Public opinion about nuclear power generation and its formation factors after the JCO accident

This paper reports on public opinion about using nuclear power generation and its formation factors after the JCO accident. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to a sample of 4,000 citizens in Japan on Oct. 1999. A total of 2,985 citizens completed it. A causal model of the opinion about using nuclear power generation was examined using covariance structure analysis. The results suggested that trust in the government and the electric power companies contributed to an opinion about using nuclear power generation. The results also suggested that the person who had interest in and knowledge about nuclear power generation based his/her opinion on the perception of the risk and the trust in the government and the electric power companies, and the person who had no interest and knowledge based it only on the trust. (author)