Managing spent nuclear fuel in South Korea: Heterogeneous public attitudes toward different management strategies at individual- and segment levels

The management of spent nuclear fuel is a problem shared by countries that are operating nuclear power plants or have done so in the past. To implement socially agreed spent nuclear fuel management policies, it is necessary to recognize public attitudes and preferences toward policies. This study analyzed public preferences at the individual- and segment levels toward spent nuclear fuel management strategies in South Korea using a choice experiment and the hierarchical Bayesian normal mixture discrete choice model. Furthermore, it compared public acceptance for different types of management strategies using ex-ante simulation. Accordingly, the public was categorized into two groups. Segment 1 (31.62%) took a smaller proportion of the population than segment 2 (62.38%) and showed a higher degree of heterogeneity than segment 2. Segment 1 was more sensitive to increased electricity costs than segment 2 because of the implementation of spent nuclear fuel management policies and preferred a democratic process. Based on the results, we expect that the Korean government would receive public support when proceeding with the construction and operation of a permanent spent nuclear fuel repository facility. However, considering the degree of heterogeneity, governmental efforts to achieve social consensus are necessary.