Public Opposition To The Siting Of The High-Level Nuclear Waste Repository: The Importance Of Trust |
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| Authors: | K. David Pijawka Alvin H. Mushkatel |
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| Affiliation: | K. David Pijawka is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Associate Director of the Environmental Studies Center at Arizona State University. He has published widely on topics of risk assessment and environmental policy, and been principal investigator on a number of studies concerning nuclear waste management.;Alvin H. Muskatel is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Director of the Office of Hazards Studies at Arizona State University. He has published widely on a variety of risk management issues and was recently named to a research committee of the National Academy of Sciences. |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
This paper examines several dimensions of public opposition to the proposed siting of the high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. In order to provide a context for the public's views of the repository in metropolitan Clark County, both governmental studies of the repository siting process are analyzed, as well as elements of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. This analysis suggests that one potentially key component of the public's opposition to the siting, as well as their perceptions of risk of the facility, may be the result of a lack of trust in the Department of Energy. Empirical analysis of survey data collected in Nevada in 1988 confirms the strong relationship between political trust and repository risk perceptions. |
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