Poll: American support for boosting nuclear power at highest level ever

Support for solar and wind in the U.S. has slipped while favor for nuclear power has reached its highest level to date, according to Gallup’s annual environmental poll released Wednesday.

When asked whether the U.S. should place more, less or the same emphasis on producing domestic energy from six different resources, 66% of Americans said they prefer more emphasis on solar and 55% on wind. While Americans chose solar and wind over other resources, support for their emphasis has slipped since 2021, with solar losing seven percentage points and wind losing 11.

Nuclear energy was the only resource to see growing support since 2021, rising seven points to 46%, Gallup noted. The six energy sources were oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar and wind.

The poll was conducted through phone interviews from March 2 to 18, with a sample size of about 1,000 Americans across all 50 states. The margin of error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

“Rising energy costs are leading Americans to prioritize reliability and affordability in their power sources,” said Sarah Wagoner, a policy analyst for environmental and energy policy at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment. “This, along with increased understanding of the benefits of nuclear energy as a clean, reliable power source that can lower utility bills and be beneficial for the environment, has likely driven this shift.”

American energy demand is rising for the first time in over a decade as the U.S. expects an increase in data centers, electrification and domestic manufacturing. Seventy percent of respondents for a March Gallup poll said they were worried about the availability and affordability of energy by a “great deal” or “fair amount.”

Nuclear energy is a reliable and low-cost resource when factoring in all system costs, according to Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling, energy policy experts at Always on Energy Research.

Support for nuclear crosses the partisan chasm, with Democrats becoming significantly more likely since 2021 to want more emphasis on nuclear, while Republicans have been increasingly embracing the resource since 2019. The 10-point partisan gap on nuclear energy is the narrowest of any resource included in the poll, Gallup noted.

Despite the growing support, 53% of Americans still reported they would either “somewhat” or “strongly oppose” a nuclear plant being constructed in their area. However, 71% of Americans who want more emphasis on nuclear would favor a local plant.