Though most of the public considers American nuclear power plants to be safe, the majority of Americans oppose the construction of more plants on US soil and the increased use of nuclear energy in the US in the wake of the accident in Japan.
Polls released Monday and Tuesday by CNN, Pew, CBS, and a poll released last Wednesday by Gallup, found that about half of Americans are opposed to building more plants or having the government promoting increased use of nuclear power, while the number of those in favor hovers just above forty percent in most polls. A table of results appears below:
Support has dropped significantly in the wake of the crisis in Japan. At this time last year, Gallup found 62 percent of respondents in favor of the use of nuclear energy in the US, and in July 2008, CBS found 57 percent in favor and just 34 percent disapproving of the construction of more nuclear power plants in the US.
Nonetheless, a large majority of Americans consider nuclear power plants to be fairly safe.
Pew had participants compare the relative safety of power plants in the United States to those in Japan, and found that just over half of the public perceives power plants in the two countries to be equally safe, while just a quarter called American plants safer. The question tells us very little, in the grand scheme of things, except that most of the public seem to trust American technology as much as, if not more than, Japanese technology.
CBS and CNN did not make the parallel to Japan immediately. CBS asked respondents: “Generally speaking, do you think the nuclear power plants that are in operation in the United States today are safe, or do you think they are not safe?” 69 percent called them safe; 22 percent said unsafe.
CNN asked respondents to contextualize “from what you have heard or read, how safe are nuclear power plants that support electric power…?” 79 percent of respondents called the power plants safe – about half of respondents said they were somewhat safe, just under a third said they were very safe – and a fifth called them not so safe.
The numbers shifted rather dramatically, however, when respondents were asked “specifically about the nuclear power plants in areas of the US that are close to the ocean or areas that have had earthquakes in the past.” This time, 45 percent of the public called those plants ‘not very safe,’ 42 percent said they were ‘somewhat safe,’ and just 12 percent called them ‘very safe.’ Though the recent events in Japan are never explicitly mentioned by CNN, the obvious parallel between the two situations clearly raised the specter of an accident and stoked concern about the use of nuclear energy, even among the same people that say they favor the use of nuclear power in general.
The element of specificity likely also triggered ‘not in my backyard’ sentiment. People tend to think of nuclear power plants being built in remote places. Near the ocean likely calls up locations that are too close to home; two-thirds of respondents polled by CNN said that “building a new nuclear power plant in [their] community” would be ‘unacceptable.’ Nonetheless, the events in Japan certainly seem to have concerned Americans.
Gallup asked about the worst-case scenario, polling respondents on their fear of a nuclear disaster occurring and whether “the recent events in Japan” had caused them to more or less concern about the possibility of a “nuclear disaster occurring in the US.” Seventy percent said they were more concerned.
CBS found a similar percentage of Americans worried about “a major accident at a nuclear power plant” occurring in the US. About two-thirds of respondents said they were concerned. But CBS did not mention the crisis in Japan in this specific question. In fact, in a later question when respondents were asked: “have the recent events concerning the damaged nuclear power plant in Japan made you more fearful about a nuclear accident happening in this country, or haven’t they?” Just over half of respondents said no, and only 44 percent said they had become “more fearful.”
This disparity could potentially come from the use of the word “fear” in the second CBS question, and the use of the word ‘concern’ in the first CBS question and the Gallup poll. Concern is a much more idle sensation; people may be concerned about something when asked about it directly, even if they hardly think about it otherwise. Fear, on the other hand, suggests a more constant consciousness of the issue.
Increased levels of concern in the immediate wake of Japan is likely the reason for the disconnect between Americans’ perceptions of nuclear power plants as safe and their aversion to building more.
One reason for the disconnect may be the way the question was phrased. Not one of the polls made any reference to Japan or the recent crisis in the phrasing of the initial question about the increased use of nuclear energy or construction of more nuclear power plants. Pew asked the question as part of a series of “possible government policies to address America’s energy supply.” CNN asked if respondents approved or disapproved “generally speaking.” Gallup asked the question as part of a series of polling questions related to other things, and introduced this question as “Turning to something else.” CBS asked the question as part of a longer questionnaire, and the crisis in Japan was referenced to respondents in previous questions. Americans’ concern increases significantly when the parallel to the crisis in Japan is explicitly drawn.
The results predictably vary by party line. All four polls found Republicans significantly more in favor of the expansion of nuclear energy than Democrats, more inclined to see nuclear power plants as safe, and less concerned about the possibility of an accident at a power plant.
This trend seen among Republican respondents was amplified in those who identified themselves as tea party supporters, CNN found. Support for building more nuclear power plants was 68 percent among tea party supporters, the largest amount of support found among any demographic measured. (CNN also broke down results by gender, race, age, income, party-affiliation, ideology, and geographical location). Similarly, over fifty percent of tea party supporters called nuclear power plants “very safe,” compared to just 28 percent of the rest of the population.