RAPID:Institutional Design, Policy Conflict, and Sustainable Governance: Measuring Public Support for Consent-Based Nuclear Waste Facility Siting in the US

University Of Oklahoma Norman Campus, Norman OK

Investigators

Abstract

Efforts to develop a program for permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the US have absorbed billions of tax dollars over many decades, yet have chiefly succeeded in generating an enduring policy stalemate without a clear programmatic path forward. This project exploits a unique time-sensitive opportunity to obtain meaningful and representative data from local residents living near two potential volunteer SNF storage sites in Texas and New Mexico, as well as state-wide data in both states, on citizen preferences for siting strategies for SNF management facilities. The data support analysis of the relationship between alternative consent-based siting designs and public consent for nuclear storage facility siting among nearby residents. The sample frame facilitates panel data collection for future studies on the relationship between institutional designs and sustainable support for facility siting. The research informs efforts to design a consent-based siting approach to nuclear facility siting (or other necessary but difficult-to-site facilities) that holds promise for achieving sustainable public and policy support for SNF disposal programs. The long-standing relationship between the research team and SNF program officers at the US Department of Energy suggests that the study results will very likely be of direct policy relevance. This study involves the design and implementation of a two-stage survey, implemented to random samples of four distinct populations: 1. Residents of Eddy and Lea Counties, and the adjacent largely rural counties in New Mexico (n=800); 2. Residents of Anderson County, and the adjacent largely rural counties in Texas (n=800); 3. Residents of the State of New Mexico (n=600); and 4. Residents of the state of Texas (n=600) The counties are prospective SNF facility hosts and their adjacent counties. The local county samples are drawn from Census balanced lists of registered voters, supplemented by random digit dialing (RDD) cell-phone samples, to assure balanced and representative samples of registered and unregistered voters. A large fraction of the residents of these counties are Hispanic, requiring the option of a Spanish-language instrument, tuned to the local dialect. To maintain comparability, the state samples also employ registered voter lists supplemented by RDD cell-phone list. Respondents in all four samples receive a 15-minute phone survey, with measures of perceived risks of exposure to SNF in transport and storage; familiarity with and level of support for the relevant local SNF storage initiative; levels of support for variations in siting process options, including the role of local consent; and a variety of demographic and belief system measures. Where relevant, the measures are designed to be comparable with the questions asked annually in national surveys on nuclear attitudes fielded by the PIs to permit comparison with national baselines. The phone survey recruits participants to take a second survey on-line (in either Spanish or English), offering a cash incentive ($10) for participation. Options are provided for local library participation, mobile devices, and computer access; recent studies have demonstrated that, particularly in Spanish-language populations, access to the internet via mobile devices is widespread. The web survey employs an experimental design in which respondents are randomly assigned to alternative designs for a consent process, varying key institutional features of that process. Based on the described consent process, support for the siting of the facility, and expectations about the eventual siting decision, are measured. Perceptions of the trustworthiness and directional bias in risk/benefit communications by representatives of involved state and federal agencies and non-governmental advocates are also measured. Finally, respondents are asked for permission to be contacted to participate in a prospective second wave survey, to be administered a year later (spring 2018). The 2018 survey is not be funded by this RAPID award, however, the data collected under this RAPID will be used to leverage follow-on proposals to continue this work. The spring 2017 phone and web surveys provides baseline data for comparison of changes in understanding of appropriate consent processes, trust, and siting preferences as experience with the siting process cumulates.