Public willingness to pay for interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in South Korea

As temporary storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) nears saturation, securing interim storage facilities (ISFs) has become a critical policy priority in South Korea. This study employs the contingent valuation technique to estimate households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for ISF. A dichotomous choice question of whether or not to pay the offered bid was asked, and a spike model was utilized to deal with a WTP of zero. A nationwide survey of 1,000 households was conducted in 2024 via one-on-one interviews, with rigorous protocols being employed to ensure methodological validity. The average monthly WTP was obtained as KRW 3,244 (USD 2.37) per household, with a 95% confidence interval of KRW 2,922 to 3,611 (USD 2.14 to 2.64). Extrapolating this to the national level yields an annual value of KRW 863.52 billion (USD 631.22 million). Socio-economic covariates, including income, metropolitan residency, and awareness of SNF management, exhibited statistically significantly positive effects on the possibility of stating “yes” to a given bid. These findings provide actionable insights for stakeholder-driven decision-making, thereby underscoring the social and economic feasibility of ISFs as a viable solution to the challenges surrounding the country’s SNF management.