Risk perception, trust and public engagement in nuclear decision-making in Hong Kong

Daphne Ngar-yin Mah*, Peter Hills, Julia Tao

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    93 Citations (Scopus)
    93 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    The extent to which nuclear energy can be a feasible energy option has re-emerged as a subject of widespread debate following the Fukushima accident in Japan. However, relatively little is known about how public inputs can improve nuclear decision-making. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of public opinions regarding nuclear energy by examining its risk perception, trust and public engagement dimensions. Based on a survey of Hong Kong residents (n=509), we make some observations. Firstly, we offer empirical evidence that affirms the theoretical connections between risk perception, trust, and public engagement in the context of nuclear energy. Secondly, our logistic regression analysis indicates that demographics, trust, and perceptions of the efficacy of public engagement are factors explaining perceptions of greater risks and nuclear opposition. Thirdly, our conceptual model sheds light on the complexity of the trust concept, and specifies aspects of trust that are influential in the contexts of risk perception and nuclear choices. Our findings suggest that the Hong Kong government must ensure trust building receives prominent attention in nuclear decision-making, and that it should avoid excessive reliance on the business sector and should assume a key role for itself in enhancing trust in nuclear decision-making.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)368-390
    Number of pages23
    JournalEnergy Policy
    Volume73
    Early online date18 Jun 2014
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2014

    Scopus Subject Areas

    • Energy(all)
    • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Nuclear energy
    • Trust
    • Public engagement

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