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Public in favour of nuclear according to MORI |
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A MORI poll commissioned by NIA last month indicated that public sentiment has swung in favour of more nuclear power for the first time since 1999. The poll shows that 35% of the public now supports the construction of new power stations, up 24% since a previous poll carried out in 2001, when 19% of the population were in favour of more nuclear power. Only 30% of the public are shown to be opposed to new nuclear power stations, down from 60% of the population three years ago, and would advocate phasing out nuclear energy.
This remarkable shift in public attitudes follows widespread concerns about climate change and security of energy and electricity supply and public announcements by highly regarded scientists, academics and environmentalists in favour of more nuclear power. In the past year Professor James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia theory and Bishop Hugh Montefiore, previously a Board Director for Friends of the Earth stated their belief that large scale, clean nuclear energy is the only option if we are to slow down the environmentally damaging effects of global warming.
The media is also having some bearing on public opinion, taking a keen interest in energy issues. Earlier in the year BBC2 broadcast the programme 'if…the lights go out', stressing the security of energy supply risks associated with depending on imported gas from politically unstable parts of the world, and more recently a number of Channel 4 documentaries 'The War on Terra', including one presented by Marcel Theroux, 'The End of the World As We Know It', have come out in favour of renewal of nuclear energy. |
