{"title":"Public willingness to pay for interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in South Korea","authors":"Ji-Yu Kim , So-Yoon Kwak , Seung-Hoon Yoo","doi":"10.1016/j.net.2025.103939","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As temporary storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) nears saturation, securing interim storage facilities (ISFs) has become a critical policy priority in South Korea. This study employs the contingent valuation technique to estimate households' willingness to pay (WTP) for ISF. A dichotomous choice question of whether or not to pay the offered bid was asked, and a spike model was utilized to deal with a WTP of zero. A nationwide survey of 1000 households was conducted in 2024 via one-on-one interviews, with rigorous protocols being employed to ensure methodological validity. The average monthly WTP was obtained as KRW 3244 (USD 2.37) per household, with a 95 % confidence interval of KRW 2922 to 3611 (USD 2.14 to 2.64). Extrapolating this to the national level yields an annual value of KRW 863.52 billion (USD 631.22 million). Socio-economic covariates, including income, metropolitan residency, and awareness of SNF management, exhibited statistically significantly positive effects on the possibility of stating “yes” to a given bid. These findings provide actionable insights for stakeholder-driven decision-making, thereby underscoring the social and economic feasibility of ISFs as a viable solution to the challenges surrounding the country's SNF management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":19272,"journal":{"name":"Nuclear Engineering and Technology","volume":"58 2","pages":"Article 103939"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nuclear Engineering and Technology","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573325005078","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
As temporary storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) nears saturation, securing interim storage facilities (ISFs) has become a critical policy priority in South Korea. This study employs the contingent valuation technique to estimate households' willingness to pay (WTP) for ISF. A dichotomous choice question of whether or not to pay the offered bid was asked, and a spike model was utilized to deal with a WTP of zero. A nationwide survey of 1000 households was conducted in 2024 via one-on-one interviews, with rigorous protocols being employed to ensure methodological validity. The average monthly WTP was obtained as KRW 3244 (USD 2.37) per household, with a 95 % confidence interval of KRW 2922 to 3611 (USD 2.14 to 2.64). Extrapolating this to the national level yields an annual value of KRW 863.52 billion (USD 631.22 million). Socio-economic covariates, including income, metropolitan residency, and awareness of SNF management, exhibited statistically significantly positive effects on the possibility of stating “yes” to a given bid. These findings provide actionable insights for stakeholder-driven decision-making, thereby underscoring the social and economic feasibility of ISFs as a viable solution to the challenges surrounding the country's SNF management.
期刊介绍:
Nuclear Engineering and Technology (NET), an international journal of the Korean Nuclear Society (KNS), publishes peer-reviewed papers on original research, ideas and developments in all areas of the field of nuclear science and technology. NET bimonthly publishes original articles, reviews, and technical notes. The journal is listed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) of Thomson Reuters.
NET covers all fields for peaceful utilization of nuclear energy and radiation as follows:
1) Reactor Physics
2) Thermal Hydraulics
3) Nuclear Safety
4) Nuclear I&C
5) Nuclear Physics, Fusion, and Laser Technology
6) Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Radioactive Waste Management
7) Nuclear Fuel and Reactor Materials
8) Radiation Application
9) Radiation Protection
10) Nuclear Structural Analysis and Plant Management & Maintenance
11) Nuclear Policy, Economics, and Human Resource Development