Differentiated influences of perceived benefit types of nuclear power on its acceptance: Evidence from South Korea

Abstract

Perceived benefits and risk of nuclear power have received considerable attention as influencing factors in public acceptance of nuclear power. The validation of the differential effects of these perceptions across contexts can provide implications for public communication strategies. This study is based on the similarity and dissimilarity between nuclear benefits and risk in their consequences. It posits that the pattern of the effect of environmental benefit perception on nuclear power acceptance is more similar to that of risk perception than to that of energy supply benefit perception, which is another type of benefit perception. Upon analyzing a national survey data from South Korea, we discovered the following: (1) regarding nuclear power as a non-dispreferred option, all the benefit perceptions and the risk perception exhibited a significant effect; (2) however, regarding nuclear power as the favorite option, the perception of environmental benefit and that of risk demonstrated a significant effect, but that of energy supply benefit did not. These findings have implications for both public communication strategies and theoretical considerations in future studies.