Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper delves into the nature of local opposition through content analysis of letters to the editor in seventeen counties named as candidate sites for a LLRW disposal facility. I use Kraft and Clary’s (1993) analysis of public hearing testimony on high-level radioactive waste siting controversies as a guide. Like these authors I find overwhelming expressions of opposition across these cases. I also find that this opposition does not fit the not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) characterization as operationalized by Kraft and Clary. However, I find that NIMBY characteristics were prevalent early in the siting processes and diminished over time. This leads me to argue that it is best to conceive of public expressions of opposition, like letters to the editor and testimony at hearings, as acts of strategic framing rather than indicators of private attitudes. I conclude with some preliminary analysis that indicates that the changing character of opposition may influence siting progress.