New research published today by the
UK Energy Research Centreshows that while public support has collapsed in Japan after the Fukushima disaster, in the UK opposition to nuclear power in Britain has fallen.
Lead researcher Dr Wouter Poortinga of the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University told Central Lobby he thought the accident in Japan would have had more of an effect on British people.
“We did some work in 2005 and 2010 on what people think about nuclear power,” he said.
“They are willing to consider it but not wholeheartedly - we call it ‘reluctant acceptance’ of nuclear power.
“We predicted that the acceptance would evaporate after Fukushima.
“We did see that in the 1980s when Chernobyl led to long term opposition to nuclear power.”
Dr Poortinga said one possible explanation is that British people see the cause of Fukushima as “an earthquake and tsunami, and that is not likely to happen in the UK”.
He added:
“On the other hand you could say that Fukushima was not trigged by the tsunami but a man made disaster, as the official report said.
“But here in the UK there is the view it won’t happen here.”
Dr Poortinga and researchers at the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan carried out a number of nationally representative surveys in Britain and Japan, both before and after the Fukushima accident.
They asked detailed questions about attitudes to nuclear power and covering aspects such as perceived risks and benefits, trust in safety and regulation, and the future of nuclear power in the UK and Japan.
Attitudes in Britain have become somewhat more positive in recent years, with similar proportions of people now supporting (32%) and opposing (29%) the use of nuclear power, compared to percentages of 26% and 37% respectively in 2005.
While a similar number of people want to continue nuclear at current levels or with expansion (43% in 2005, 46% in 2010 and 44% in 2013), fewer people now want to see nuclear power phased out or shut down (50% in 2005, 47% in 2010 and 40% in 2013).
By contrast, very few Japanese people want to continue nuclear at current levels (15%) or with expansion (2%), and a majority wants to see nuclear power phased out gradually (53%) or immediately (23%).
Only 17% of the Japanese public are now willing to accept the building of new nuclear power stations to tackle climate change, as compared to 22% in 2011 and 33% in 2007.
Dr Poortinga said that a significant finding is a lack of faith in government regulators in Japan.
“Fukushima made a big dent in support of nuclear power; support was already lower in Japan than in the UK.
“They had a string of accidents and incidents over 20 years and trust in regulation has completely collapsed.
“Less than one in ten trust the Japanese government to manage nuclear power - I have not seen such a low level anywhere else.
“It is a trust issue in Japan. Most people want to see nuclear power being phased out in Japan.”
Dr Poortinga says despite rising support, nuclear still relatively unpopular in the UK compared to renewable energy sources - the storage of radioactive waste is a major concern.
Fewer British people than in 2005 and 2010 are willing to accept the building of a new nuclear power stations to tackle climate change (47% in 2013 vs. 55% in 2005 and 56% in 2010).
However, this may be associated as much with an increase in climate scepticism as with changing attitudes to nuclear power.
The survey found 72% accept that the world’s climate is changing and the proportion of people doubting the reality of climate change has risen to one of the highest levels since 2005 (4% in 2005, 15% in 2010 and 19% in 2013).
Dr Poortinga said people in the UK tend to choose renewables when asked what kind of electricity generation they favour.
“They tend to like renewables because they are seen as cleaner,” he said.
“Natural gas is a fossil fuel but it is seen as cleaner as coal and oil.
“There is a difference between wind and solar, as wind tends to mean large-scale wind farms whereas solar tends to be more micro-generation, which people prefer.
“With the Green Deal people can opt in to solar, and it is much smaller scale.
“Also some people feel they have not been sufficiently consulted on wind farms.”
Dr Poortinga hopes the findings will prove beneficial to both policy makers and industry.
“We want to help to ensure that key decisions about the future of Britain’s nuclear policy are informed by the best available evidence on public values and attitudes,” he said.