Survey: Global support for nuclear power is growing

A growing number of people around the globe support increased use of nuclear power to improve energy security and fight climate change, according to a new survey by Accenture.

Twenty-nine percent of the more than 10,000 people surveyed in 20 countries said they fully supported nuclear energy, while another 40 percent said they would be in favor of nuclear power if their concerns about safety, waste disposal and plant decommissioning were addressed.

A full 43 percent said nuclear energy provides a way to achieve a low-carbon future. The same percentage said they believed other renewable energy sources alone cannot fully replace fossil fuels.

While 29 percent of those responding to the survey said they were more supportive of nuclear energy today than they were three years ago, 19 percent said they were less so.

“Concerns over energy security, volatile fossil-fuel prices and climate change have made nuclear energy more popular with consumers,” said Sander van’t Noordende, group chief executive of Accenture’s Resources operating group. “But policy makers and generators should not assume that this makes consent easy to achieve or maintain. Government and the energy industry must take note of the continued fragility of popular support for nuclear power.”