Public Deliberation on Nuclear Energy Policy in Korea: The Impact of Trust in Information Providers

공론화가 원자력 정책 결정에 미친 영향력 분석: 정보제공자에 대한 신뢰의 영향력을 중심으로

(Purpose) Deliberative democracy allows citizens to participate in informed discussions to build consensus leading to conflict resolution and/or optimal policymaking, thereby ensuring a more democratic system. This paper presents an overview of deliberative decision-making for energy policy, focusing on the impact of participants’ trust in information sources. (Design/methodology/approach) Examined in this study is the 2017 public deliberation in Korea tasked with deciding whether to resume or discontinue construction of two Shin-Gori nuclear reactors. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the results of four surveys conducted over the course of the deliberation process with the purpose of investigating the impact of trust in information providers on participants’ opinions and final decisions. (Findings) The results indicated that participants who trusted information from nuclear experts and nuclear power operators tended to support resumption of reactor construction, while those who trusted information from government, civic groups, and Internet sources tended to support suspension of construction. (Research implications or Originality) Implication for energy policymakers is that sound, safe, reliable nuclear energy policy enacted with the support of citizens can be achieved through designing an effective process of providing reliable information on all sides of the policy issue and engaging an informed representative group of citizens in decision making.