Survey of Japanese 18-year-olds: Nearly 60% support restarting or replacing nuclear reactors that meet safety standards

A survey of young people around age 18 in Japan shows that nearly 60% of respondents support restarting nuclear power plants that meet safety standards or replacing existing reactors with new units; meanwhile, over 70% of respondents have expectations or some expectations for advanced innovative reactors.

The "18-year-old awareness survey" conducted by the Nippon Foundation asked respondents to choose which of two statements was closer to their own view: one being "nuclear power plants that meet safety standards should be restarted or replaced with new units"; the other being "nuclear power should not be relied upon due to accident risks and radioactive waste issues."

The survey results showed that 28.5% of respondents said their view was "close" to the first statement, and 29.8% said it was "somewhat close" to the first statement, totaling 58.3%. In comparison, 13.9% of respondents said their view was "close" to the second statement, 15.8% said it was "somewhat close" to the second statement, and another 12% answered "don't know."

Looking at gender differences, among male respondents, 39.8% said their view was "close" to the statement supporting nuclear restart or replacement; when adding those who said "somewhat close," the combined proportion was 66.3%. Among female respondents, 16.6% chose "close," and after combining "somewhat close," the figure was 49.9%, a gap of more than 16 percentage points between men and women.

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. Over 70% of respondents said they had "expectations" or "some expectations" for advanced innovative reactors.

However, respondents' familiarity with advanced innovative reactors remains low. Only 8.1% of respondents said they were familiar with the technology, the lowest awareness level among the emerging technologies covered in the survey.

This online survey was conducted from June 19 to 21, receiving responses from 1,000 respondents. Before the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan's 54 nuclear reactor units supplied approximately 30% of the nation's electricity; after the accident, all nuclear reactor units in Japan were shut down and subjected to safety inspections. To date, 15 of those units have been restarted.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has stated that she will push to accelerate the resumption of nuclear power utilization, with restarting reactors being an important measure to reduce imports of high-cost fuel.