Poll finds global public support for nuclear remains high

The Public Attitudes toward Clean Energy (PACE) index is described as "the world's largest publicly-released international study on what people think about nuclear energy", with data collected from almost 32,000 respondents in 31 countries.

"Across the countries surveyed, which represent almost two-thirds of the world's population, 46% support nuclear energy compared to 23% who oppose it," Radiant Energy said. That compares with the previous year when 46% of respondents supported nuclear energy with 28% opposing it. The newly published report shows that "22 of the 31 countries surveyed have net support (support exceeding opposition) for nuclear energy's use. Support is over three times higher than opposition in China, Poland, and Russia".

The survey shows that more than three times as many respondents want to keep using nuclear as want to phase it out. In most countries surveyed, over 40% support building new nuclear plants. In Russia, Poland, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and France, public support for subsidising new nuclear construction is comparable to support for subsidising large-scale solar and onshore wind.

While support for nuclear was found to be high, 86% of respondents said they are concerned about the health and safety implications of nuclear's use. In addition, while 42% of respondents see nuclear energy as creating no or low levels of carbon emissions, 48% see nuclear energy as creating moderate or high levels of carbon emissions.

The survey found that the cost of nuclear is seen as low by more people than the cost of wind or solar in countries that have previously phased out nuclear's use. In Germany, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Sweden - countries that have had the largest politically-mandated nuclear phase-outs or closures - nuclear energy is the most positively viewed technology for reducing energy bills.

All countries show strong concern about nuclear waste. Countries pursuing one of several different waste solutions show less negative attitudes towards nuclear waste.

Public concern about nuclear waste is relatively low in Finland, home to the Onkalo repository. Similarly low levels of concern are seen in the Netherlands, which stores its waste at its above-ground COVRA facility, as well as in Egypt and Turkey, which plan to send their used fuel back to Russia.

"Given that the majority of respondents say they know little about nuclear energy, geopolitical and other non-technical factors may have a larger bearing on nuclear trust of certain countries than nuclear expertise," Radiant Energy said.

Savanta questioned 31,831 adults from 31 countries between November last year and May this year. The survey was conducted online. The countries selected include all G7 and BRICS countries, the world's top 15 countries by 2023 nuclear electricity generation, and several other countries considering their future use of nuclear energy. Eighty five percent of the global population powered by nuclear were represented in the survey.