Does the “NIMBY syndrome” undermine public support for nuclear power in Japan?

• Published in: Energy policy Vol. 148; p. 111944
• Main Authors: Uji, Azusa, Prakash, Aseem, Song, Jaehyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Accidents; Air pollution; Climate change; Coal power; Energy policy; Facility siting disputes; Low income groups; Neighborhoods; NIMBY; Nuclear accidents; Nuclear accidents & safety; Nuclear energy; Nuclear engineering; Nuclear power plants; Nuclear reactors; Power; Proximity; Public opinion; Radiation; Radiation leaks; Reactors; Residence; Residents; Respondents; Restarting; Survey experiment; Japan; Climate change; Nuclear energy; NIMBY; Survey experiment; Coal power
• ISSN: 0301-4215; 1873-6777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111944

A key obstacle to nuclear energy as a decarbonization policy is the public perception of risks of radiation leaks from reactors. In particular, the “not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY)" syndrome suggests that individuals oppose nuclear reactors in their neighborhoods because they overestimate their risks. Arguably, such perceptions would be acute for those who have lived in the vicinity of a nuclear accident. We conducted a surveyembedded experiment in Japan (N = 2574) to assess how the NIMBY syndrome influences public support for restarting nuclear reactors when health, economic, and climate change benefits of nuclear energy are highlighted. We focus on Japan because the risks of nuclear energy became salient after the 2011 Fukushima accident. We test for two types of NIMBY effect, (1) respondents' proximity to any nuclear power plant and (2) respondents' place of residence in 2011 and its proximity to Fukushima. We do not find support for either the NIMBY syndrome or the Fukushima effect. On the contrary, we find support for a “reverse-NIMBY” among low-income residents, when they are treated with information on nuclear energy's low local air pollution (health). Our findings suggest that support for nuclear energy varies across population groups and depends on how its local benefits and costs are framed. •Local economic benefits reduce public opposition to nuclear power plants.•Low income individuals welcome nuclear Energy's local economic benefits.•Public is receptive to health benefits but not to climate benefits of nuclear energy.•Proximity to the Fukushima nuclear power plant does not affect public support for nuclear energy.