An Evaluation of Public Attitude toward Nuclear Power after Fukushima Accident: Evidence from Taiwan
Keywords:
Attitude, Nuclear Power, Multi-regression AnalysisAbstract
After Japan Fukushima accident, several countries are discussing whether they will maintain their nuclear power plants in the next few decades. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyze what information and psychometric factor has an effect on the propensity to the decision of terminating the 4th nuclear power plants in Taiwan. Multi-regression method is used to analysis the role of information factors and psychometric factors in attitude changing toward nuclear power; and using model comparison to analysis the explanation power between two information and psychometric models. The results showed that only amount of information cannot changes the attitude of Taiwan’s public toward nuclear power. But psychological factors, such as perceived risk/benefit and trust, could influence the direction and degree of attitude changing.
References
MartÃnez DM, Ebenhack BW., “Understanding the role of energy consumption in human development through the use of saturation phenomenaâ€, Energy Policy, vol. 36, pp. 1430-1435, 2008.
Atomic Energy Council, Available: http://www.aec.gov.tw/english/index.html, 2012.
Fishbein M, Ajzen I., Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behaviour: An Introduction to Theory and Research, Reading USA: Addison-Wesley, 1975.
Taipei Times, Available: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan, 2013.
Lee YH, Wang CC., “Measuring the social value of nuclear energy using public involvement in public managementâ€, presented at the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines (IABPAD 2013), on Istanbul, Turkey,2013.
Siegrist M., “The Influence of Trust and Perceptions of Risks and Benefits on the Acceptance of Gene Technologyâ€, Risk Analysis, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 195-204, 2001.
Sjöberg L., “Factors in Risk Perceptionâ€, Risk Analysis, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1-12, 2000.
Anderson NH, Graesser CC., “An Information Integration Analysis of Attitude Change in Group Discussionâ€, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 210-222, 1976.
Frewer LJ, Howard C, Shepherd R., “Understanding public attitudes to technologyâ€, Journal of Risk Research, vol. 1 pp. 221–235, 1998.
Brenner E, Schmidt R., “Early Often and Clearly: Communicating the Nuclear Message – 10447â€, Paper presented at the WM2010 Conference, Phoenix, AZ, March 7-11, 2010. 4th Annu. Allerton Conf. Circuits and Systems Theory, New York, pp. 8–16, 1994.
Kovacs P, Gordelier S., “Nuclear Power and the Publicâ€, NEA News, vol. 27, no.1, pp. 4-7, 2009.
Dones R, Heck T, Hirschberg S, Cutler JC., “Greenhouse gas emissions from energy systems, comparison and overviewâ€, Encyclopedia of Energy, vol. 3, pp. 77–95, 2004.
Visschers HM, Keller C, Siegrist M., “Climate change benefits and energy supply benefits as determinants of acceptance of nuclear power stations: Investigating an explanatory modelâ€, Energy Policy, Vol. 39, pp. 3621-3629, 2011.
Desvousges WH, Kunreuther H, Slovic P, Rosa EA., “Perceived Risk and Attitudes Toward Nuclear Wastes: National and Nevada Perspectivesâ€, in R. E. Dunlap, M. E. Kraft and E. A. Rosa, Ed. Public Reactions to Nuclear Waste: Citizens’ Views of Repository Siting, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 176-208, 1993.
Mushkatel AH, Nigg JM, Pijawka KD., “Nevada Urban Residents' Attitudes toward a Nuclear Waste Repositoryâ€, in R. E. Dunlap, M.E. Kraft and E. A. Rosa, Ed. Public Reactions to Nuclear Waste: Citizens’ Views of Repository Siting, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. 239-262, 1993.
Fischer F., “Democracy and Expertise: Reorienting Policy Inquiryâ€, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Cohn V., Reporting on Risk: getting it right in an age of risk, Washington DC: The Media Institute, 1990.
Bureau of Energy, Available:http://web3.moeaboe.gov.tw/ECW/english/content/Content.aspx?menu_id=969, 2013.
Berg RJ, Damveld H., Available: http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/ethics/issues/scientific/nuclear_waste_ethics.pdf, Social and ethical aspects of the retrievable storage of nuclear waste, Nuclear Waste and Nuclear Ethics, 2000.
Fan MF., “Environmental citizenship and sustainable development: the case of waste facility siting in Taiwanâ€, Sustainable Development, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 381-389, 2008.
Hursti U, Magnusson MK., “Swedish consumers’ opinions about gene technologyâ€, British Food Journal, vol. 104, pp. 860-72, 2002.
Hair JF, Anderson RE, Tatham RL, Black WC., Multivariate data analysis with readings, 4th edn ,1995.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
- Papers must be submitted on the understanding that they have not been published elsewhere (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis) and are not currently under consideration by another journal published by any other publisher.
- It is also the authors responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular source are submitted with the necessary approval.
- The authors warrant that the paper is original and that he/she is the author of the paper, except for material that is clearly identified as to its original source, with permission notices from the copyright owners where required.
- The authors ensure that all the references carefully and they are accurate in the text as well as in the list of references (and vice versa).
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.