Attitudes of Hong Kong residents toward the Daya Bay nuclear power plant

A survey was conducted to study the attitudes of Hong Kong residents toward the safety of operations of the nuclear power plant in Daya Bay and their possible actions in case of leakage. Only 34.5% of the respondents were confident about the operational safety of the nuclear power plant, whereas 23% stated they would immediately leave Hong Kong when leakage occurs. Chi-square tests and multinomial logit analysis indicate that the degree of confidence is significantly related to the perceived ability of the Hong Kong (HK) government and the nuclear power plant company, China Light and Power Co. Ltd. (CLP), knowledge of emergency plan and responsibility, gender, and age. However, the degree of confidence is not significantly related to the distance of the residential area from the nuclear power plant. In addition, the higher the perceived ability of the HK Government and CLP to handle nuclear leakage, the greater the degree of confidence becomes. The chi-square tests suggest that higher perceived ability of the HK Government and CLP are also significantly associated with less likelihood of residents immediately leaving Hong Kong in case of leakage. Hence, the HK Government and CLP are recommended to improve their perceived ability for safety and social stability.