Nuclear power in China after Fukushima: understanding public knowledge, attitudes, and trust

Abstract

To meet the increasing demand for energy, the past decade has seen the revitalization of nuclear power technologies and many countries adopting nuclear power as a priority strategy in their energy policy. However, Japan's Fukushima nuclear crisis, following the tsunami on 11 March 2011, challenged perceptions of much of the world's nuclear power industry -but not in China. To explain how the future of nuclear power is decided in China, this study aims to understand the role of the public in the decision-making through exploring the current public knowledge of and trust in nuclear power, about which there is limited research compared to other environmental issues. Based on a questionnaire survey in Shandong province, this study concluded that, compared to many other countries with nuclear power, China had a different landscape of nuclear power information, knowledge, and trust. This paper helps to explain why the Chinese government is able to continue the development of nuclear power, without much public debate and participation.

Transparency and information disclosure in China's environmental governance

“…But at the same time, in quite a number of cases this media disclosure does not come easily and/or is suppressed and prevented by local authorities and enterprises [19,61 ,62]. Several studies show that environmental media reporting can still be strongly framed and controlled by Beijing, such as in the case of nuclear power [20,21,63,64].…”

“…For instance, decisions on nuclear power plants construction were made with almost no information disclosure to the public living close to the newly build energy plants [20,21]. In addition, public participation and information disclosure during the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on construction and investment projects are required following the 2003 EIA Law, but the record of such participation and disclosure is rather poor [22,23].…”

Public participation and trust in nuclear power development in China

“…China implemented the principle of 'safety first' in the entire process of nuclear power development. The legal system, technical standards, safety management mechanism, the supervision system, and an emergency mechanism for nuclear accidents have been established and improved to enhance the country's nuclear safety capability [31]. China's civil nuclear program is governed by a closed policy community-an 'iron nuclear triangle'-of government organizations, state-owned nuclear industry, and research institutions (see Fig.…”

Searching for the Next New Energy in Energy Transition: Comparing the Impacts of Economic Incentives on Local Acceptance of Fossil Fuels, Renewable, and Nuclear Energies

“…Only location in socio-demographic factors is statistically significant at the 1 % significant level in Model 5. According to He et al [64], respondents living far from nuclear facilities are more critical toward nuclear power. On the contrary, social status in socio-demographic factors, knowledge in perception factors and energy security are statistically significant only in Model 6.…”