Survey Indicates Majority Favour New Build In Finland
Written by NucNet
Friday, 20 August 2010
Fifty-four percent of Finns support at least one new nuclear power plant unit, according to a new poll on attitudes towards energy issues.
The 2009 ‘Finnish Energy Attitudes’ survey, conducted by Yhdyskuntatutkimus Oy and AF-Consult Oy, is the latest in a series of annual studies conducted since 1983, the results of which were released in a Finnish Energy Industries report on 26 June 2010.
Based on responses from 1,378 people, the survey indicates there are “now as many positive attitudes (40 percent) towards the building of a fifth nuclear power plant as there are negative attitudes (also 40 percent)”, showing a slightly more critical collective opinion towards nuclear than in 2008.
In the follow-up study to the survey, conducted between 20 October 2009 and 7 January 2010, Finnish Energy Industries suggested that “critical viewpoints” on nuclear new build may have arisen from extensive media discussion over delays to ongoing construction at Olkiluoto-3, Finland’s fifth nuclear power plant unit.
However the survey shows that 54 percent of Finns are “in favour of constructing at least one new unit” compared with 37 percent who would “not wish to grant a permit to a single power plant”.
