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Public acceptance of nuclear waste disposal sites: a decision-making process utilising the ‘veil of ignorance’ concept

Author

Listed:
  • Miki Yokoyama

    (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)

  • Susumu Ohnuma

    (Hokkaido University)

  • Hideaki Osawa

    (Sector of Nuclear Fuel, Decommissioning and Waste Management Technology Development, Japan Atomic Energy Agency)

  • Shoji Ohtomo

    (Kanto Gakuin University)

  • Yukio Hirose

    (Kansai University)

Abstract

This study demonstrates that a decision-making process utilising ‘the veil of ignorance’ concept, defined in process terms as beginning from a blank slate encompassing the entire country as potential sites and shortlisting candidate sites based on scientific (geological) safety, promotes public acceptance of siting a repository for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste and fosters procedural fairness. A hypothetical scenario experiment was conducted in Japan, manipulating the site selection process by setting two conditions—one being the application/proposal condition that the Japanese government currently employs, such as an application by municipalities or a proposal by the government, and the other being the veil of ignorance condition, in which multiple candidate areas are selected from a blank slate for the entire land area based purely on geological factors. Three stages of acceptance were presumed—at the level of general management policy, the site selection process itself with a specified decision policy, and the siting of a repository in their area of residence. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) the veil of ignorance condition will be evaluated as a more acceptable and fairer procedure and will engender increased national consensus than the application/proposal condition at the site selection and repository siting stages, and (b) procedural fairness and national consensus will impact acceptance at each stage; these variables at each stage help shape the same variables in the next stage. The results supported these hypotheses. This study discusses the importance of the site selection process, beginning where any de facto site can be a candidate and shortlisting the candidate sites based on scientific criteria.

Suggested Citation

  • Miki Yokoyama & Susumu Ohnuma & Hideaki Osawa & Shoji Ohtomo & Yukio Hirose, 2023. "Public acceptance of nuclear waste disposal sites: a decision-making process utilising the ‘veil of ignorance’ concept," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02139-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02139-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthew Cotton, 2009. "Ethical assessment in radioactive waste management: a proposed reflective equilibrium-based deliberative approach," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 603-618, July.
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