The FuTure oF nuclear Fuel cycle - MIT Energy Initiative

Chapter 9 — American Attitudes about
Nuclear Power and Nuclear Waste 1
Public attitudes toward nuclear power have shaped the federal and local policies concerning
siting and construction of new nuclear plants and the development of interim and longterm
waste storage facilities. The collapse of public support nationwide for nuclear power
following Three Mile Island as well as local opposition to specific facilities is one factor
contributing to the weak growth in this industry over the past 30 years.
Since 2002, the MIT energy studies have gauged public understanding of and attitudes toward
nuclear power and other energy sources. These studies are random sample surveys of
adults in the United States, conducted in 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2009, over the Internet
by Knowledge Networks. The 2002 and 2007 surveys go into the greatest depth about nuclear
power and more extensive analyses of these surveys as well as data are available through
the MIT CANES 2 and MIT Political Science Department 3 . The 2007 study replicates much
of the 2002 survey, which is presented in the report The Future of Nuclear Power. The 2009
survey contains a smaller battery of questions focused on waste disposal and to get the
most current reading on attitudes toward construction of new nuclear plants. These surveys
replicate questions asked by earlier surveys, some dating as far back as 1973. This allows us
to extend the time series of public opinion surveys on nuclear power, especially questions
concerning waste, safety, and expansion of nuclear power. In addition, the surveys include
new items in order to examine the bases for public support.
Of particular interest is whether growing concern about global warming might lead to
greater support for nuclear power. Addressing this question requires including measures
of concern about global warming as well as support for nuclear power in the same survey
as well as measures of other concerns that might explain the overall attitude an individual
has toward nuclear power. These other factors include cost of electricity production using
nuclear power, possible local environmental risks, likelihood of an accident, and concerns
about waste storage. This chapter focuses on what these surveys reveal about overall support
for nuclear power and its connection to public concern about waste storage.
Support For buildinG neW nuClear poWer plantS
To begin with, some background. A series of public opinion surveys establish a clear trend
of declining public support for building additional nuclear power plants from the mid 1970s
through 2000. The surveys were conducted by various organizations 4 , especially Cambridge
Energy Research Associates (CERA) and Gallup, asking the question “Do you support or
oppose building new nuclear power plants?” 5 The trend shows a precipitous drop in sup-
chapter 9: american attitudes about nuclear Power and nuclear Waste 127