Risk concerns and sustainable development goals influencing the adoption of tiny nuclear batteries: Findings from public perceptions

Tiny nuclear batteries (TNBs) are one of the cutting-edge technologies to meet the future sustainable energy needs of residents, and will play an important role in the future modern low-carbon energy system. However, the public's adoption intention of this new technology and its influencing mechanism are still unclear. This study expanded the technology acceptance model of TNBs from the perspective of risk and sustainable development, analyzed 387 questionnaires collected in Beijing in depth, and revealed the key transmission path affecting TNBs' adoption intention using structural equation modeling and the bootstrap technique. In the context of Beijing, the results indicate that Hazardous Materials Risk (HMR), Performance Risk (PR), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have only indirect effects on the Behavioral Intention (BI) of TNBs, and Green Perceived Usefulness (GPU) is an important mediating variable. In addition, this study found that "ever heard of TNBs" (EH) is an important moderating variable. If one had been aware of TNBs in advance, the total indirect effect of PR would have been significantly increased by 0.212.