SOCIAL ISSUES AND ENERGY ALTERNATIVES: THE CONTEXT OF CONFLICT OVER NUCLEAR WASTE

In order to gain a satisfactory understanding of public attitudes toward issues in nuclear waste management, it is important to recognize the context in which the public views those issues. Nuclear waste, in the minds of the public, is just one aspect of the nuclear power issue. Nuclear power, in turn, is just one means of avoiding energy shortage. Energy shortage is but one of many significant social issues.<br/><br/>The data presented in this report are the results from a questionnaire which sought to place attitudes toward nuclear waste in a context of attitudes toward other aspects of nuclear power, other energy alternatives and other social issues. The sample of respondents was composed of members of seventeen geographically widespread, established groups which were expected to vary from pronuclear to antinuclear in their attitudes. The seventeen groups, which were subsequently assigned to six relatively distinct clusters, differed significantly in their level of involvement in activities in support of and opposition to nuclear power.<br/>