A Case study of economic incentives and local citizens' attitudes towards hosting a nuclear power plant in Japan; Impacts of the Fukushima accident

Kato, Takaaki*; Takahara, Shogo  ; Nishikawa, Masashi*; Homma, Toshimitsu

This case study of the areas that host Kashiwazaki Kariwa NPP compares local citizens' attitude towards the benefits and the drawbacks of hosting the NPP. In December 2011, our survey respondents became more negative about hosting the NPP after the Fukushima accident in March 2011 compared to the survey in January 2010. Another comparison between the November 2005 and the December 2011 surveys provided a different look. The magnitude of the negative shift in Kariwa Village, which saw a large expansion of social welfare programs, was modest in the sense that its 2011 results were similar to its 2005 results. Local tax revenues, subsidies from the national government and the donation from a utility contributed to this budget expansion in Kariwa. The negative shifts from 2005 to 2011 were clear in the other two municipalities which did not see such a large expansion of economic benefits during this period.