More than one-quarter of Russians support the idea to develop nuclear energy; however Russians do not appreciate the idea to build a nuclear plant in their region of residence.

MOSCOW,     April 26, 2012. Twenty-six years ago one of the largest disasters took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of the study devoted to the attitudes of Russians towards the development of nuclear energy; whether they think that modern nuclear stations pose no threat; how they perceive the idea to build nuclear power plants in their region.

Whereas in 2011 (after the disaster at the Fukushima power plant in Japan) only 16% of respondents supported the idea to increase the number of power plants, nowadays the share of those who think so is 27% (similar figure recorded in 2006).  Those who support developing nuclear energy are young Russians (32%), Russians with high level of education (31%), and residents of million cities, big and middle cities (30-33%).  The share of those who believe that the number of nuclear plants should be the same is 38% (previous year – 45%); they are basically Muscovites and St.Petersburgians (53%). And finally, 26% of Russians believe that the number of nuclear plants should be reduced: mainly Russians with low level of education  (31-33%) and rural area residents (34%).

The majority of Russians do not think that modern nuclear plants are safe (57%, 45% - a year ago); those who think so are residents of middle cities (69%). Those who oppose them are 35% of Russians; basically Muscovites and St.Petersburgians, as well as residents of big cities (42% for each).

Most of Russians do not support the idea to build a nuclear plant in their area of residence; however the number of such respondents has decreased: the share of those who do not support such an initiative has decreased from 82 to 74%. Those who oppose the idea are women and residents of middle cities (78% for each). Eighteen percent of respondents are loyal toward this idea (the highest record over the entire period of measurement); they are basically men (23%) and residents of big cities (24%).

The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on April 22-23, 2012. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!