The thesis builds on the presumption that a complex set of links exists between a nuclear power plant and its physical, social and natural environment. Through the identification, analysis and understanding of the actual social discourse the complexity of the issue is represented. Study of the actual dominant actors, stakeholders, narratives, argumentations and the interpretation of the layers of the content and the actual proceeding of the communication process help understand and describe power relations in the nuclear discourse. Due to non-interest in the issue and to unbalanced access to information and dominance of political narratives, the validity of public sphere theories is limited. The context of perceived and manifested risks and benefits offers a framing to interpret changes in narratives, and to understand the European context of the nuclear issue. The dissertation analyzes the layers of political, professional and media discourse on nuclear energy in the period of 2009-2013, assesses as reference points the significance of opinion polls and of relevant European discourses, and studies the effects of government and parliamentary decisions on Paks NPP expansion through Russian involvement from its communication perspective. The dissertation urges the adaptation of a Risk Perception Index, the development of a Perpetual Risks and Benefits Repository, the balance of access to nuclear information, and the exploration of an engagement model to encourage nuclear discourse and to facilitate the democratization of nuclear energy.

1. Gabor Sarlos Ph.D. thesis
summary
ELTE Sociology Doctoral School, Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program
Budapest - 2015
RISK AND BENEFIT MANIFESTATION IN THE COMMUNICATION NARRATIVES OF
NUCLEAR ENERGY IN HUNGARY

2. ๏ a nuclear plant is not simply a technical structure but a
reflection of its social and environmental structure
๏ a relevant analysis studies the context of the complex
interrelation with society and the environment
๏ the current thesis focuses on the social dimensions of
the use and development of nuclear energy
๏ the thesis analyses the role of nuclear energy in the
public sphere
the basics ⦿ .
SCOPE

3. focuses ⦿ .
SCOPE
๏ CONTENT - public discourse on nuclear energy is in the focus
๏ TIME FRAME - the original period of January 2010 - December
2013 has been extended to April 2009 - March 2014
๏ GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE - has the Hungarian discourse in focus
but is analysed in its European context
๏ METHODOLOGY - interdisciplinary approach, with content
analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, participant observation,
statistical analysis and analysis of public sphere structure in the
focus

4. theory of public sphere theory ⦿ .
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS
1. THE PUBLIC SPHERE THEORY
[HABERMAS, 1962] HAS LIMITED VALIDITY
๏ growing limitations of its validity amidst conditions of a modern industrial
society (Fraser, 1990, Eley, 1992)
๏ lacking ‘normative conditions of the idealised public sphere’ (Dahlberg,
2005)
๏ decreasing role, even possible termination of media with social
representation
๏ dominance of manipulation, driven by editorial and publishing filtering
mechanisms (Chomsky and Herman, 1988)

5. the role of language in discourse formulation ⦿ .
2. LANGUAGE PLAYS DOMINANT ROLE IN FORMULATION OF NUCLEAR
DISCOURSE
๏ minimisation of the possibility of discourse due to extending the framing
of political alienism (Szabó, 2006) to actors in the nuclear discourse
๏ identification of power and authoritative relations through the analysis
of language structures, use of language and social determination, based
on the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 1991,
Fairclough, 1995)
๏ language takes part in the creation of a “constructed public sphere” and
of “parallel realities”
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

6. change in role of media ⦿ .
3. SOCIAL MEDIA EXPANSION MODIFIES ROLE OF MEDIA
๏ people lack chance for first hand experience, media role sees upgrade
๏ the agenda setting theory (McCombs and Shaw, 1972), editorial news value
accreditation (Tamás, 2000, Török, 2001) and ideological motivation (Fowler,
1991) cause media miss representation of complexity of nuclear issue
๏ new communication technologies and media (Heller and Rényi, 1996) have
modification effect, while the network society upgrades the role of every
communication actor (Castells, 2009)
๏ media contributes to the construction of the nuclear reality (Berger and
Luckmann, 1966) and of the parallel realities
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

7. the importance of risk and benefit perception and interpretation ⦿
4. THE ‘RISKS AND BENEFITS’ NARRATIVE IS IN THE FOCUS ON NUCLEAR
DISCOURSE
๏ views and values related to perception, communication and handling of
risk reflects society’s view on development. In the nuclear case, risk bears
relevance to each member of the society (Beck, 1992, 2006)
๏ the process of weighing risks builds on objective (statistics based) and
subjective (feeling and value based) elements (Vári, 2009) and is organically
related to the individual and to a set of shared values (Schwartz, 1977)
๏ attitude to technological development (Felt and Wynne, 2007) and trust in
the institutions managing the risk (Slovic, 2000) are decisive factors in
relation to nuclear energy
THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS

8. political discourse ⦿ .
KEY FINDINGS
METHODOLOGY: DISCOURSE ANALYSIS BASED ON 200+ PARLIAMENTARY ADDRESSES
ON THE NUCLEAR ISSUE
๏ parliamentary addresses do not reference and do not compose a discourse
๏ education, party affiliation and the attributed value set of the electorate defines
MPs standpoint on nuclear energy
๏ based on the risks and benefits expressed in the addresses the Risk
Manifestation Index of each party can be drawn. The parties follow a full front,
an avoidance or a re-direction strategy
๏ the communication pattern of the individual actors reflect changes in political
strategy as well as the attributed value set of their electorate

9. professional discourse ⦿ .
METHODOLOGY: AS MODERATOR, PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION AT THE AARHUS
ROUNDTABLE AND WORKING GROUP, DESIGNED TO ENSURE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
๏ actors with different objectives represent different models in the process:
initiators, reacting parties, observers and facilitators
๏ in theory, Aarhus roundtable provides the framework for the creation of a
discourse, but significant differences in objectives hinder its development
๏ for the majority of participants, the Aarhus roundtable appears as obligation due
to constraint. Informational unbalance stops development of discourse.
๏ measuring intensity of involvement in Aarhus roundtable, together with intensity of
identification with nuclear agenda allows drafting Aarhus sociogram
KEY FINDINGS

10. professional discourse ⦿ .
KEY FINDINGS

11. media discourse ⦿ .
METHODOLOGY: CONTENT ANALYSIS OF 4 DAILY PAPERS (ONLINE EDITIONS) (OCT-DEC
2012, OCT-DEC 2013) AND FURTHER INTERVIEWS AND REPORTS (JAN-MAR 2014)
๏ nuclear discourse is dominated by political and economic narratives
๏ financial benefits and financial risks are dominant arguments in the
discourse, however, in the case of benefits, actual operations are in the focus
while the framework for risks is the full nuclear cycle
๏ narratives focusing on benefits reflect linear approach while risk focused
narratives reflect systemic approach
๏ the period Oct-Dec 2013 brought a change in narrative, the appearance of
significantly different argumentations, headlines and titles moving from descriptive
to normative character
KEY FINDINGS

12. opinion polls ⦿ .
METHODOLOGY: COMPARISON OF 6 OPINION POLLS IN THE PERIOD 2009-2013
๏ significant differences in outcome and conclusions among polls from the
same period
๏ differences in findings can be attributed to different background and purpose of
research, exact timing of the poll, context and wording of questions, order and
structure of questions as well as the focus of the research (Hungarian or
international)
๏ communication of results forms part of communication
๏ need for communicative argumentation overwrites need of learning public
opinion, implying manipulative approach to poll design and use of results
KEY FINDINGS

13. title poll date
support
nuclear
oppose
nuclear
support Paks oppose Paks
referendum
participation
Nuclear
safety/
Eurobaromete
r
Sept 2009 - - - - -
Fukusima /
Ipsos Global
March 2011 41% 59% 38% 62% -
referendum/M
edián
July 2011 - - 36% 58% -
Nuclear -
Paks TNS
Hoffmann
July 2011 73% 25% 51% 44% -
Nuclear
attitude
Medián
July 2012 - - 42% 51% 56%
Nuclear -
opinion polls ⦿ .
KEY FINDINGS

14. opinion polls ⦿ .
METHODOLOGY: OWN RESEARCH CONDUCTED AS PART OF IPSOS OBSERVER OMNIBUS SURVEY
(JULY 2013)
๏ nuclear energy is not among the important or well known public issues
๏ Paks expansion supported by 47,5%, opposed by 52,5% of population. referendum on
Paks expansion supported by 33,4%, opposed by 47,4%, uncertain 20%
๏ men would rather prefer expansion, while the relative majority of women would rather
oppose to this idea
๏ people with higher education rather support both expansion and referendum
๏ neither questions shows significant correlation with income and age of respondents
KEY FINDINGS

15. European context ⦿ .
METHODOLOGY: LITERATURE REVIEW
๏ decisions on use of nuclear energy (referendums, parliamentary
resolutions, government measures) in European countries are not
necessarily are not necessarily infinite
๏ discourse in each country reflects general as well as country and
culture specific patterns. value set of a given society bears its mark
on the dominant narratives
๏ though in each country risk and benefit manifestation reflects
national characteristics, but the issue of security seems the dominant
public framing - though interpreted in different contexts
KEY FINDINGS

16. ollowing the Hungarian-Russian nuclear deal ⦿ .
METHODOLOGY: MEDIA DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
๏ the deal brought intensification and change of the discourse:
๏emergence of new actors, changes in meta-framing with the
emergence of the “Putin factor”, arise of new aspects, leap in
media activity, differences in narratives become more visible
๏ validity of European context grows
๏ all these contribute to a forthcoming new framing and of a
discourse with higher quality
KEY FINDINGS

17. outlook to the future ⦿ .
ROADMAP TO THE DEMOCRATISATION OF THE NUCLEAR DISCOURSE:
๏ new model of public participation
๏ engagement of stakeholders, including the public
๏ institutionalisation of new decision making methodology
๏ sharing of information, reduction of informational unbalance
๏ use of digital communication tools
๏ increase in trust towards institutions managing risk
KEY FINDINGS

18. Gabor Sarlos Ph.D. thesis
summary
ELTE Sociology Doctoral School, Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program
Budapest - 2015
RISK AND BENEFIT MANIFESTATION IN THE COMMUNICATION NARRATIVES OF
NUCLEAR ENERGY IN HUNGARY