Political Setbacks, But Fewer People Fear Nuclear

Nuclear is truly becoming the lesser of two evils in the public conscious. An annual Gallup poll is showing that the a record high number of people support nuclear power, at least out of the 14 years the poll has been running.

With climate change becoming a big issue, nuclear power companies have been eager to get the ball rolling in their stalled industry. But some of the problems they've encountered, like the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain storage site, a reduction in Federal loan guarantees and the suggestion by analysts that plant costs are too high to bear, have dimmed prospects. Much of the hope that remains hinges on public acceptance.

Gallup's numbers show several factors strongly influencing the opinions of the 1,000 or so respondents. Simply put, if you were a male Republican in a household making over $75,000 a year, you were very likely to support nuclear. For a female Democrat making $30,000, not so much.

Interestingly, among the data points Gallup looked at, only one group showed a declining desire for nuclear: people with a household income under $30,000. Unfortunately, the numbers weren't further broken out, so there's no telling which factors played in, like less education or a stronger appreciation of the rise in energy bills nuclear will engender.

A total of eight new reactors may be built in the United States by 2020, according to USA Today, although the industry's various challenges, including financing, will certainly have an effect. If they want to get anywhere, nuclear's backers had better hope that the trends Gallup shows continue -- and they'll need to start working on that low-income segment of the population.