There is widespread public support for advanced nuclear energy technologies, according to a new, multinational survey of attitudes toward nuclear energy. The report is a collaborative effort by the non-governmental organisations ClearPath, Third Way, Potential Energy Coalition and RePlanet.

The large-scale online survey questioned 13,500 members of the public in eight countries – France, Germany, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, the UK and the USA – between November 2022 and January 2023.

The study found strong support for advanced nuclear energy in each country surveyed, with Poland, France and Sweden showing the highest levels of support. In all countries surveyed, environmental group members are net supporters of advanced nuclear energy. Support for advanced nuclear energy is not partisan, the report found. In all but two countries surveyed – Germany and Japan – most of the supporters of every major political party also back using advanced nuclear energy.

In Poland, 84% of respondents support advanced nuclear, with 9% opposing it. More than 75% of people in Poland believe that nuclear energy is necessary to meet climate goals, the highest level of agreement amongst the countries surveyed.

The French and Swedish populations display a clear consensus on the importance of advanced nuclear energy, with 69% of respondents in each country agreeing with using the latest nuclear energy technologies alongside other sources. In France 15% oppose it, in Sweden 13%. Moreover, majorities in both countries believe that nuclear energy should be the primary choice for energy. Energy independence was identified as the principal reason driving their support for advanced nuclear.

The survey also found most Germans – including environmental group members and supporters – support advanced nuclear. In the country, which recently closed its last nuclear power plants, 51% of respondents said they support the use of advanced nuclear energy. Members and supporters of environmental groups had the same results. German supporters also cited energy independence as the strongest argument in favour of using nuclear technology.

The study found that almost all the opposition to advanced nuclear comes from a small, distinct segment of the population (15%) described as generally older, sceptical about innovation, and unmovable in their views. All the other groups identified by the report overwhelmingly support advanced nuclear energy, even if they vary widely in their political outlook, economic position, and views on the environment and climate change.

“It is often thought that nuclear power is unpopular,” said RePlanet co-founder Mark Lynas. “Our results show conclusively that this is not the case, and that nuclear as a source of clean, carbon-free energy commands majority support in every single country. This majority support even extends in most cases to members of environmental groups and Green parties and shows that policymakers and investors should not fear public opinion when making urgently needed decisions about supporting new advanced nuclear deployment.”

“Real world concerns about energy security and climate change have a way of focusing people’s minds,” added Josh Freed, senior vice president for the climate and energy programme at Third Way. “That is why growing numbers of people in the US and across the world are turning to advanced nuclear as one of the sources of clean, reliable, and secure energy they support. It is encouraging that policymakers, including most of the countries surveyed, are responding with ambitious policies that embrace advanced nuclear as part of their energy strategies.”

“We’ve known for years that public opinion on nuclear energy has been changing, but we haven’t understood what’s behind that shift or what it means for the clean energy transition,” Potential Energy Coalition CEO John Marshall said. “, the degree of support from environmentalists is noteworthy and perhaps contrary to general perception.”

The report noted that the survey confirmed some “big gaps” in people’s knowledge about the biggest benefits of nuclear. “It is hard for people to value the clean-energy role of nuclear when almost half the population (46% in our survey) believe that ‘nuclear power emits more carbon dioxide than wind or solar power.'”

 

An ongoing study of the feasibility of using advanced nuclear reactors to power Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus in Indiana has found small modular reactors (SMRs) to be one of the most promising emerging technologies and a potential carbon-free option that should be further explored to help meet the university’s future, long-term power needs.

The interim report is published a year after Purdue University and Duke Energy began the study. Amongst other things, the study has confirmed that SMRs are a “potential option to zero carbon emissions” with “significant safety and other advantages”. Building SMRs would offer economic benefits both to Purdue and to Indiana, creating “thousands of temporary construction jobs and hundreds of high-wage permanent jobs” and generating millions of dollars in local taxes.

Advocating for state and federal policy and funding needs is one of the key recommendations of the report. These include regulatory outcomes and economic incentives, nuclear engineering, and science workforce development programmes, launching a public-private advanced reactor development programme, and creating a fuel availability programme. Efforts to engage stakeholders should continue, building from a six-part lecture series which reached an audience of 4,900 people between August 2022 and February 2023 and helped build awareness of the benefits and opportunities of new nuclear development.

The interim report also recommends that cost and economic studies, site evaluations and additional technology assessments should be carried out. No technology has yet been selected, and no decision made, to build a new nuclear plant at Purdue, but the report recommends SMR and advanced reactor projects should be monitored to enable a more detailed technology evaluation as first-of-a-kind projects advance. It also recommends a siting study and timeline to identify the best locations for advanced nuclear to support both the university and the Indiana grid, and “potentially develop an early site permit application for the selected site.” Excess power beyond the campus’s needs would be provided to the state’s grid.

“Our early findings show that advanced nuclear technology presents a potential path to zero emissions for our university, and we intend to continue our teamwork with Duke Energy in the next phase of the study,” said Purdue University President Mung Chiang, adding that the collaboration between Duke Energy, the university and energy and policy experts “demonstrates the critical importance of this exploration into advanced nuclear energy and what it could mean not only for our campus, but also the community, state and nation”.

“To reach a clean, carbon-free future, we need to explore a broad range of technologies, including advanced nuclear,” said Duke Energy Indiana President Stan Pinegar said. “We need to study this and other options further, and this report starts a conversation about how we might transition to carbon-free power that can operate on demand in concert with renewable energy, such as solar and wind.”

Stakeholder and communications experts met representatives from academia, government, and industry at the IAEA to explore creative and innovative ways to engage stakeholders and “reimagine” nuclear energy, which provides a quarter of all low-carbon electricity yet still struggles for public acceptance.

Over 60 participants from 32 countries and five international organizations came together for the three-day Workshop on Reimagining Nuclear Energy, held at the Agency’s Vienna headquarters on 26-28 April. The workshop built on an event held last year at the International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century, which also featured works from a nuclear energy art contest organized by Generation Atomic in collaboration with the IAEA.

In his concluding remarks, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told participants to be bold in their communications and outreach about nuclear energy’s role in addressing climate change. “There is no need to start our conversations being shy,” Mr Grossi said. “What we are doing is part of the solution to a global existential problem. And I think this affirmation is very important—because it’s true.”

Interest in embarking on or expanding nuclear power is growing worldwide as public opinion increasingly recognizes its role in reducing emissions for a net-zero world while ensuring supply of energy. Thirty-two countries use nuclear power, and some 30 others are interested in, or embarking on, its introduction, with new reactors under construction in Bangladesh, Egypt and Turkey. In the high case scenario of its latest projections on nuclear energy ,the IAEA sees capacity more than doubling to 873 gigawatts net electrical (GW(e)) by 2050, compared with current levels of around 368 GW(e).

Still, public acceptance is continuing to be a key barrier to nuclear energy deployment in many countries. Explaining nuclear energy, strengthening relationships, and building trust with stakeholders remains key to the successful implementation, operation, and expansion of all nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plants. “To gain community support and public acceptance of nuclear energy, we need to understand opinions and concerns, then respond appropriately,” said Sharon Kanana, a nuclear medicine technologist at Kenyatta University Hospital in Nairobi and is Vice President of the Kenyan Young Generation in Nuclear.

Highly interactive, the workshop featured a diverse range of presentations, music, videos, panel talks and hands-on exercises. The event was part of a new drive by the IAEA to meet the growing needs of countries in this area in developing programmes for engaging stakeholders and communicating about the benefits and risks of nuclear technologies.

“I seldom attend an event with so much diversity in the room, not only in populations but in terms of representing a diversity of thought,” said Zion Lights, a science communicator from the United Kingdom. “We all learned something new. We were all challenged by some of the things we heard. And based on what I’ve heard from others at this workshop and from feedback from my talk, we all want to build on the ideas that we’ve developed here.”

Participants showcased their efforts and strategies on public outreach for nuclear energy, exchanging experiences and lessons learned from engaging and communicating with various stakeholders. Topics included public opinion research on nuclear energy; opera singing with pro-nuclear lyrics in the United States; art works portraying a new, positive and futuristic vision of nuclear energy; the importance of public information centres at nuclear power plants; the need for personally engaging with local communities, addressing their needs and concerns; and working with young schoolchildren who have not had any previous education in nuclear science.

Lujain Khalaileh, a former schoolteacher who is now a nuclear engineer with the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, described how she once handled misinformation about nuclear energy among her students by organizing in-class debates on the differences between nuclear energy used for military purposes versus its peaceful applications in energy production, medicine, industry, and agriculture.

“The term nuclear was reimagined positively by my students,” she said. “And now we are working as a team at the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission to create a new image of nuclear energy in different areas of Jordan by conducting many activities with our stakeholders. My participation at this workshop has definitely added value for the stakeholder involvement strategy of Jordan’s nuclear energy programme. Sharing ideas with all outstanding participants from over 30 countries has been a great experience.”

As the IAEA gears up for its first-ever international conference on stakeholder engagement, set for 2025, the Agency is developing new services to meet national needs, including an advisory service as well as a school on stakeholder engagement. Input from the workshop will be distilled into a report featuring highlights, main messages and good practices.

“This event brought together those who have built national nuclear programs, who are about to build programs, those who have promoted nuclear around the world, and some who have only recently discovered the promise of nuclear,” said Mark Nelson, a Chicago-based nuclear engineer and Founder and Managing Director at Radiant Energy Group. “The workshop itself achieved what it sought in its title: a reimagining of nuclear energy for our times.”

Promotion to the rank of Principal Research Scientist: DR. ARCHIBOLD BUAH-KWOFIE is Principal Research Scientist

Dr. Archibold Buah-Kwofie, the Deputy Director for the Nuclear Power Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, has been promoted to the rank of Principal Research Scientist for his outstanding contribution to research and development at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.

Dr. Archibold Buah-Kwofie has over fifteen years’ experience in research and development at the Ghana Atomic Energy and before his elevation to the rank of Principal Research Scientist, he was a Senior Research Scientist.

Dr. Buah-Kwofie is an environmental management and analytical services professional, an astute researcher with over 25 scientific publications in top tier international peer-reviewed journals in his field of expertise and has participated in many international and local workshops and conferences.

Dr. Buah-Kwofie has been actively involved in some locally and internationally funded projects as well as leading teams of Scientists. The projects include UNIDO sponsored investigations of contaminated site (a toolkit has been developed to serve as a guide for all contaminated site investigations) and UNEP/UNITAR sponsored National Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) project, serving as the national expert. As the national expert, he collaborated with several national institutions to undertake a national inventory. Subsequently, he was part of the team that supervised the shipment of PCB contaminated oil for disposal overseas. As part of the project, he trained technologists from different PCB holder institutions and customs on how to use the LD2000DX PCB analyzer to quantify PCBs in transformer oils.

Dr. Buah-Kwofie holds a PhD in Environmental Analytical Chemistry from the University of  Witwatersrand, South Africa as well as a Master’s and Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Ghana, Legon.

Promotion to the rank of senior research scientist: Dr. Felix Ohene-Fobih Ameyaw

Dr. Felix Ohene-Fobih Ameyaw, the Manager for Nuclear Energy Planning Center (NEPC) of the Nuclear Power Institute has been promoted to the rank of Senior Research Scientist for his outstanding contribution to research and development at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.

 

Dr. Ameyaw has thirteen years’ experience in research and development and has played a significant role in the development of infrastructural issues for Ghana’s Nuclear Power Programme. Before his elevation to the rank of Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Ameyaw was Research Scientist.

 

His areas of interest are Reactor engineering, Desalination and Radioactive waste, Safety and Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). He has over fifteen publications in scientific publications in top tier international peer-reviewed journals in the stated fields of expertise. The publications include “A Review for Identification and Selection of Initiating Events Important for Level 1 Probabilistic Safety Assessment Study for a 10 MW Water Research Reactor (VVR)” and “Modeling and Simulation of Coupled Nuclear Heat Energy Deposition and Transfer in the Fuel Assembly of the Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1)”. Dr. Ameyaw led the development of documents, covering five of the nineteen infrastructure issues for Ghana’s nuclear power programme.

 

He also led and played significant roles in advancing a number of IAEA-assisted Technical Cooperation Projects. He attended and participated in numerous training courses in the areas of Nuclear Safety and Security, Project Management and Leadership, Physical Protection of Nuclear Facilities and Materials, Successful Launching and Mentoring of Nuclear Power Programme.

 

Dr. Ameyaw holds a BSc. Mathematics Degree from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), an MPhil in Computational Nuclear Sciences and Engineering and PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences of the University of Ghana.

 

Dr. Ameyaw, considers being a part of the team handling Ghana’s Nuclear Power agenda as his biggest opportunity. For him, success would be, to see a fully operational nuclear power plant in Ghana.

The Technical arm of the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation (GNPPO), the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI) of Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) has met the Ministry of Information (MoI) in Accra to discuss possible collaboration on the sensitisation of the public about Ghana’s nuclear power programme. The meeting forms part of the GNPPO’s action plan to involve State institutions in its stakeholder engagement agenda.

 

The MoI was led by Honourable Fatimatu Abubakar, the Deputy Minister, and the technical arm of the GNPPO by Prof. Samuel Boakye Dampare, the Director General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.

 

Prof. Seth Kofi Debrah, the Director of the Nuclear Power Institute, in his presentation on behalf of the GNPPO, revealed that a survey by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has identified the need to intensify engagement on Ghana’s nuclear power programme. He explained that the GNPPO will be more effective in reaching out to all the districts of Ghana if it can partner with State institutions with the required experience and resources to undertake such campaigns.

Prof. Seth Kofi Debrah delivering his presentation

 

Hon. Fatimatu Abubakar expressed her satisfaction with the nuclear journey of Ghana, stating that the presentation clearly outlines the role of the Ministry in the nationwide information campaign and indicated that the Ministry has the requisite expertise for the campaigns. She, therefore, expressed the ministry’s readiness to collaborate and support the nuclear programme.

She concluded that the Ministry was open to formal and informal engagements and would be available for subsequent engagements in respect of the collaboration.

The Deputy Minister for Information Honourable Fatimatu Abubakar making a point

From left: Mrs Andrews, Dr Yamoah, Prof. Debrah, Hon. Fatimatu Abubakar, Prof. Dampare, Dr Buah-Kwofie

In response to a question of whether the country has the legal framework in place for the smooth implementation of the nuclear power programme, Prof. Dampare explained that the country has established an independent Nuclear Regulatory Authority to regulate the activities of the owner-operator and other players. He added that the regulatory authority was established by an Act of Parliament which mandates them to regulate all nuclear-related applications in Ghana.

 

Professor Seth Kofi Debrah added that aside from the establishment of the independent Regulatory Authority, Ghana has acceded to and ratified all the required international conventions for nuclear energy applications.

PRIC & LSCC

Ghana, Brazil, Russia and the United States in a wide-ranging conversation with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi, have spelled out their plans for using nuclear power to help reduce carbon emission and achieve sustainable development.

This was during an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) side event at the COP26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom and the discourse was on “Nuclear Innovation for a Net Zero World”.

COP26 is the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference while Conference of the Parties (COP) is a Conference for countries that have signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a treaty that came into force in 1994.

The side event was in line with IAEA’s support for newcomer countries like Ghana, who are in the process of developing the infrastructure needed for a safe, secure and sustainable nuclear power programme and project. Ghana was represented on the panel discussion by the Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (first from right) making a point on Ghana’s nuclear power plans to reduce carbon emission

In response to the status and perspective of the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh recounted the history of Ghana’s nuclear power programme emphasizing that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, about 60 years ago, had both hydro and nuclear power ambitions and while hydro power was successful the nuclear power programme did not see the light of day. He mentioned that President Agyekum Kufour reactivated the nuclear power programme and subsequent Presidents and governments have taken a step in the right direction. He reiterated the need for other baseloads, stating that nuclear power was probably the cleanest of the alternatives available. He disclosed that aside from nuclear, Ghana has a renewable energy policy to meet its Paris target. “Recently, we have started renewable and as of now about 2.4% of our energy mix is renewable. Our Paris target is 10% renewable by 2030”, he said.

Dr. Prempeh also responded to the question of whether the biggest challenge for Ghana would be financing the project or capacity building. He answered that he was not inclined to picking one over the other but the most important thing is to get it right. “Even if we have the money, we should get it right. We should have the human capacity well trained in the nuclear technology we are adopting. Once we select a country as a partner, with your support, we need to train our people in the technology available…that country needs to help in the financing issues. We have to take all the steps simultaneously”, he added.

The Director General of the IAEA expressed satisfaction with the approach to nuclear discourse, especially its contribution to climate change. “People are approaching the issue of nuclear’s contribution to climate change from a more objective perspective, with a much better disposition. We all know that without the current contribution of nuclear, the figures, the stats, the graphs would be much worse than they are. The voice of nuclear had to be heard, it’s being heard and will continue to be heard,” Mr Grossi said.

PRIC & LSCC

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi says Nuclear is, and will be, part of the solution towards the goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.

This was captured in reports released by the IAEA detailing the role of Nuclear Science and Technology in climate change adaptation and of nuclear power in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.

He explained that the role of nuclear is to help realize a net zero world and to help adapt the management of agricultural systems and natural resources to cope with challenges posed by climate change.

He expressed worry about rising temperatures and the consequences of climate change. “Woods are burning, floods and hurricanes are multiplying, and temperatures are rising. Now is the time for action, and this action must be based on science and on facts and according to the best science of our day, nuclear power is part of the solution”, he said.

He clarified further that nuclear power forms a high percentage of the world’s clean energy, a clear indication that the climate situation could be worse without nuclear. “Nuclear energy provides more than a quarter of the world’s clean power…Over the last half century, it has avoided the release of more than 70 giga-tonnes of greenhouse gasses. Without nuclear power, many of the world’s biggest economies would lack their main source of clean electricity”, he added.

COP26: How Nuclear Power and Technologies Can Help Tackle Climate Change (iaea.org)