The impact of TMI upon the public acceptance of nuclear power

This paper discusses long-term trends in public attitudes toward nuclear power, focusing on the extent to which the accident at Three Mile Island appears to have affected public acceptance of nuclear energy. Public attitudes towards other energy production options also are considered, particularly in terms of changes that may be related to TMI. Finally, the relationships between attitudes toward nuclear power and perceptions of broader energy, environmental and social issues are examined. The data used in this analysis are from national surveys conducted by major national opinion research organizations from the early 1970s through 1981.

There is considerable evidence that TMI has had a significant impact on public acceptance of nuclear power, in the direction of increasing opposition to and decreasing support for construction of new nuclear power plants. TMI appears to have increased the rates of decline in support and rise in opposition to local construction of nuclear power plants, although a trend of decreasing public acceptance of such local construction had been in evidence since the mid-1970s, prior to TMI. In spite of this decline in public acceptance of new construction, there is substantial support for both completing nuclear power plants currently under construction and for the continued operation of existing plants.