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Title: Yucca Mountain Socioeconomic Project: The 1991 Nevada State telephone survey: Key findings

Abstract

The 1991 Nevada State Telephone Survey was implemented by Decision Research on behalf of the State of Nevada, Agency for Nuclear Projects/Nuclear Waste Project Office (NWPO) as part of an ongoing socioeconomic impact assessment study. The scope of this survey was considerably smaller than a previous survey conducted in 1989 and focused more upon public evaluations of the Yucca Mountain repository program and the trust Nevadans currently addressing the siting issues. In order to provide place in key public officials who are Longitudinal data on the repository program, the 1991 questionnaire consisted of questions that were used in the 1989 NWPO survey which was conducted by Mountain West Research. As a result, the findings from this survey are compared with analogous items from the 1989 survey, and with the results from a survey commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and reported in their issue of October 21, 1990. The Review-Journal survey was conducted by Bruce Merri11 of the Arizona State University Media Research Center. A more complete comparison of the 1989 and 1991 surveys sponsored by NWPO is possible since the researchers at Decision Research had access to both these databases. The only source of information for the Review-Journal findingsmore » was the articles published in the Fall, 1990. The findings of the 1991 survey show that Nevadans oppose the federal government attempts to locate a high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. They support a policy of opposition on the part of Nevada officials. They believe that Nevadans should have the final say in whether to accept the repository or not, and they reject the proposition that benefits from the repository program will outweigh the harms. These findings are very similar to survey results from 1989 and 1990 and once again demonstrate very widespread public opposition by Nevadans to the current federal repository program.« less

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Nevada Nuclear Waste Project Office, Carson City, NV (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
140788
Report Number(s):
NWPO-SE-037-91
ON: DE92017712; TRN: 92:028056
DOE Contract Number:
FG08-85NV10461
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: May 1991
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
05 NUCLEAR FUELS; 29 ENERGY PLANNING AND POLICY; HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES; UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL; PUBLIC OPINION; SURVEYS; SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS; YUCCA MOUNTAIN; NEVADA; TELEPHONES; ACCIDENTS; DEMOGRAPHY; COMPILED DATA; Yucca Mountain Project

Citation Formats

Flynn, J.H., Mertz, C.K., and Slovic, P.. Yucca Mountain Socioeconomic Project: The 1991 Nevada State telephone survey: Key findings. United States: N. p., 1991. Web. doi:10.2172/140788.
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Flynn, J.H., Mertz, C.K., & Slovic, P.. Yucca Mountain Socioeconomic Project: The 1991 Nevada State telephone survey: Key findings. United States. doi:10.2172/140788.
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Flynn, J.H., Mertz, C.K., and Slovic, P.. Wed . "Yucca Mountain Socioeconomic Project: The 1991 Nevada State telephone survey: Key findings". United States. doi:10.2172/140788. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/140788.
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@article{osti_140788,
title = {Yucca Mountain Socioeconomic Project: The 1991 Nevada State telephone survey: Key findings},
author = {Flynn, J.H. and Mertz, C.K. and Slovic, P.},
abstractNote = {The 1991 Nevada State Telephone Survey was implemented by Decision Research on behalf of the State of Nevada, Agency for Nuclear Projects/Nuclear Waste Project Office (NWPO) as part of an ongoing socioeconomic impact assessment study. The scope of this survey was considerably smaller than a previous survey conducted in 1989 and focused more upon public evaluations of the Yucca Mountain repository program and the trust Nevadans currently addressing the siting issues. In order to provide place in key public officials who are Longitudinal data on the repository program, the 1991 questionnaire consisted of questions that were used in the 1989 NWPO survey which was conducted by Mountain West Research. As a result, the findings from this survey are compared with analogous items from the 1989 survey, and with the results from a survey commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and reported in their issue of October 21, 1990. The Review-Journal survey was conducted by Bruce Merri11 of the Arizona State University Media Research Center. A more complete comparison of the 1989 and 1991 surveys sponsored by NWPO is possible since the researchers at Decision Research had access to both these databases. The only source of information for the Review-Journal findings was the articles published in the Fall, 1990. The findings of the 1991 survey show that Nevadans oppose the federal government attempts to locate a high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. They support a policy of opposition on the part of Nevada officials. They believe that Nevadans should have the final say in whether to accept the repository or not, and they reject the proposition that benefits from the repository program will outweigh the harms. These findings are very similar to survey results from 1989 and 1990 and once again demonstrate very widespread public opposition by Nevadans to the current federal repository program.},
doi = {10.2172/140788},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991},
month = {Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991}
}
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Technical Report:
View Technical Report (1.94 MB)
DOI:  10.2172/140788
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  • This Interim Report is a report on work in progress and presents findings from the research to date on the potential consequences of a repository for the citizens of Nevada. The research and findings in the Report have been subjected to rigorous peer review as part of the state`s effort to insure independent, objective analysis that meets the highest professional standards. The basic research effort will continue through June 1990 and will enable the state to refine and clarify the findings presented in this Interim Report.

  • The State of Nevada formally initiated a study of the socioeconomic impacts of a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada in 1986 after the Nevada site had been chosen as a potential waste disposal site. The State and affected local governments that participated in the development of the study recognized that the effort would need to go well beyond what is traditionally considered adequate for socioeconomic impact assessment because of the unique nature of the repository project. This Interim Report is a report on work in progress and presents findings from the research to datemore » on the potential consequences of a repository for the citizens of Nevada. The research and findings in the Report have been subjected to rigorous peer review as part of the state`s effort to insure independent, objective analysis that meets the highest professional standards. The basic research effort will continue through June 1990 and will enable the state to refine and clarify the findings presented in this Interim Report.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    The measurement of the risk-related impacts from the siting of a high-level nuclear waste (HLNW) repository represents a new and important addition to conventional socioeconomic impact studies. In particular, the driving forces behind these impacts are the risks people perceive to be associated with the repository. Measuring the risk impacts requires a complementary set of approaches, of which, risk surveys are the cornerstone.a The purpose of these surveys is to provide scientifically defensible measures of the risk-related impacts. The risk surveys follow directly from a conceptual framework of how the HLNW repository affects peoples` perceptions and, ultimately, their behaviors. Thesemore » surveys describe and measure: Characteristics of individuals, Risks people perceive from the HLNW repository, Views, or mind sets, they form about the HLNW repository, Changes in behaviors--e.g., changes in retirement decisions or industrial relocations--induced by the location of the repository, and Changes in well-being of Nevada citizens, if the repository were located at Yucca Mountain.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    This report provides findings from three surveys conducted during the Fall 1989 as part of the socioeconomic research program sponsored by the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. The US Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) in 1982 and defined specific oversight responsibilities, including studies of socioeconomic effects and impacts, to the states in which potential high-level nuclear waste repositories might be located. The NWPA was amended in 1987 and Yucca Mountain, Nevada was designated as the only site to be characterized (studied in detail) as a location for the nation`s first repository. These surveys were conducted so theymore » could provide information to the state of Nevada in its evaluation of the Yucca Mountain project. This report presents information from these surveys on two major areas. First, respondent evaluations of environmental hazards, especially nuclear waste facilities are reported. Second, an analysis is made of the Nevada State Survey to examine the public response to the positions taken by the officials and institutions of Nevada in regard to the Yucca Mountain project. The survey data support a finding that the respondents from all three surveys are seriously concerned about the environmental effects of technological facilities and hazards. The evaluations of a nuclear waste repository especially is viewed as likely to produce adverse events and impacts in every aspect of its implementation, operation or long-term existence. When compared to other industrial or technological activities, a high-level nuclear waste repository is seen as the most feared and least acceptable. 36 tabs.« less

  • A high-level-waste repository located in unsaturated welded tuff at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, would rely on six different, although not entirely independent, barriers to prevent escape of radioactivity. These barriers are the waste canister, fuel cladding, dissolution of the spent fuel itself, and movement of released contaminants in the unsaturated Topopah Spring welded tuff unit, the unsaturated Calico Hills nonwelded tuff unit, and the saturated tuff aquifer. Fifty-eight processes and events that might affect such a repository were examined. Eighty-four different sequences were identified by which these processes and events could lead to failure of one or more barriers. Sequences thatmore » had similar consequences were grouped into 17 categories: direct release, repository flooding, colloid formation, increased water flux through the repository, accelerated fracture flow, water diverted toward the waste package, accelerated dissolution mechanisms, accelerated cladding corrosion mechanisms, accelerated canister corrosion mechanisms, canister breakage, fracture flow in the Topopah Spring welded unit without increased moisture flux, reduced sorption in the Topopah Spring welded unit, water table rise above the Calico Hills nonwelded unit, fracture flow in the Calico Hills nonwelded unit, new discharge points, and faster flow in the saturated zone. 52 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.« less