Nuclear power debate and public opinion in Belarus: From Chernobyl to Ostrovets

Abstract

The Belarusian government's decision of the last decade to build a nuclear power plant near the city of Ostrovets, in northern Belarus, has proven to be controversial, resulting in a great deal of debate about nuclear energy in the country. The debate was inevitably shaped by the traumatic event that affected Belarus - the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986. The Belarusian authorities have consistently promoted a positive view of nuclear energy to the population in order to overcome the so-called 'Chernobyl syndrome' and deliberately shaped nuclear risk communication. As a result, the issue of trust remains crucial in all nuclear debates in Belarus.

Clusterization of public perception of nuclear energy in relation to changing political priorities

“…The key issues related to public views on nuclear power include trust in nuclear industry, understanding of nuclear technology and confidence in "expert" views on risk issues such as reactor safety and the long-term solutions for the storage and/or disposal of radioactive waste (Demski, Poortinga and Pidgeon 2014). The nuclear energy usually is presented as a vivid example of such a schism between technological expertise and assurance of NPP's safety and public scepticism and mistrust in such guarantees (Pidgeon, Lorenzoni and Poortinga 2008;Novikau 2016).…”