지역은 왜 중요한가?: 원자력발전소의 지역적 수용성에서 지역정체성의 직·간접효과 분석

Abstract

As global discourse on energy transition intensifies, nuclear power policy has become a focal point not merely of technological choice but of community conflict and value contestation. Prior research on nuclear power acceptance has predominantly analyzed factors within the risk perception paradigm, while studies incorporating regional identity have been limited to emotional place attachment dimensions, insufficient for explaining collective risks such as nuclear facilities. This study reconceptualizes regional identity as an expanded construct and empirically analyzes both the direct and indirect effects of regional identity on the relationship between core variables of the risk perception paradigm (perceived risk, benefit, trust, stigma, and knowledge) and acceptance, using survey data. First, regional identity exerted a direct positive effect on local acceptance of nuclear power plants. Second, regional identity significantly moderated the relationships between stigma and acceptance, and between objective knowledge and acceptance, while no significant moderating effects were found for perceived risk, benefit, trust, or subjective knowledge. Specifically, stigma undermined acceptance across all groups, but this negative effect was attenuated as regional identity strengthened. Objective knowledge had no significant effect on acceptance in the low regional identity group, but its positive effect was amplified as regional identity increased. These findings demonstrate that regional identity performs a dual moderating role: serving as a ""protective shield"" against stigma and an ""amplifier"" for knowledge. This study establishes that nuclear power acceptance is not solely dependent on individual risk perception but is constructed within the context of regional community identity, providing practical implications for enhancing nuclear acceptance and formulating policies that account for regional contexts.