A pilot choice experiment among French nuclear specialists to measure the intangible value of territories
Évaluation pilote des choix expérimentaux auprès de spécialistes français du nucléaire : mesure de la valeur intangible de territoires contaminés
Résumé
A discrete choice experiment was conducted in France to value the loss of welfare from a nuclear accident, using a sample of 400 respondent working in the French nuclear safety authority (ASN) and the French Institute for radiation protection and nuclear safety (IRSN). The respondents were asked to choose between three different alternatives describing life conditions in their supposed living territory after a nuclear accident. These alternatives were characterized by the proportion of people who stay in the territory after the accident, the proportion of services remaining in the territory, whether or not access to nature is prohibited and the duration of the deteriorated situation. A mixed-logit model shows that the access to areas of nature and the runaway of services are the main sources of disutility. People having children under 18 years old and those living outside the Paris region give more importance to these aspects, whereas younger people and people leaving in the Paris region value the proportion of persons and services around them higher. The mean willingness to pay (WTP) per household to avoid living in a contaminated territory for 30 years is about 18,000 euros. An important finding of the paper is that places considered as more important by inhabitants are not necessarily the ones they attend more. The study sheds some light on strategies to mitigate welfare loss of welfare after a nuclear accident.