Public perceptions of the future of nuclear energy

Abstract

What can politicians and energy planners learn from the results of our study? First, it became obvious that the nuclear controversy has not yet come to an end. Most people still feel concerned about nuclear energy, and quite a considerable percentage of our sample expressed their readiness to protest against further expansion of the nuclear programme. Secondly, a vast majority of the sample expressed their willingness to accept a moderate expansion of the nuclear power programme, provided that a satisfactory solution to the problem of waste disposal can be achieved. Thirdly, with respect to public information programmes, our planning cell experiments proved that information containing arguments for or against nuclear power still has an impact on public attitudes. In spite of the fact that most people have developed a rather stable point of view in the nuclear controversy, and are usually not willing to change their overall attitude, the exchange of information during the planning-cell course resulted in a reshaping of some elements of participants attitudes.