Study on public acceptance of nuclear power plants: Evidence from China

This empirical study evaluated the public acceptance of nuclear-power plants in China. A conceptual framework was proposed to explain the factors affecting nuclear-power acceptance based on antecedent variables, including social-media-use frequency, social-media information trust, nuclear-power knowledge, nuclear-accident knowledge, and risk-and-benefit perception. An empirical study was operated based on the Haiyang nuclear-power plant by conducting a face-to-face survey among residents who use social-media platforms near the plant. The frequency of social-media-use and the trust on social-media information promote individuals’ knowledge about nuclear power and nuclear accidents, leading to risk and benefit perception. Finally, benefit perception results in nuclear-power acceptance among the individuals. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.