This survey was carried out June 27–July 4, 2019 with a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample comprised 1608 people age 18 or older from 137 localities in 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a selection of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
ON APRIL 26, 1986 THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION AT THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN CHERNOBYL. HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS ACCIDENT? (respondents were presented with a card with a list of answers from which they could choose more than one answer and/or write in their own; ranked in descending order)
| Jun. 19 | |
| From the news (newspaper, radio, the press) | 58 |
| In school | 24 |
| From the accounts of family, friends, and acquaintances | 23 |
| From documentary films | 14 |
| From social media and the Internet | 8 |
| From fictional films / TV shows | 7 |
| From books | 4 |
| Lived nearby / in the immediate vicinity | 1 |
| From parents | <1 |
| Other (“I was a responder,” “from games,” “from military recruiters,” etc.) | 1 |
| I don’t know anything about this accident | 1 |
| It is difficult to say / don’t remember | 1 |
WHAT, IN YOUR VIEW, WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM UNCOVERED BY THE CHERNOBYL CATASTROPHE? (respondents were presented with a card with a list of answers and they could choose only one; ranked in descending order according to June 2019)
| Mar. 06 | Mar. 11 | Mar. 16 | Jun. 19 | |
| Technical breakdown in the control system of the reactor | 15 | 21 | 26 | 24 |
| The negligence of the operators and maintenance personnel | 16 | 21 | 19 | 22 |
| Mistakes in designing the nuclear reactor | 9 | 12 | 9 | 17 |
| The suppression of the incident by the authorities | 13 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| A lack of a system of measures to protect people against technological catastrophes | 22 | 17 | 14 | 7 |
| Ineffective system of decision-making while managing complicated technical facilities | 12 | 10 | 10 | 6 |
| A lack of public control over nuclear facilities | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Other (“shouldn’t have experimented,” “the human factor,” “environmental degradation,” “nobody talks about the truth for a long time,” etc.) | <1 | <1 | 1 | 1 |
| It is difficult to say | 10 | 9 | 13 | 11 |
DO YOU THINK A CATASTROPHE SIMILAR TO CHERNOBYL CAN OCCUR AGAIN IN RUSSIA IN THE NEAR FUTURE? (one answer)
| Apr. 00 | Apr. 01 | Mar. 06 | Mar. 11 | Mar. 16 | Jun. 19 | |
| Very likely | 26 | 38 | 14 | 16 | 6 | 8 |
| Quite likely | 43 | 38 | 45 | 40 | 28 | 22 |
| Not very likely | 17 | 15 | 25 | 32 | 41 | 46 |
| Almost impossible | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| It is difficult to say | 11 | 7 |
12 |
8 |
21 | 7 |
Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).
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