Gender, Institutional Trust, and Spatial Resistance to Nuclear Power Plants: A National NIMBY Study from Türkiye

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Çoban N. A., AYGÜL H. H., DURU A. A., ÇOBAN M.

Journal of Asian Energy Studies, cilt.10, ss.77-113, 2026 (Scopus)

Özet

This study examines local resistance to nuclear power plants (NPPs), specifically the NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) phenomenon, in the context of Türkiye’s nuclear energy policy, with particular attention to gender. The study employed a correlational survey design. Data were collected from 703 respondents selected from a multistage random sample drawn by TurkStat to represent the national population. The data were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), McNemar test, and serial mediation analysis. Education and self-reported knowledge of nuclear safety were not significantly associated with local NPP acceptance, providing no support for the Knowledge Deficit Model in the Turkish sample. Female respondents reported substantially higher local opposition (77.6%), and this pattern did not vary by parental status. The findings suggest that the gender gap in nuclear attitudes is more closely associated with heightened risk perception and lower institutional trust than with parental status. In the relocation-intention model, perceived macro-level benefits and demographic variables were no longer statistically significant. Overall, the results indicate that public acceptance of nuclear energy projects in Türkiye is shaped less by knowledge or anticipated economic benefits than by institutional trust in decision-making bodies.