The nuclear crisis in Japan is dramatically changing views about the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation. In the USA, a survey has found a majority of respondents want to see a freeze on new nuclear power station construction and more focus on wind and solar power.
According to a new survey conducted by ORC International for the Civil Society Institute (CSI) carried out a week ago, most Americans would like to see a halt to nuclear energy projects if increased energy efficiency and readily available renewable technologies could meet energy demands for the near term.
The survey also highlighted the lack of emergency preparedness of those living in the shadows of nuclear reactors, with over half of people living within 75 kilometres of a facility not knowing what to do in the event of a nuclear emergency. Nearly a quarter of all those surveyed said they lived within 75 kilometres of a nuclear power reactor.
Nearly three quarters of respondents favoured a shift of federal loan-guarantee support for energy away from nuclear reactors toward wind power and solar energy.
In a recent article, we reported on a study that found without guarantees and subsidies, nuclear power is more expensive than renewables in some scenarios. Specifically, the liability insurance subsidies alone apparently are enough to make solar power cheaper than nuclear energy generated electricity. As with fossil fuel subsidies, the financing of nuclear projects on the taxpayer’s dime appears to have been at the expense of accelerating the renewable energy revolution; to a degree that the vision of nuclear power co-existing with renewable energy isn’t viable.
Over three-quarters of respondents to the CSI survey say they are now more supportive of using clean, renewable energy resources and increasing energy efficiency as an alternative to more nuclear power in the United States than they were a month before the survey was run – prior to the Fukushima reactor crisis.
A majority of respondents also wanted to see a law indemnifying nuclear power companies from most disaster clean-up costs changed to make companies liable for all damages resulting from a nuclear accident.
The full survey report, entitled "After Fukushima: American Attitudes About Nuclear Power Policy Questions", can be viewed here (PDF).
