Dip in nuclear power support after Fukushima proves shortlived
The dip in public support for new nuclear power following the Fukushima disaster in Japan lasted no more than nine months in the UK, according to a new poll from Ipsos MORI, published here for the first time. Futhermore, looking at the trend over the last decade, acceptance of nuclear power shows a rising trend.
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The new Ipsos MORI data also show a clear long term trend towards support for new replacement nuclear plants. (Note that in 2001 the question was slightly different, simply asking about support for any new nuclear, not just replacement plants.)
Another question Ipsos MORI asked - how favourably or unfavourably do you view nuclear industry and nuclear energy? - shows the same pattern. People holding favourable opinions fell from 40% to 28% after Fukushima and then went back to 40% in the December poll. Unfavourable opinions were held by 17% before the accident, went up to 24%, then fell to 19%.
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Robert Knight, director at the Ipsos MORI Reputation Centre, offers this opinion: "After the body blow suffered by British public opinion following the Fukushima incident, support for nuclear newbuild has recovered robustly in just a few months. It seems the public see Japan as a long way away and memories are short, but concerns about the future security of energy supply closer to home are ongoing and persistent." That may very well be true, and I'd add that increasing awareness of the need to tackle global warming by cutting carbon emissions could help boost support for nuclear.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2012/jan/18/nuclear-power-public-support-opinion-fukushima?newsfeed=true
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...and the timeline
How about this? Public service is polluted with nuclear apparatchiks running policy and PR:
Nuclear power operators work extremely close with government in the UK - far too closely when it came to the public relations response to Fukushima. High-level employees of the nuclear energy companies are lent to government for free for years at a time. So it would not be that surprising if the official national support for nuclear power helped rebuild public confidence. The contrast with other countries where the state and nuclear industry are not so intimately entwined is stark.
and
A separate poll from November 2011, commissioned but tellingly not published by the Sunday Times, shows that solar and wind power are far more popular than nuclear power.
Thanks for sharing, FBaggins! 
I mean, it takes a lot for me to change my opinion on something.
Unless that opinion was irrevocably wrong and stupid.
And then I don't go back to it!
