Nuclear Advocacy in the 21st Century

Public opinion in the nuclear energy sector is highly relevant to the future of the industry. In fact, it has affected the implementation of a permanent geological repository at Yucca Mountain, a possible solution to closing the nuclear fuel cycle. Public and congressional support must be increased in order ensure that nuclear power is available for future generations. Survey research is used to extract specific data from the public. Using a two-part pilot survey across a diverse set of demographics, this study analyzes public opinion of nuclear energy. First, it analyzes the causes of negative opinions on nuclear energy via multiple choice and written response questions. For the multiple-choice questions, responses were tallied while free responses will be parsed by a word processing algorithm in future research. Second, it analyzes how presenting new information about nuclear power affects public responses. We report on our findings in order to provide suggestions for improving public opinion about nuclear power.