Corresponding author: Md. Shafiqul Islam ( msislam@du.ac.bd ) Academic editor: Georgy Tikhomirov
© 2021 Md. Shafiqul Islam, Abid Hossain Khan, Md. Sohel Rana.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Islam MS, Khan AH, Rana MS (2021) Knowledge, belief, and attitude of Bangladeshi youth toward the development of nuclear power. Nuclear Energy and Technology 7(4): 271-283. https://doi.org/10.3897/nucet.7.69414
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Public support is one of the major challenges for maintaining a sustainable nuclear power program for any country. Although Bangladesh’s decision to build its maiden nuclear power plant (NPP) has received significant scholarly attention, the study regarding public perception is largely ignored. To fill this gap, this study investigated how Bangladeshis view the government’s decision to build NPPs. The study evaluated Bangladeshi youth’s knowledge, belief, and attitude toward the development of nuclear power. Applying the survey research technique, we found that 49% of the 450 respondents were positive toward NPPs, while 12% had no idea about NPPs. Women, in comparison to men, were found to have less knowledge of nuclear energy. Additionally, 41% of the respondents believed that the decision for establishing the country’s first NPP at Rooppur was right. However, 54% of the respondents expressed concerns over the safety, security, and sustainability of NPPs. Most importantly, a significant distrust among the respondents was observed in the capability of the regulator and operator for maintaining the NPP in a safe, secured, and sustainable manner. The study concludes that more policy actions are necessary to increase public support for nuclear power.
Public perception, Nuclear power, Survey technique, Rooppur, Youth, Policy recommendation
Over the decades, there has been a significant increase in the number of countries around the world, which have been considering building nuclear power plants (NPPs) for ensuring energy security, while maintaining climate resilience. Nuclear energy is currently being generated from 443 reactors in 32 countries, providing only a 10% share of the global electricity demand (
Firstly, having significant public support ensures that an NPP is being built on social consensus, which plays a crucial role in determining whether nuclear energy will be incorporated into the national energy policy for electricity generation (
When it comes to public opinion, a large number of the literature has analyzed a few latent variables such as knowledge, belief, and attitude of the public (
‘Knowledge’ refers to the level of understanding of nuclear science and technology (
Some argued that the availability of knowledge shapes public attitudes and perceptions toward nuclear energy (
Scholars insisted that “the biggest shifts in public opinion on nuclear energy issues coincide with major nuclear accidents” (
However, the development of NPPs may experience support or opposition from the national and international arena (
Bangladesh is building its first NPP at Rooppur, located in Pabna, some 160 kilometers North of the capital, Dhaka. Since independence, Bangladesh had been facing a huge deficit in its supply of electricity to meet the country’s daily needs. Being one of the world’s lowest energy consumption countries (512kWh/person/year) (
Bangladesh is now constructing generation III+ VVER-1200 model twin reactors with a total electric capacity of 2400MW at the Rooppur site with technical and financial assistance from the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) (Ashraf and Islam 2018). As of September 2021, the physical progress of the construction is about 30% despite fully strengthening the regulatory body, the establishment of a radioactive waste management company, and an emergency response center. The first and the second reactor are expected to be operational by 2023 and 2024, respectively (
Bangladesh government’s decision for building the country’s first NPP has received significant scholarly attention. Available studies broadly focused on the challenges and prospects of nuclear energy for sustainable socio-economic development (
At present, about 30% of the total population of Bangladesh is young who are aged 15–30 (
The goal of this study is two-fold. The primary objective of this study is to assess the knowledge, belief, and attitude of Bangladeshi youth toward nuclear energy. The secondary objective is to explore the underlying factors behind their positive or negative perception by testing a series of hypotheses. The paper is divided into four sections. Following this introductory part, the second section presents hypotheses and research designs. The third section provides the results and discussion, and the final section draws some conclusive findings and policy recommendations.
This research began by carefully designing a Likert-scale, multiple choice, and yes/no questionnaire to ask individuals across the country to have their opinions toward the construction of the first NPP in Bangladesh. The questionnaire was constructed after an extensive literature review and the implementation of a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Five hypotheses were formulated for our cross-sectional study and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-squared tests. The flow diagram of the research process is presented in Fig.
The hypotheses for this study were formulated after an extensive review of existing studies on the public perceptions of nuclear power in many different contexts. Variations in the public perceptions were found to be contingent upon a variety of factors. After surveying the existing literature, we found that the public perceptions of nuclear power are significantly affected by at least four different factors such as gender, risk and benefit calculation, trust in government, and geopolitical circumstances. These factors have eventually led to the formulation of hypotheses.
A series of studies have found a significant relationship between gender and perceptions of nuclear power.
Hypothesis 1: There exists a significant relationship between the acceptance of the Rooppur nuclear power plant and gender.
Hypothesis 2: There exists a significant knowledge gap between men and women on nuclear energy.
Another significant factor affecting people’s beliefs and attitudes toward nuclear energy is the risk-and-benefit perceptions involving nuclear power. Several studies found that the people’s perceived risks and benefits involving nuclear energy are strongly relevant to the public acceptance or rejection of NPP development in different contexts such as the United States, United Kingdom, and China (
Hypothesis 3: The risk-and-benefit perceptions on nuclear power strongly relate to the youth’s belief.
Although the existing literature has not explored the effect of the geopolitical scenario on the public perception and attitude toward nuclear power in a country, the current study insists that a country’s geopolitical dynamics may have a significant impact on the public attitude regarding NPPs. While the Bangladesh government’s decision to choose its longstanding ally, Russia, as the nuclear vendor, is widely regarded as a smart move (Ashraf and Islam 2018), the government’s decision to involve India, bilaterally and trilaterally, in the Rooppur project, has generated debates and suspicion among the experts and the public, especially the youth. India’s geopolitical location surrounding Bangladesh in three sides, ups-and-downs in the Indo-Bangladesh relations, and pro-India and anti-India sentiments revolving around a series of disputed issues between these two neighbors, underpinned the suspicion and raised concerns over India’s involvement in Bangladesh’s Rooppur mega project (
Hypothesis 4: The youth’s attitude toward international cooperation for nuclear power implementation program strongly depends on the geopolitical scenario of the country.
It is important to note that the risk-and-benefit perception is associated with trust in government, as highlighted by several studies in varied contexts (
Hypothesis 5: The youth’s belief in government’s departments, regulator, and operator involving in the nuclear power implementation program strongly depends on the country’s corruption level and management system.
In this study, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted across the country from October to December 2020 to assess the knowledge, belief, and attitude of the young generation on the construction of the first NPP in Bangladesh. The questionnaire was divided into four sections. Section one consisted of respondents’ socio-demographic factors i.e., gender, age, the field of education, education level, and occupation as these variables are strongly linked with respondents’ knowledge, belief, and attitude. The remaining three sections comprised 27 questions related to the three latent variables i.e., knowledge, belief, and attitude. The interfacing of four areas of the questionnaire is depicted in Fig.
Before preparing the questionnaire, the authors organized an FDG held on 6 March 2020 that brought together over 30 energy experts, policymakers, academicians, and representatives of nuclear regulators and operators. Table
Participants’ organization and respective numbers of the Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
Institution/Organization | Number of Participants |
---|---|
Academics (Nuclear and non-nuclear) | 12 |
Ministry of Science and Technology | 01 |
Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Russian State Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom), Information Center on Nuclear Energy (ICONE) | 05 |
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) | 02 |
Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Ltd.(NPCBL) | 06 |
Nuclear engineering students | 06 |
Industry professionals | 03 |
Print and electronic media | 02 |
Types of latent variable, question/statement, and answering options for this study
Category | Question/ Statement | Response Type | |
---|---|---|---|
K1 | Knowledge | What is the main source of clean energy? | Multiple choice |
K2 | Do you know that Bangladesh government is working toward implementing the country’s first nuclear power plant named as Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project (RNPP)? | Yes/No | |
K3 | Nuclear power can contribute to sustainable economic development in Bangladesh. | Likert scale | |
K4 | The biggest concern about the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is…. | Multiple choice | |
K5 | Bangladesh should have skilled manpower development program and keep them up to the entire lifetime (60 years) of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. | Likert scale | |
K6 | The role of the nuclear regulatory body is very crucial for licensing and monitoring the construction and operation of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. The regulatory body must be scientifically and technically competent enough and independent in decision-making. | Likert scale | |
K7 | Bangladesh has a strong liability mechanism (payment to sufferers if any accident occurs) to face accidental situations if occurs | Likert scale | |
K8 | The main reason for energy crisis in Bangladesh is…. | Multiple choice | |
K9 | Rooppur is suitable site for building nuclear power plants. | Likert scale | |
K10 | Renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, wind, water) can substitute nuclear energy to generate electricity in Bangladesh. | Likert scale | |
K11 | Per unit electricity cost produced by nuclear would be cheaper than coal. | Likert scale | |
K12 | To increase more public support, nuclear education should be added to the secondary and tertiary education level of Bangladesh. | Likert scale | |
K13 | Before the completion of Rooppur nuclear power plant construction and without gaining operating experiences from it, do you think the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) should go for another construction of a nuclear power plant at other site? | Yes/No | |
B1 | Belief | Nuclear power plant is environment friendly. | Likert scale |
B2 | Nuclear power plant’s radioactivity poses a great risk to the nearby residents. | Likert scale | |
B3 | The construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) will be free from corruption. | Likert scale | |
B4 | Nuclear power plants can meet present energy crisis in Bangladesh. | Likert scale | |
B5 | Nuclear power plant is safe for Bangladesh. | Likert scale | |
B6 | Nuclear power plant waste is a concern for people and environment. | Likert scale | |
A1 | Attitude | Based on Bangladesh’s current socio-infrastructural condition, it is possible to maintain nuclear power in a safe, secured, and sustainable manner. | Likert scale |
A2 | Nuclear power plant will contribute to generate employment opportunities in Bangladesh. | Likert scale | |
A3 | Bangladesh could tackle nuclear emergency situations during a nuclear accident. | Likert scale | |
A4 | What is your attitude toward nuclear power? | Likert scale | |
A5 | Bangladesh government’s decision to implement the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project was right. | Likert scale | |
A6 | What do you think is the main purpose behind Bangladesh’s bilateral nuclear collaboration with Russia? | Multiple choice | |
A7 | What do you think is the main objective behind Bangladesh’s bilateral nuclear collaboration with India? | Multiple choice | |
A8 | How do you perceive Bangladesh’s trilateral nuclear cooperation with India and Russia? | Multiple choice |
To find out the expected number of sample size (n), equation (1) was used (Kish and Ni 1997, Kothari 2004).
(1)
Here, n is sample size, z is 1.96 (for 95% confidence interval), p is probability (taken 0.5 for maximum sample size) and e is acceptable error (taken 5% of p). Using equation (1) and assumed data, a minimum sample size of 384 is required for satisfactory results.
The authors collected data across the country via an online platform using a snowball sampling technique due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All respondents were asked to complete all fields before submitting their online survey responses. The disadvantage of an online survey is that the generated data may have some incorrectness or bias. To offset this limitation, increasing the number of survey respondents is a popular technique. To account for the error data, the authors distributed the questionnaire to 550 participants, of which 473 respondents completed the survey. After screening the 473 responses, 450 responses were finally selected for analyzing the results.
Participants were divided into three groups based on their field of education (Science and Engineering, Business studies, and Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) and four groups based on their occupation (Public sector, Private sector, Nongovernment organizations (NGOs), Civil societies, Media, and Others). This clustering of the respondents was done to explore possible relationships between the control and latent variables of the respondents.
Before data collection, consent was taken from each respondent and data confidentiality was ensured. Chi-squared tests were performed to check the consistencies and the biases of the results due to gender, the field of education and occupation. P-value equal to 0.05 was considered as the critical value for the hypothesis tests. Data analyses and graph generations were done using MATLAB R2017a and MS Excel.
The number of respondents and their percentages on gender, age, education, the field of education, and occupation are presented in Table
Key information | No. of respondents | Percentage (%) |
---|---|---|
Basic Information | ||
1. Gender | ||
Male | 290 | 64 |
Female | 160 | 36 |
2. Age Group | ||
18–30 | 422 | 94 |
31–45 | 20 | 4 |
45+ | 8 | 2 |
3. Level of Education | ||
Graduation or below | 381 | 85 |
Post-graduation | 68 | 15 |
Field of Education | ||
Science and Engineering | 156 | 35 |
Business Studies | 140 | 31 |
Arts, Humanities, and Social Science | 154 | 34 |
Occupation | ||
Public Sector | 93 | 33 |
Private Sector | 96 | 33 |
NGOs, Civil Society, and Media | 41 | 14 |
Others | 57 | 20 |
Statistical analyses were conducted with the survey data to identify whether the sample population represents the young population of the country or not. Chi-squared tests were performed for this purpose. The gender-wise ratio was not found to be significantly different from that of the educated population of Bangladesh (p = 0.072). The education field-wise and occupation-wise variations were also found significantly similar to the overall population data (p = 0.942 and 0.128 respectively). Thus, the data were found sufficiently diverse for drawing necessary conclusions. On the other hand, the ratio of respondents based on level of education was found significantly different and thus could not be considered as a representative sample for the mass population of Bangladesh (p = 0.001).
Further statistical analyses were conducted to find out whether gender, the field of education, and occupation have any influence on the response of a respondent or not. The results are presented in Table
Latent Variable | Question/ Statement | Gender | Field of Education | Occupation | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chi-Value | P-Value | Chi-Value | P-Value | Chi-Value | P-Value | ||
Knowledge | K1 | 18.59 | 0.0003 | 14.48 | 0.025 | 13.87 | 0.127 |
K2 | 12.26 | 0.0004 | 0.40 | 0.819 | 0.78 | 0.854 | |
K3 | 16.33 | 0.003 | 12.80 | 0.119 | 17.63 | 0.127 | |
K4 | 1.62 | 0.805 | 7.18 | 0.517 | 23.70 | 0.022 | |
K5 | 14.89 | 0.005 | 7.42 | 0.492 | 11.60 | 0.478 | |
K6 | 0.63 | 0.959 | 6.49 | 0.593 | 13.98 | 0.302 | |
K7 | 4.20 | 0.379 | 12.93 | 0.114 | 9.22 | 0.684 | |
K8 | 8.15 | 0.086 | 29.16 | 0.0003 | 9.40 | 0.668 | |
K9 | 2.26 | 0.688 | 12.50 | 0.13 | 11.79 | 0.463 | |
K10 | 18.39 | 0.001 | 8.11 | 0.423 | 11.44 | 0.492 | |
K11 | 10.15 | 0.038 | 6.24 | 0.62 | 14.65 | 0.261 | |
K12 | 3.54 | 0.472 | 13.49 | 0.096 | 26.56 | 0.009 | |
K13 | 2.06 | 0.151 | 5.74 | 0.057 | 4.52 | 0.211 | |
Belief | B1 | 8.40 | 0.078 | 5.82 | 0.667 | 13.81 | 0.313 |
B2 | 1.19 | 0.879 | 10.74 | 0.217 | 4.60 | 0.97 | |
B3 | 12.96 | 0.011 | 3.36 | 0.909 | 10.74 | 0.551 | |
B4 | 17.81 | 0.001 | 5.18 | 0.738 | 21.75 | 0.047 | |
B5 | 9.98 | 0.041 | 3.67 | 0.886 | 9.15 | 0.69 | |
B6 | 13.08 | 0.011 | 9.42 | 0.308 | 15.83 | 0.199 | |
Attitude | A1 | 4.36 | 0.359 | 5.53 | 0.699 | 3.67 | 0.989 |
A2 | 5.22 | 0.265 | 3.48 | 0.901 | 16.21 | 0.182 | |
A3 | 4.87 | 0.301 | 4.30 | 0.829 | 8.92 | 0.709 | |
A4 | 16.48 | 0.0002 | 5.32 | 0.256 | 5.49 | 0.482 | |
A5 | 19.99 | 0.0005 | 7.14 | 0.522 | 16.34 | 0.176 | |
A6 | 12.02 | 0.017 | 5.30 | 0.754 | 20.54 | 0.057 | |
A7 | 6.40 | 0.171 | 10.15 | 0.255 | 22.68 | 0.031 | |
A8 | 5.54 | 0.236 | 12.99 | 0.112 | 10.62 | 0.562 |
From Table
Fig.
Fig.
The survey results also suggested that the respondents have knowledge of the economic benefits of the Rooppur NPP project. About 73% agreed to K3: “Nuclear power can contribute to sustainable economic development in Bangladesh” (Appendix 1: Fig.
Figs
These results indicate that the young population has a positive impression of the bilateral collaboration between Russia and Bangladesh. They believe that this collaboration is necessary considering the economic, technical, and political benefits of the alliance. Political gain is not considered the sole purpose of the collaboration. On the other hand, the young population of Bangladesh opines that the inclusion of India in this project is almost entirely due to political gain, and they are somewhat negative towards this step. Both findings indicated that the attitude of the young population toward bilateral or trilateral collaboration strongly depends on the geopolitical scenario of the country. Therefore, hypothesis 4 is also valid, hence accepted.
The respondents were sufficiently negative in their responses to B3: “The construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) will be free from corruption”, as 77% disagreed with it (see Fig.
The discussion and analysis of the survey results can be summarized in three key findings. Firstly, women were found to be more doubtful and unsure in their responses. Also, they were less positive toward nuclear power than men. The possible reason behind this may be the lack of knowledge of nuclear technology. Secondly, the respondents were positive toward nuclear energy and its role in the economic development of Bangladesh. However, they were highly concerned about radiation hazards and radioactive contamination to the environment. This indicated that they were not completely aware of the enhanced safety features provided in Rooppur NPP for radiation protection during a severe accident. Finally, there exists a lack of faith in the capability of the regulator and operator in the construction and management of the NPP. They also held the attitude that the project will not be free from corruption which seems general perception as they see a series of irregularities in other projects.
The study investigated the youth perception toward the development of NPPs in Bangladesh. The perception was assessed based on the knowledge, belief, and attitude using survey data. The survey questionnaire was prepared through a focus group discussion with experts and different stakeholders and based on the objectives and compatibility of this research. The responses of 450 respondents were collected through an online survey. The survey data were analyzed statistically to draw generalized conclusions of the respondents’ knowledge, belief, and attitude by testing the five research hypotheses.
Results revealed that the public perception varies significantly over gender. On the contrary, occupation and field of education had no significant influence on the overall responses for most of the questions. Additionally, there exists a significant knowledge gap between men and women about nuclear power. Moreover, 88% of the respondents believed that there is a risk of radioactive contamination to the environment due to the operation of the Rooppur NPP, whereas only 47% believed that nuclear power is environmentally friendly.
We found that the overall perception of the young population of Bangladesh on the construction of Rooppur NPP is neither adverse nor favorable. While 49% of the respondents were positive toward nuclear power, 41% opined that the decision regarding the implementation of Rooppur NPP was right. Although a majority of the respondents acknowledged the benefits of nuclear power, there exists suspicion and lack of trust among the young generation regarding the safety and transparency of the project. It was noticed that a positive reaction toward the bilateral cooperation between Russia and Bangladesh existed, but mixed feelings were observed for the trilateral alliance.
Based on the findings, a few suggestions can be stated to increase public support for nuclear power. Firstly, prompt actions are necessary to gain the trust and faith of the young population by widely disseminating information regarding construction, reactor safety features, radiation monitoring, and waste management systems. Secondly, special focus should be given to women as they hold a relatively negative perception of nuclear power than men. Information centres, print and electronic media, social media, nuclear energy promoters, regulators, and academic institutes should be more active to disseminate the benefits of nuclear energy to the public as well as reducing the gap in knowledge. Thirdly, nuclear education should be added to the curriculum of the secondary and the tertiary education levels of Bangladesh so that the new generation can get true knowledge about nuclear technology for developing benefit perception rather than risk perception. Finally, further studies need to be conducted to explore more generalized findings. Studies covering multiple age groups with a diverse set of questionnaires can generate more insights and will help investigate the national level perception.
Cumulative responses to K6: “The role of the nuclear regulatory body is very crucial… This organization is competent and independent”, K7: “Bangladesh has a strong liability mechanism (payment to sufferers if any accident occurs) to face accidental situations if occurs”, A3: “Bangladesh could tackle nuclear emergency situation during nuclear accident”.
Cumulative responses to K9: “Rooppur is suitable site for building nuclear power plants”, K10: “Renewable energy sources (e.g. solar, wind, water) can substitute nuclear energy to generate electricity in Bangladesh”, A5: “Bangladesh government’s decision to implement the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project was right”.
Cumulative responses to K11: “Per unit electricity cost produced by nuclear would be cheaper than coal”, K12: “To increase more public support, nuclear education should be added to the secondary and tertiary education level of Bangladesh”, B4: “Nuclear power plants can meet present energy crisis in Bangladesh”, B5: “Nuclear power plant is safe for Bangladesh”, B6: “Nuclear power plant waste is a concern for people and environment”.