governments can play different roles in promoting citizens' risk acceptability of a nuclear power plant. Thus, this study contributes towards presenting a better specified causal model of risk acceptability and offers practical implications of how to promote the public's risk acceptability of nuclear power facilities.