Spent nuclear fuel and residential property values: the influence of proximity, visual cues and public information

This article examines whether public knowledge of spent fuel storage at nuclear power plants, and any local adverse risk perceptions that may have occurred, affect the sale price of single-family residential properties. We present evidence from the Rancho Seco, California, plant on residential property values using an hedonic modeling framework. We include a large number of control variables, data with a high level of spatial detail and a number of public information variables in order to model property market effects within a fifteen mile radius of the plant. Our findings indicate that proximity and visual reminders of the plant have some influence on local property markets, and that there is a small media coverage effect on single-family home sale prices. Received: 6 May 1998 / Accepted: 26 May 1999