Percepção pública das instalações nucleares / Public perception of nuclear installations

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

29/02/2012

RESUMO

The key for nuclear renaissance is public acceptance. Facing energetic needs that occur around the world and lack of resources, the work of characterizing and proposing new models to represent public opinion is extremely important to all stakeholders. Even though public opinions study on risks is relatively recent, may approaches of this subject have been suggested and presented, especially for the topic of perceptions on nuclear installations. Actual definitions on risk exist between objective and subjective models, that reflect opinions of lay public and experts. Strategies on communications with the public may be evaluated from many developed models, and its results may be registered. The use of structural models may present an exploratory character as well as confirmatory theories, as an adequate tool for the development of studies on public perception. In this work, a structural model is presented from data obtained in a previous report, and added to data collected before and after the Fukushima nuclear accident, in Japan. The effects developed from this accident offered a unique opportunity to study public opinion through the effects of a serious nuclear accident and its effects on risk communications. Aside, this work attempted to check the structural model according with obtained results, in order to sustain a constant improvement of the working tools. Yet, a comparison between data according to experts respondents and lay public ones as well as a comparison among different students before and after a visit to nuclear station is considered. Obtained data for the structural models has been applied for on a structural model and analyzed by structural correlation matrix, latent variable structural coefficients and R2 values. Results indicate that public opinion maintains its rejection on nuclear energy and the perception of benefits, facing perceived risks before the accident, has diminished. A new model that included a latent variable for corresponding emotions returned a stronger dependent variable explanation. As for the considered groups, the different opinions among these groups followed expected characteristics and indicate strategies of communication and of understandment of public and experts opinion elaboration. The effects of the visit indicate a better perception of benefits e deuced perception of risks, but these results may not be sufficient to prompt a solid change on a negative opinion over this subject.

ASSUNTO(S)

assessment nuclear nuclear percepção perception risco risk

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