#1Public Attitudes towards Nuclear Power and Climate Change: UK-Japan Comparison after Ten Years of Fukushima Nuclear Accident Socio-economic Research Center Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Toru Hattori and Reiko Kuwagaki CRIEPI 2021 IAEE Online Conference June 7, 2021 R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry 1#2R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Introduction UK and Japan are the countries that still has nuclear power as an option to combat climate change Energy policies as well as public attitudes toward energy and climate change issues in the two countries are different An earlier study by Poortinga et al (2013) compared the public attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change in the UK and Japan a couple of years before and after the Fukushima nuclear accident, and suggest, among others, that the UK had a higher proportion of people who accept nuclear new build if it helps combat climate change The purpose of this study is to update their analysis to see if there are any changes in the public attitudes as decarbonization has become a hot issue in both countries © CRIEPI 2021 2#3R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry The 2020 Survey We conducted a web based online survey for people aged 20 years and older in the UK and Japan during November 24 - December 2 in 2020 and collected 2,060 and 3,092 adults weighted the sample to make it representative of the UK and Japan, respectively Summary of Respondents (%) (%) (%) Gender UK Japan The region of UK Male 48.6 48.1 North East 4.9 Female 51.4 51.9 North West 12.4 The region of Japan Hokkaido electric power area Tohoku electric power area 4.3 7.1 Prefer not to say 0.0 0.0 Yorkshire and Humberside 8.6 Tokyo electric power area 35.5 West Midlands 9.3 Chubu Electric Power area 12.2 Age UK Japan East Midlands 7.5 Kansai Electric Power area 16.5 20-29 17.7 12.0 East Anglia 8.1 Hokuriku Electric Power area 4.1 30-39 16.9 15.1 South West 9.0 Chugoku Electric Power area 5.9 40-49 18.2 17.9 South East 14.6 Shikoku Electric Power area 3.1 50-59 16.9 15.0 Greater London 12.4 Kyusyu Electric Power area 10.2 60+ 30.3 40.0 Wales 4.7 Okinawa Electric Power area 1.1 Scotland 7.0 The region of Japan corresponds to areas Northern Ireland 1.6 of regional electricity network operators. © CRIEPI 2021 3#4UK Japan Attitudes toward climate change R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry 0% 10% © CRIEPI 2021 20% 30% 40% 50% ■Very concerned Fairly concerned No opinion I don't know 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% ■Not very concerned Not at all concerned None of the above Concern about climate change 4#5100 90 80 80 70 70 60 60 50 40 30 30 20 20 10 Attitudes toward climate change Agreement with statement about climate change R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Disagree Slightly disagree Neither agree nor disagree Slightly agree 0 UK Japan Extreme weather events have become more frequent in the UK in the past ten © CRIEPI 2021 UK Japan UK Japan Climate change is likely My local area is likely to to have a big impact on be affected by climate ordinary people like me change UK Japan UK It is my responsibility to help do something about climate change Japan The seriousness of climate change is exaggerated Agree 5#6Attitudes toward climate change Change needed to our general lifestyle and consumption habits R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry UK Japan 1. We need to dramatically alter our behaviour to be more energy efficient, but solutions to climate change must come through the development of clean energy source. 55.3 44.6 2. Changing our behaviour on such a large scale is not feasible, therefore, we need to rely on technological development of cleaner energy sources. 28.1 35.1 |3. Neither behaviour change nor widespread use of cleaner energy technology will stop climate change happening 10.7 8.8 4. Climate change is not a problem at all 2.5 2.5 3.4 9.0 5. None of the above © CRIEPI 2021 9#7Attitudes toward nuclear R CRIEPI 1. Conditional acceptance of new nuclear power plants 2. Nuclear power and the alternative means to combat climate change 3. Nuclear power and renewable energy sources in energy mix 4. Perception of benefits of nuclear power 5. Perception of risks of nuclear power and trust in nuclear regulation Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry © CRIEPI 2021 7#8R CRIEPI Conditional acceptance of new nuclear power plants Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry 100% UK Japan 90% 80% updated by the present study 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK Japan UK UK Japan UK UK Japan Japan UK Japan 2005 2007 2010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2020 Agreement with the statement "I am willing to accept the building of new nuclear power stations if it would help to tackle climate change" (% strongly/tend to agree) © CRIEPI 2021 8#9R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Unconditional acceptance of new nuclear power plants. We should increase the number of nuclear power stations We should continue using the existing nuclear power stations, and replace them with new ones when they reach the end of their life We should continue using the existing nuclear power stations, but not replace them when they reach the end of their life We should shut down all existing nuclear power stations now, and not replace them with new ones None of these (Please specify):/I don't know UK 0 10 20 30 % Japan 40 40 50 60 0 10 20 20 30 40 50 60 % 60 ■2013 2020 Which, if any, of the following statements most closely describes your own opinion about nuclear power in the UK (left) /Japan (right) today? © CRIEPI 2021 9#10Nuclear power and the alternative means to combat climate change R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK 2005 Japan UK 2007 2010 UK Japan updated by the present study Japan UK Japan UK Japan UK Japan 2011 2013 2015 2020 Agreement with the statement "We shouldn't think of nuclear power as a solution for climate change before exploring all other energy options" © CRIEPI 2021 10#11Nuclear power and the alternative means to combat climate change R CRIEPI ■UK ■Japan updated by the present study Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK 2005 Japan Japan UK Japan Japan UK Japan 2007 2011 2013 2015 2020 Agreement with the statement "Reducing energy use through lifestyle changes and energy efficiency is a better way of tackling climate change © CRIEPI 2021 than nuclear power" 11#12UK Japan UK Japan Nuclear power and renewable energy sources in energy mix The UK/Japan needs a mix of energy sources to ensure a reliable supply of electricity, including nuclear power and renewable energy sources R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Agree Slightly agree ■Neither agree nor disagree Slightly disagree ■Disagree The cost of renewable energy is becoming cheaper than nuclear power 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Agree ■Slightly agree ■Neither agree nor disagree Slightly disagree ■Disagree © CRIEPI 2021 12#13R CRIEPI Perception of benefits of nuclear power Agreement with statement about benefits of nuclear power Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (%) Slightly Agree Neither Agree Nor Slightly Disagree Agree Disagree Disagree UK 27.9 25.4 30.5 8.1 8.2 Nuclear energy provides a reliable source of energy in the UK/Japan Japan 13.4 30.0 27.4 12.9 16.3 Thanks to the expansion of nuclear power generation, the energy supply will be secured in the long term for the UK/Japan UK 19.7 24.3 38.1 7.9 10.0 Japan 13.1 27.4 33.3 11.1 15.2 UK 20.8 24.9 37.3 8.7 8.3 Nuclear energy offers affordable energy for the UK/Japan Japan 11.3 26.0 33.8 13.7 15.1 UK 14.9 17.9 38.9 12.1 16.2 Nuclear power generation will help combat climate change in the UK/Japan Japan 6.8 15.8 40.9 18.8 17.7 UK 11.2 22.5 33.5 15.2 17.5 Nuclear energy provides a safe source of energy in the UK/Japan Japan 3.7 12.2 27.6 27.3 29.2 UK Japan 0 Nuclear power generation will help combat climate change in the UK/Japan Agree © CRIEPI 2021 20 20 40 40 Slightly agree Neither agree nor disagree Slightly disagree Disagree 60 60 80 100(%) 13#14100 (%) 90 90 80 80 70 60 60 50 50 40 30 20 10 10 Perception of risks of nuclear power Agreement with statement about risks of nuclear power R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry I don't know Not at all concerned ■Not very concerned Fairly concerned Very concerned 2020 Japan The risks associated with the storage of nuclear waste at an underground storage site 2020 UK 2020 Japan 2020 UK 2020 Japan The risks associated with the storage of nuclear waste overground at a nuclear power station The risks of terrorists targeting a nuclear installation in the UK 0 2020 2020 UK Japan 2020 UK 2020 Japan 2020 UK The risks of an accident at a nuclear power station The risks of a natural disaster triggering a nuclear accident © CRIEPI 2021 14#15100% Trust in nuclear regulation 90% 80% UK Japan updated by the present study 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2005 2013 2013 UK UK Japan 2015 Japan 2020 UK 2020 Japan R CRIEPI Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Confidence in rules and regulation to sufficiently control nuclear power Nuclear power generation has become safer by taking measures based on the lessons learned from the Japan's Fukushima Daiichi © CRIEPI 2021 UK Japan 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Agree ■Slightly agree ■Neither agree nor disagree ■Slightly disagree ■Disagree 15#16Discussion and Future Research R CRIEPI We confirmed that about a 50% of respondents in the UK indicate acceptance of new nuclear power plant if it helps tackling climate change, while it is only about 20% in Japan (p.8) and it is the same proportion of unconditional acceptance of new nuclear power plants (p.9) ➤ Yet, a smaller proportion of people believe that the nuclear power would help combat climate change in both countries (p.13) Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry The level of concerns about climate change are similar between the two countries (p.4), but the proportions of respondents who recognize their own responsibility to do something about climate change, and are willing to change their lifestyle to tackle climate change are lower in Japan than in the UK (p.5 and p.11) © CRIEPI 2021 16#17Discussion and Future Research R CRIEPI Confidence in rules and regulation to sufficiently control nuclear power plants has been lower in Japan than in the UK (p.15) Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Although both countries have an option to rely on nuclear power, the issues needed to be addressed to obtain conditional support for nuclear power as climate change measures, would be different Future research needs to investigate the effectiveness of reframing of nuclear power as means to combat climate change, and to analyze determinants of public attitudes toward nuclear and climate change © CRIEPI 2021 17