Majority of Americans support more nuclear energy
A May poll by Pew Research Center shows that a majority of Americans favor more nuclear power plants in the U.S. to generate electricity.
Republican-leaning voters were more supportive of nuclear power plants than solar panels or wind turbine farms; Democratic-leaning voters saw the opposite trend. About two-thirds of Republican-leaning respondents support more nuclear power plants compared to about half of Democrat-leaning respondents.
Support for more nuclear power is relatively bipartisan (18 points) compared to levels of support for offshore oil and gas drilling (47 points), hydraulic fracturing (45 points), and coal mining (48 points), where there are steep partisan disagreements.
As Director of the Center for Energy and Conservation Gabriella Hoffman noted, men are about twice as likely to support nuclear energy as women. Pew Research’s May survey found that men were 70% in favor of more nuclear power and women were only 44% in favor, and the “pattern holds true among adults in both political parties.”
What do Americans think should be done to achieve more nuclear development? Pew Research writes that, “On balance, more say the government should encourage (41%) than discourage (22%) this. But 36% say the government should not exert influence either way, according to a March 2023 Center survey.”
It’s less that the federal government should “encourage,” or “discourage,” anything, and more that the federal government should remove its current high barriers to building more nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s chief goal, for instance, has been protection against the dangers of nuclear technology rather than acknowledging and streamlining projects with potential utility and benefits. As a result, its regulatory process for approving a new nuclear power plant is excessively burdensome and costly—sometimes delaying projects for decades. Streamlining this process and reducing its costs may bring nuclear power plants online more quickly.
As IWF visiting fellow Paige Lambermont wrote after Congress passed the ADVANCE Act, this framing has consequences and “leads to an agency culture that fails to see the positive possibilities of the industry over which it operates exclusive control.” The ADVANCE Act changes the NRC’s mission, which may seem like a small step, but will ultimately shift the agency’s culture toward innovation.
Nuclear power is a highly reliable and safe form of electricity production, but nuclear’s future in the U.S. is uncertain. Two new reactors were built at Plant Vogtle this year, making it the U.S.’s largest nuclear power plant plant. However, the additions cost more than twice its initial estimates, or $30 billion, due to “delays, design changes, and turmoil,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Retirements are outpacing new electricity generation by a lot. Pew notes that in the last decade, “just three new reactors joined the power fleet. Three times as many shut down over the same timespan.”
It is a no-brainer to simplify the process of approving a form of energy that a majority of Americans support. Nuclear power fits the bill.
This piece was originally published by Independent Women’s Forum on August 13, 2024. Read it here: https://www.iwf.org/2024/08/13/majority-of-americans-support-more-nuclear-energy/