Nuclear power in the wake of Fukushima

Nuclear fusion energy is at least 20 years away. How should the world react to nuclear fission plants?

An interesting survey has come across my desk from the guys at Luvata, the metals-and-manufacturing group. The findings are based on the views of its customers on nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. And the statistics makes for interesting reading.

The survey results show that engineers - or at least engineers who are customers of Luvata – remain strong supporters of nuclear power. When asked how the world should react following events in Japan, almost half of the respondents said that they felt nuclear fission was safe and that public education was needed to ensure there was no backlash against the nuclear industry.

That chimes with the findings of a PE survey, also conducted in the wake of Fukushima, which showed that 95% of respondents thought that Britain should push ahead with plans for a new fleet of nuclear power stations.

Nuclear power is not without its detractors, though, even among a technically literate audience. The Luvata survey showed that 13% thought that we should abandon all nuclear energy right away. I'm not sure how that would work in a country that is already facing energy shortages unless some rather big decisions are made about adding new generation capacity.

Anyway, below are the figures from the Luvata survey. And we would be interested in hearing what PE readers think on this matter.

The question: Nuclear fusion energy is at least 20 years away. After the Fukushima disaster, how should the world react to nuclear fission plants?

• Phase out nuclear fission over time 15%
• Educate the public - modern fission plants are safe 48%
• Continue but never build plants near cities 15%
• Close existing fission plants now 8%
• Abandon all nuclear energy 13%