1 Public participation in decision-making on nuclear research installations C. Turcanu 1 , T. Perko 1,2 1 Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK•CEN, Boeretang 200, Mol, Belgium 2 University of Antwerp, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium Abstract The aim of this paper was to determine predictors for the intended level of involvement in decision making concerning new installations for nuclear research. The research is based on empirical data from a large-scale public opinion survey in Belgium. Results show that attitudes towards participation and moral norms are the strongest predictors for the intention to take part in public involvement activities, other influential predictors being subjective norms, descriptive norms and time constraints. At the same time, the analysis reveals that financial benefits from participation do not seem to influence people's intention to participate in decision processes related to new nuclear installations. Keywords: participation, nuclear research, predictors 1. Introduction Public participation is nowadays an imperative for the formulation and implementation of good policies in the environmental and health domains. It has also become a key determinant in decision making processes related to the development of science and technology in general, in the framework of "responsible research and innovation" (Sutcliffe 2011, pp.9; European Commission 2011, pp.31). Higher forms of public and/or stakeholder involvement are more and more called for in the framework of participatory risk governance related to nuclear technologies, not only because they contribute to democratizations of decisions, but also because they increase the overall efficiency of the process and result in more sustainable decisions (Rick Jones 2008; OECD 2006 pp.9). However, motivating stakeholders remains a challenge and previous studies show that, when offered the opportunity to participate, the public frequently refrains from active participation (Dijkstra et al 2010). Results from past public opinion surveys in Belgium (Perko et al 2010; Van Aeken et al 2006) highlighted a decrease in people's willingness to invest time in getting informed about installations with risks (in general) or participating in related decision-making processes. The percentage of people in Belgium who would not spend any time in getting informed about such installations increased from 25% in 2002 to 34% in 2009. With regards to participating in decision–making processes, 40% said that they had no time at all for such activities in 2002, with a slight increase to 44% in 2009. These studies showed that (self-assessed) cautious people, younger respondents, those who read scientific magazines regularly or have interest in science and technology, as well as those with lower confidence in authorities (for the actions they take to protect against chemical/nuclear accidents and environmental pollution) are more willing to spend some time in getting informed or participating in decision-making processes concerning industrial installations with risks. The goal of this study was to determine predictors for the intention to participate in decision making processes related to new nuclear research installations. The predictors studied were derived from the social psychology theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) and related literature. Although extensively used in health studies, only few applications of the theory of planned behaviour can be found in the literature that deal with science related issues (or new technologies). Some examples shall be mentioned here. Poliakoff and Webb (2007) have looked into scientists' participation in public engagement activities. Their study highlighted four important predictors: past behaviour, attitude, perceived behavioural control and descriptive norms. Dijkstra et al (2010) found that the strongest predictors for the level of public engagement were the self-reported knowledge about