The Energy Collective: Nuclear Energy’s Low-Carbon Attributes Increase Public Support
- Only 30 percent know nuclear is America’s largest source of carbon-free electricity
- Once informed, 84 percent agree nuclear should be important in the future
- Trend of majority support for nuclear energy holds solidly
Awareness of nuclear energy’s leading role in preventing greenhouse gas emissions in the electric sector solidifies the conviction among an overwhelming majority of Americans that the technology is important to the nation’s energy and environmental future, a new national survey released 10/1/15 shows. (Powerpoint slides here)
- Eighty-four percent of Americans, once informed that nuclear energy produces nearly two-thirds of the nation’s low-carbon electricity, agree that nuclear energy “should be important in the future,” according to the telephone survey of 1,000 adults. Fifty percent say it should be “very important.”
- While the survey found that 73 percent associate nuclear energy with clean air, only 30 percent knew beforehand that nuclear energy is the largest source by far (63 percent) of America’s low-carbon electricity.
“The impact of knowing the facts about nuclear energy’s clean air role is eye-opening,” said Ann Bisconti, president of Bisconti Research Inc., which conducted the survey for the Nuclear Energy Institute.
“Once they are made aware of the magnitude of nuclear energy’s impact in the low-carbon electricity mix, Americans’ belief in nuclear energy’s future value is almost universal and crosses gender and political party.”
Similarly reflecting the value Americans place on the environment, 83 percent of those surveyed say “we should take advantage of all low-carbon energy sources, including nuclear, hydro and renewable energy, to produce the electricity we need while limiting greenhouse gas emissions.”
