Social risksof the residence next to existing NPP according to the results of a sociological survey

Abstract

Objective:We identified the social risks among the population of surveillance areas (SA) of the NPP and their impact on socio-psychological state. Methods: In the course of the work, we performed the comparison of the assessment of the life quality by the population in the SA of Rivne NPP (RNPP) and South-Ukrainian NPP (SUNPP) located in different physical-and-geographical regions of Ukraine. We studied seven spheres of life quality, the level of psychological stress, and the concern about the risk of the emergencies among the population. The samplingpopulation made up 232 people in the SA of RNPP and 227 ones in the SA of SUNPP, the sampling error was 5.4%. Results: Employment, democratic governance, health are the critical spheres of life for the population of satellite cities, and welfare, living conditions, employmentare the critical ones for the population ofrural areas. The assessment of the level of well-being is closely connected with the assessment of living conditions, job satisfaction is closely connected with the sphere of security, social protection and the well-being level. Reliable connections have been established between the socio-psychological state of the population and the main spheres of life quality among the population in SA of the NPP: high - among the indicators of the scales of somatization, concern and reactive anxiety and the sphere of security and protection, medium - with the spheres of employment and welfare, low - with the sphere of health care. Conclusions: The data of the sociological survey of the population of SA of the studied NPP indicate the community of interests and demands of the population. The population of SA of RNPP and of SUNPP is characterized by the territorial behavior, stipulated by the awareness of the subject of their attitude to the area, where the activity of the NPP is a leading factor. Most of obtained assessments of the spheres of quality of life are similar in values irrespective of theregion. The involvement of the population of Rivne region in the liquidation of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident affects the concern of the population in case of possible man-made emergency. The population of SA of the SUNPP has a higher level of concern about social emergencies, including possible hostility and terrorist attacks, in particular.