The World Wants New Nuclear
Findings from the most comprehensive recent multinational survey of public attitudes to nuclear energy, jointly presented by Clearpath, RePlanet, Thirdway and Potential Energy Coalition.
A new, multinational survey of attitudes toward nuclear energy found that there is widespread public support for advanced nuclear energy technologies. The report, released on May 9, 2023, is a collaborative effort by the nongovernmental organizations ClearPath, Third Way, Potential Energy Coalition, and RePlanet.
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There is strong support for advanced nuclear energy in all eight countries surveyed — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Japan, and South Korea — with an average of five supporters for every opponent.
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In the United States, 61% of respondents either "strongly agree” or "agree” with the use of the latest nuclear energy technologies to generate electricity alongside other sources, while only 16% "disagree” or "strongly disagree.”
Members of environmental groups are strong supporters of advanced nuclear energy.
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In all countries tested, environmental group members are net supporters of advanced nuclear energy. In some countries, they support advanced nuclear energy at a higher rate than nonmembers. 65% of members of environmental groups in the United States support using advanced nuclear energy, compared to 60% for the general public.​
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Support for advanced nuclear energy is not partisan. In all but two countries in the report, a majority of the supporters of every major political party also support advanced nuclear energy.
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In the United States, at least 60% of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents support advanced nuclear energy. One unique feature of support for advanced nuclear as a source of clean energy is its broad-based support across political ideologies.
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Except for Germany, advanced nuclear enjoys majority support among Green parties.
Almost all of the opposition comes from a small, distinct segment of the population (15%) whose members are older, skeptical about innovation, and unmovable in their views.
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All of the other groups identified by the report overwhelmingly support advanced nuclear energy, even if they vary widely in their political outlook, economic position, and views on the environment and climate change.
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