Trust as a Determinant of Opposition to a High‐Level Radioactive Waste Repository: Analysis of a Structural Model

TLDR

Residents in Nevada hold strong opinions about the federal proposal to locate the nation's first high‑level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. This study develops a model to examine how public risk perceptions, trust in risk management, and potential economic impacts relate to support or opposition of the repository program. The model employs confirmatory covariance‑structure analysis on data from a 1989 statewide survey of Nevada residents. Results show that perceived economic benefits do not predict attitudes, whereas risk perceptions and trust are closely linked and jointly shape support or opposition directly and through perceived stigma.

Abstract

Residents in the State of Nevada hold strong opinions about the federal government's proposal to site the nation's first high‐level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The model developed in this study is designed to examine the relationship between public perceptions of risk, trust in risk management, and potential economic impacts of the current repository program using a confirmatory multivariate method known as covariance structure analysis. The data used to test the model was collected in a 1989 statewide survey of Nevada residents. The results indicate that, for a statewide sample, perceptions of potential economic benefits do not have a significant role in predicting support or opposition to the repository program. On the other hand, risk perceptions and the level of trust in repository management are closely related to each other and to positions on Yucca Mountain. Trust directly influences risk perceptions which, in turn, have a direct effect on the attitude toward the repository, and an indirect effect through perceived stigma effects.