The two faces of nuclear energy: US public opinion from the forties to the nineties
- Council for Energy Awareness, Washington, DC (United States)
From the start, the idea of atomic energy or nuclear energy has stirred images of both promise and peril. This paper traces the dual imagery over five decades through public opinion polls. Trends in public opinion and public response to information are then examined in light of the two faces of nuclear energy that the public perceives. Analysis finds that external influences are received by the public and interpreted in predictable ways. New information and impressions about nuclear energy are superimposed onto fundamental imagery that has persisted throughout the decades. Public opinion pools from the 1940s through the present are examined. The primary source for the early polls is the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut, Storrs. This national data base of polling questions from major research firms holds 1016 questions on nuclear energy topics. Polls conducted for the US Council for Energy Awareness (USCEA) are the primary source for the period from 1983 to the present.
- OSTI ID:
- 6979938
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921102--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 66; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Public opinion polling and the Yucca Mountain controversy: A seven year inventory December 1986--August 1993
Clearing the air: public opinion and public policy on the environment
Related Subjects
290202 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Sociology-- (1992-)
290600* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
ENERGY
HAZARDS
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NUCLEAR ENERGY
NUCLEAR POWER
POLITICAL ASPECTS
POPULATIONS
POWER
PUBLIC OPINION
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
SURVEYS