Unpacking Public Perceptions of Nuclear Waste Management: A Systematic Bibliometric Literature Review

The management of nuclear waste poses significant technical, environmental, health, and societal challenges, underlining the need for a comprehensive understanding of public perceptions and opinions towards this issue. The growing interest in this topic requires a systematic bibliometric literature review to investigate dimensions such as the consequences of attitudes of ordinary citizens, including their acceptance, opposition or indifference towards nuclear waste disposals. However, to the knowledge of the authors, such a review does not exist. This paper aims to fill in this gap by focusing on the social science literature on attitudes and opinions towards nuclear waste management, exploring the complex interactions of factors that shape beliefs, emotions and needs of ordinary citizens.

Following a two-step approach, the literature review will address one overarching research question: What are the key gaps and limitations in current social scientific literature on public perceptions of nuclear waste management, and what future research directions are needed to address these? In the first step, data will be collected relying on two of the most important social science databases (Scopus and Web of Science) to obtain a bibliometric overview of the literature, identifying trends, patterns, and key contributors to the field. The second step, instead, focuses on the so-called grey literature, including documents such as reports and policy documents that are analysed using quantitative text and text mining techniques, such as sentiment analysis and topic modelling. Thanks to employing these techniques, the paper will be able to highlight overlooked topics that may be crucial to understanding public opinions and perceptions on nuclear waste management, identifying patterns and trends in public discourse and providing valuable insights into the multifaceted nature of this topic.

By adopting this approach, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of public perceptions and opinions towards nuclear waste management, ultimately informing evidence-based policy and decision-making processes. The findings will have significant implications for stakeholders involved in nuclear waste management, such as policymakers, industry leaders, community organisations and environmental groups. By shedding light on the complexities of this topic, this paper will provide a foundation for the identification of future research directions, leading to the development of more effective policy interventions that address the concerns and needs of citizens and more inclusive and sustainable approaches to nuclear waste management.