Majority of Europeans oppose nuclear power

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Results from a Eurobarometer survey reveal that EU citizens remain uninformed about radioactive waste and are sceptical about the credibility of information from national governments and the media on nuclear energy.

A Eurobarometer survey conducted in February and March 2005 analysing EU public opinion on nuclear energy has revealed an underlying lack of knowledge concerning nuclear power, alongside a growing distrust of governments and the media on radioactive waste management issues. The survey results included the following findings:

On radioactive waste

  • Three quarters of EU citizens (74%) claim that they are ‘not well informed’ about radioactive waste.
  • Citizens in Sweden consider themselves to be most informed on this issue, with one in two respondents (51%) answering positively, followed by Slovenia (46%) and Finland (43%).
  • Respondents from Greece, Italy, (16%) Spain and Portugal (15%) were the least informed about radioactive waste.
  • Approximately eight respondents out of ten (79%) answered that they believed ‘all radioactive waste’ to be ‘very dangerous’.

In Finland, projects are already underway to construct more nuclear power plants and plans to develop further reactors are being discussed. Faring only slightly better than the EU southern states in terms of knowledge possessed on nuclear energy, France (22%) - the world’s largest nuclear power generator per capita - is also committed to expanding its nuclear reliance. Other nations choosing to pursue the nuclear route are Poland, Slovakia and the UK.

On nuclear energy

  • Only four out of every ten interviewees (37%) answered that they were in favour of nuclear energy.
  • While 30% of participants said that they were ‘fairly in favour’, only 7% of the EU citizens interviewed claimed to be ‘totally in favour’ of nuclear energy.
  • 31% of the people interviewed said they were 'fairly opposed' to energy produced by nuclear power stations while 24% stated that they were 'totally opposed'.
  • Nuclear energy proved to be most popular in Hungary (65%), followed by Sweden (64%), the Czech Republic (61%) and Lithuania (60%).
  • Nuclear energy was least popular in Austria where 88% of interviewees stated that they were opposed to this type of energy.
  • 61% of interviewees believed that the nuclear option would reduce dependency on oil and 62% of EU citizens interviewed agreed that nuclear power is advantageous in terms of producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Replicating results from a similar survey taken in 2001, NGO’s (39%) and independent scientists (38%) remain the two most trusted sources of information regarding the impact and effects of nuclear energy.
  • In comparison to four years ago, latest opinion demonstrates a significant loss in confidence with both national governments (down from 29% to 19%) and the media (down from 23% to 13%) as reliable sources of information on nuclear issues.

Despite being the nation that proved most informed on the issue and one of its biggest supporters, Sweden has proposed abandoning the nuclear route within the next forty years. Along with Belgium, Germany and Spain, the Swedish government has decided to phase out nuclear power altogether and rely purely on hydro and bio-energy. Austria has adopted a law prohibiting the operation of nuclear power stations for the production of electricity, thus abandoning the use of nuclear energy and setting itself the task of creating a nuclear energy free zone in central Europe. Conversely, the Czech Republic is planning to build two new reactors.

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