The purpose of this research is to examine risk perceptions of communities living near nuclear power plants and to relate the risk perceptions to the local knowledge of preparedness procedures in the event of an accident at the facilities. A total of 65 interviews were conducted in 2 communities in a Midwestern state in the United States that has nuclear power plants. Questions pertained to risk perceptions and knowledge of preparedness procedures in regards to the nuclear power plants. Interview transcripts were coded through the two-step process of initial and focused coding to derive four themes. These themes include quality of life, energy production, safety, and preparedness knowledge. The majority of interviewees reported that the facilities enhanced their quality of life with the taxes paid by the parent company. In addition, most interviewees described the energy production process as clean. While most of the interviewee safety perceptions were positive overall, some expressed concerns regarding the potential for an accident at one of the nuclear power plants. In regards to preparedness knowledge, fewer than half of interviewees could name at least one preparedness procedure offhand. This research concludes that interviewees with low-risk perceptions of the facilities were less prepared overall.

中文翻译：

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对位于核电站附近的两个美国中西部社区的风险认知和准备知识的定性研究

这项研究的目的是检查居住在核电厂附近社区的风险认知，并将风险认知与当地对设施发生事故的准备程序的了解联系起来。在拥有核电站的美国中西部州的 2 个社区共进行了 65 次访谈。与风险认知和核电厂准备程序知识有关的问题。访谈记录通过初始和集中编码的两步过程进行编码，以得出四个主题。这些主题包括生活质量、能源生产、安全和备灾知识。大多数受访者表示，这些设施通过母公司缴纳的税款提高了他们的生活质量。此外，大多数受访者将能源生产过程描述为清洁的。虽然大多数受访者的安全认知总体上是积极的，但有些人对其中一座核电厂发生事故的可能性表示担忧。在备灾知识方面，不到一半的受访者可以即兴说出至少一种备灾程序。该研究得出的结论是，对设施具有低风险认知的受访者总体上准备不足。