Public Opinion Factors Regarding Nuclear Power

Public Opinion Factors Regarding Nuclear Power
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 98
Release: 1991
Genre:
ISBN:
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This paper is an effort to identify, as comprehensively as possible, public concerns about nuclear power, and to assess, where possible, the relative importance of these concerns as they relate to government regulation of and policy towards nuclear power. It is based on some two dozen in-depth interviews with key communicators representing the nuclear power industry, the environmental community, and government, as well as on the parallel efforts in our research project: (1) review of federal court case law, (2) a selective examination of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) administrative process, and (3) the preceding George Mason University research project in this series. The paper synthesizes our findings about public attitudes towards nuclear power as expressed through federal court case law, NRC administrative law, public opinion surveys, and direct personal interviews. In so doing, we describe the public opinion environment in which the nuclear regulatory process must operate. Our premise is that public opinion ultimately underlies the approaches government agencies take towards regulating nuclear power, and that, to the degree that the nuclear power industry's practices are aligned with public opinion, a more favorable regulatory climate is possible.

Public Opinion and Nuclear Power Decision-making

Public Opinion and Nuclear Power Decision-making
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 5
Release: 1991
Genre:
ISBN:
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This document discusses public opinion regarding nuclear power which is particularly difficult to tie down because of five important paradoxes that characterize it: it can be based on sound reason, but also on intense emotion; it is both national and local in perspective; at varying times it has seen nuclear power as both ''clean'' and ''dirty''; it believes nuclear power is both economic, and uneconomic; and nuclear power is perceived as having a fairly safe record, but being potentially unsafe. Equally as complex as the process by which public opinion is formed is the process by which it is converted into public policy. The American political system has numerous checks and balances designed to moderate the power of public opinion. A complex series of legislative, judicial, and executive branch hurdles must be cleared before any idea, however popular, can become day-to-day operating reality in government. As a result, major changes in policy or programs are difficult, and we may expect that nuclear power will be no different; radical change in one direction or the other is unlikely. Nevertheless, carefully focused programs could achieve modest progress, and carefully designed public opinion surveys could support such programs.

Public Reactions to Nuclear Waste

Public Reactions to Nuclear Waste
Author: Riley E. Dunlap
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 1993
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780822313731
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Nuclear waste is going nowhere, and neither is the debate over its disposal. The problem, growing every day, has proven intractable, with policymakers on one side, armed with daunting technical data, and the public on the other, declaring: not in my backyard. This timely volume offers a look past our present impasse into the nature and roots of public viewpoints on nuclear waste disposal. A much-needed supplement to the largely technical literature on this problem, the book provides extensive studies of the reaction of citizens--whether rural or urban, near-site residents or prospective visitors--to proposed nuclear waste sites around the nation, particularly Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Conducted by distinguished sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, and economists, these studies constitute the most comprehensive account available of the impact of public perceptions and opinions on the nuclear waste policy process in the United States. As such, the collection will clarify the politics of nuclear waste siting and will give impetus to the stalled debate over the issue. Contributors. Rodney K. Baxter, Julia G. Brody, Bruce Clary, Lori Cramer, William H. Desvousges, Riley E. Dunlap, Douglas Easterling, Judy K. Fleishman, James Flynn, William R. Freudenburg, Michael E. Kraft, Richard S. Krannich, Howard Kunreuther, Mark Layman, Ronald L. Little, Robert Cameron Mitchell, Alvin H. Mushkatel, Joanne M. Nigg, K. David Pijawka, Eugene A. Rosa, Paul Slovic

Public Opinion on Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Weapons

Public Opinion on Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Weapons
Author: Jonathon Baron
Publisher:
Total Pages: 11
Release: 2020
Genre:
ISBN:
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Does a lack of enthusiasm for nuclear energy among the US public relate to connections with nuclear weapons? The United States is projected to decline as the global leader in nuclear power production due to stagnation in the industry. Alongside this trend, US public skepticism of nuclear energy has remained high for decades. Policymakers, industry, and pro- and anti-nuclear advocates must understand these attitudes given electricity needs, energy sector competition, and climate change. Existing scholarship explains public opinion on nuclear power by comparing its economic and environmental desirability with other energy sources. Yet, a critical area of public opinion remains understudied: the connection between nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Scholars have theorized such a relationship in the public consciousness, but the premise has not been systematically investigated. Two studies examine this theoretical linkage. Study 1 uses a nationally representative US survey experiment (n = 904) to validate that public attitudes toward civilian and military nuclear technologies are indeed related. Study 2 uses an exploratory survey experiment (n = 1,003) to show that persuasive information about each technology affects opinion about the other. These studies provide evidence of psychological linkage. In fact, attitudes toward nuclear weapons may even drive those on nuclear energy.