Romanian opinion poll on public perception of nuclear energy and radioactive waste

This is a Power Point presentation. The main results of an opinion poll on radioactive waste carried out in the frame of the PHARE Project 'Technical Assistance to Romania in establishing the activity of the National Agency for Radioactive Waste (ANDRAD)' are presented. The survey was applied through a Romanian specialized company, in the period of 16-25 November 2006. The questionnaire consists in 22 questions, aiming at assessing the level of information about radioactive waste, the perception of nuclear energy, the actual knowledge about radioactive waste management, the public attitude versus radioactive waste disposal, the trust in information sources and the public involvement in the decision-making process. In fact there are two opinion polls, because the same questionnaire was applied at two levels: - at national level, by interviewing 1036 persons, representative for the Romanian population; - at local level, by interviewing 524 persons in the vicinity of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (which also constitutes the site currently under investigation for a near-surface LILW repository). The results of the study allow, aside an assessment of the public attitude on radioactive waste issue, a double comparison: a) the results of the national survey are compared with those of the Eurobarometer on Radioactive Waste which was conducted in 2005 at the request of Directorate General Energy and Transport; b) the results of the national survey are compared with those of the local survey. The comparison between the Romanian national opinion poll and the EU o pinon poll shows, in general, that the Romanians are less informed than the average of EU citizens. The reason is obviously the fact that the Romanian Nuclear Program started only ten years ago and the National Agency for Radioactive Waste was established two years ago. On the contrary, the support for the nuclear power is stronger in Romania: 55% compared with 37% the average support in EU member states in 2005. The comparison between the national and local results shows a better knowledge of the radioactive waste issue at local level. The support for nuclear power is even higher: 75%. The acceptance for the construction of a radioactive waste repository near their home is higher at local level: 13.7% would accept without hesitation the building of a radioactive waste repository nearby their community compared with 3.5% at national level. The survey will be repeated periodically and the results will be used for the optimization of Adorners Communication Strategy. (authors)