Almost two thirds of US adults favour the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity in the United States, according to a September telephone survey, the Nuclear Energy Institute announced in a press release.
The survey found that American strongly favouring nuclear energy outnumber those strongly opposed by a two-to-one ratio, 29% versus 14%. Figures are up on a poll conducted in September 2011, six months after the Fukushima accident, when 62% of American favoured nuclear energy, with 35% opposed.
In the most recent survey, just over three quarters of respondents agree that nuclear energy facilities operating in the United States are ‘safe and secure,’ while only 19% think they are not. Eighty percent of Americans (versus 16%) believe “we should learn the lessons from the Japanese accident and continue to develop advanced nuclear energy plants to meet America’s growing electricity demand.”
A large majority (81%) of those surveyed favour the renewal of operating licenses of facilities that continue to meet federal safety standards, while 74% believe electric utilities should prepare now so they will be ready to build new nuclear power plants in the next decade if needed.
The poll of 1000 was carried out between 14 and 16 September, and conducted by Bisconti Research Inc., with GfK Roper. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
