Nearly 60% of Young Japanese Favor Nuclear Restarts and Replacements: Survey

The Nippon Foundation has conducted its Awareness Survey of 18-Year-Olds regularly since 2018, covering a variety of social issues. The online survey targets young people aged 17 to 19. The latest survey was conducted from 19 to 21 June and received responses from 1,000 people.

On nuclear power, respondents were asked which of two statements was closer to their own views: A: “Nuclear power plants that meet safety standards should be restarted or replaced,” or B: “Nuclear power should not be relied upon because of the risks of accidents and the issue of radioactive waste.”

Of the respondents, 28.5% said their views were “closer to A,” while 29.8% said they were “somewhat closer to A,” for a combined 58.3%. By comparison, 13.9% said they were “closer to B” and 15.8% “somewhat closer to B,” while 12.0% responded that they did not know.

The results also revealed a notable difference between male and female respondents. Among males, 39.8% said their views were “closer to A,” with the figure rising to 66.3% when those who said they were “somewhat closer to A” were included. Among females, 16.6% said their views were “closer to A,” while the combined figure including those “somewhat closer to A” was 49.9%, representing a gender gap of more than 16 percentage points.

The survey also asked respondents about their expectations for emerging energy technologies, including advanced innovative reactors, hydrogen and ammonia power generation, and perovskite solar cells. More than 70% said they either had expectations for or were somewhat hopeful about advanced innovative reactors.

At the same time, awareness of advanced innovative reactors was particularly low. Only 8.1% of respondents said they were familiar with the technology, the lowest level of awareness among the emerging technologies included in the survey.

In the final question, respondents were asked what measures would be needed to increase young people’s interest in energy issues. The most common response was enhancing energy education in schools, followed by providing transparent information that covers not only the benefits but also future risks and costs, and providing easy-to-understand information for young people through social media and videos.