The World Wants New Nuclear
A new and comprehensive evaluation of the world’s understanding and support for advanced nuclear energy
May 2023
Download the research paper
Zero Ideas is pleased to have worked with ClearPath, Potential Energy, RePlanet and Third Way on their research paper investigating public perceptions of nuclear energy, The World Wants New Nuclear.
This new, multinational survey of attitudes toward nuclear energy finds that there is widespread public support for advanced nuclear energy technologies and what they can bring. This is the largest-scale survey on advanced nuclear technologies, uncovering the underlying motivations and perceptions that drive support for and opposition towards it.
Members of environmental groups are strong supporters of advanced nuclear energy – often at a higher rate than non-members.
Key findings
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.
Support significantly outnumbers opposition across the globe, by an average of five to one
Members of environmental groups are strong supporters of advanced nuclear energy, and in some countries, they support advanced nuclear energy at a higher rate than non-members.
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.
Support is cross-party in most countries
Almost all of the opposition comes from a small, distinct segment of the population (15%) whose members are older, sceptical about innovation, and unmovable in their views.
Mark Lynas, co-founder of RePlanet, one of the four NGOs behind the study, said: “It is often thought that nuclear power is unpopular. Our results show conclusively that this is not the case, and that nuclear as a source of clean, carbon-free energy commands majority support in every single country. This majority support even extends in most cases to members of environmental groups and Green parties, and shows that policy-makers and investors should not fear public opinion when making urgently-needed decisions about supporting new advanced nuclear deployment.”