Nuclear energy is complicated. Since the devastating 2011 tsunami-related reactor meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, public support of nuclear energy – as a means of supplying electricity – has slumped to a historical low, internationally. In 2016, as part of their annual Environment Poll, Gallup – who have tested on public support for nuclear energy since 1994 – reported for the first time that a majority of Americans now oppose nuclear energy. Having surveyed respondents just a few days before the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Plant, Gallup reported that support for nuclear energy stood at 57%, but as is detailed in their annual findings, support has successively fallen every year to a record low of just 44% in 2016. Most alarmingly, a steep upturn of public opposition can be seen in 2015, in which 11% of respondents signaled staunch opposition towards nuclear energy as a means of supplying electricity. However, given the numerous benefits of producing electricity via means of nuclear energy, why is there such evident public opposition?
Former Gallup writer, and science reporter for AAAS, Rebecca Rifkin suggests that: “Energy prices and the perceived abundance of energy sources are the most relevant factors in attitudes toward nuclear power, rather than safety concerns prompted by nuclear incidents” (Rifkin). Given that the United States benefited from a momentary economic stabilization in 2015 – largely affording the United States the ability to offer lower fuel prices – this seems to support Rifkin’s assertion but fails to account for historical differences when discussing political ideology as it pertains to support for nuclear energy. For example, Researcher Dr. Ann Bisconti, asserts that “The conventional wisdom goes that “not-in-my-backyard,” is a barrier to nuclear energy”, and that it could possibly play a devastating role in currying public opinion regarding nuclear energy as a clean, efficient, economically smart means to create electricity (Bisconti). This certainly holds up to scrutiny when observing the long-term trends as they pertain to political ideology and support for the development of nuclear plants within one’s own neighborhood.
Several substantial empirical articles have been published on public support for nuclear energy which suggest that political ideology and party affiliation affects one’s support of nuclear energy as a means of creating electricity. This study seeks to investigate these trends in order to show a correlation between support for nuclear energy and political ideology by using up-to-date data on the variables of interest.
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