Nuclear power before and after Fukushima: The relations between acceptance, ambivalence and knowledge

Salient events, such as the nuclear accident in Fukushima, can change people's acceptance of a hazardous technology. The aim of the present study was to investigate how people's acceptance of nuclear power relates to their ambivalence and knowledge before and after Fukushima. Additionally, we examined what explains people's change in acceptance of nuclear power since Fukushima. We conducted a longitudinal survey in Switzerland. Overall, the relations between acceptance and ambivalence at both time points, and between acceptance and knowledge resembled inverted U-functions. The influence of Fukushima on ambivalence appeared to depend on people's prior level of acceptance. Change in acceptance since Fukushima could mainly be explained by prior support for nuclear power and, to a lesser extent, by knowledge among women and by ambivalence. Thus, prior acceptance levels seem to have a central role in people's acceptance of a technology after a nuclear accident.