Poll: Support for new nuclear power plants at 44%

In recent years, Gallup and other polling organizations have usually found more support than opposition for nuclear power. This includes Gallup’s annual Environment survey — conducted March 3-6, before the Japanese earthquake and tsunami — which found 57% of Americans saying they strongly or somewhat favor “the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity for the U.S.,” with 38% strongly or somewhat opposed. Support peaked at 62% last year on this question, which was first asked in 1994. Whether the disaster in Japan will have a long-term impact on Americans’ attitudes toward nuclear power as measured by this trend question remains to be seen.