UK: opinions on use of nuclear power 2023

According to a 2023 survey, support for the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation in the UK outweighed opposition. Overall, 41 percent of respondents supported its use, compared to 12 percent who opposed it. According to the same survey, approximately one-third of UK residents believe that nuclear power provides a safe source of energy.

Nuclear power in the UK

In recent years, the UK government championed nuclear power as a reliable and low-carbon source of electricity, to be used for many years to come. However, this country’s nuclear power plants are nearing the end of their life cycle and the electricity generation from nuclear sources in the UK has dropped to a minimum since at least to decades.

A new push to nuclear power

Since 2020, the UK’s government has announced new investments for the expansion of nuclear power, which were urgently brought forward after the Russian invasion of Ukraine to boost the energy independence of the country. As of May 2022, the UK is home to the two largest nuclear reactor construction projects in the world.

From what you know, or have heard about using nuclear energy for generating electricity in the UK, do you support or oppose its use?

Characteristic	Strongly support	Support	Neither support nor oppose	Oppose	Strongly oppose
2023	14%	27%	29%	8%	4%
2022	18%	24%	25%	7%	5%
2021	12%	27%	34%	12%	5%
2020	10%	26%	34%	11%	7%
2018	9%	29%	37%	14%	8%
2016	10%	28%	36%	13%	10%
2014	10%	32%	34%	13%	7%
2012	9%	29%	34%	17%	10%

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Release date

March 2024

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

November 7, 2023 to December 11, 2023

Number of respondents

3,743 respondents

Age group

16 years and older

Special properties

Previous surveys in September 2012 and from March 2014 to March 2021

Method of interview

Postal questionnaire

Supplementary notes

"Don't know" answers account for the remaining share of the total.

Survey methodology up to March 2018 was a Kantar face-to-face omnibus survey. Between March 2020 and March 2021, a temporary Kantar online panel type of survey was introduced, which was not based on a random sample of respondents. From autumn 2021 onwards, the survey primarily used an Address Based Online Surveying (ABOS) method. The survey conducted in 2022 used a a push-to-web methodology, where the addresses of the respondents were randomly selected from the postcode address file (PAF) and completed the survey online or on paper. Due to a change in survey methodology, the source states that direct comparisons between time series is not possible.
The opinion expressed by remaining share of the respondents was 'Don't know'.

This statistic is using original data from the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and includes copyright material from © Crown, licensed under the Open Government License v3.0.

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