The Cognitive and Economic Value of a Nuclear Power Plant in Korea

We studied the value of a nuclear power plant by considering Koreans' willingness to pay (WTP) for neutralizing the various problems caused by building and operating a new plant. For this, we used a conjoint analysis and ordered logistic regression. We then compared the WTP estimates between various segment groups. The results revealed that each household was willing to pay an additional 99,677 Korean Won (KRW)/mo on average to resolve the negative impacts from a nuclear plant. Therefore, the yearly cognitive and economic value of a nuclear plant in Korea was about 19 trillion KRW. Through a segment analysis, we found that the more educated, younger, and poorer groups gave higher cognitive values than the less educated, older, and richer groups, respectively. Also, people who lived far from a plant gave higher values than people living near a plant, and people with more knowledge about or interest in nuclear energy gave higher values than people with less knowledge or interest. People who felt that nuclear energy is necessary gave higher values to nuclear energy than those who did not. Our results can be used as bases to set targets for promoting nuclear energy and pursuing a national project of building a nuclear power plant.