Nearly half of voters want to expand nuclear power

Swedish voters’ attitude toward nuclear power has fluctuated.

The latest Aftonbladet/Demoskop survey shows this.

Nearly half of voters also want to expand more reactors than we currently have.

The electricity crisis is real. Yesterday it was announced that the Russian gas giant Gazprom has stopped supplying gas to Europe indefinitely. During Saturday, new information was received that part of the gas will be transported through Ukraine.

In response to the electricity crisis, Swedish voters’ attitude toward nuclear power has changed, says Billy Allen Olofsson, opinion analyst at Demoscope.

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want to expand

Nearly 2 out of 3 Swedes are in favor of nuclear power, shows a poll conducted by Demoscope on behalf of Aftonbladet. The poll shows that nearly a quarter of voters, 46 percent, want to expand more reactors than we currently have.

When SOM asked the exact same question in 2021, only 20% said they wanted it. In 2020, it was only 12 percent, so we have a significant increase.

Among the voters of the moderate and Swedish Democrats, 4 out of 5 would like to build more reactors than we have today.

Pelle Ahlin Olofsson says the increase is due to many factors: partly a combination of higher electricity prices and partly the issue of nuclear power being raised on the right as a solution.

will double

With the green transition, electricity use is expected to double or double over the next 20 years, which means that solutions are being sought for how to get more electricity, says Billy Ahlen Olofsson.

Electricity becomes a matter of survival. The fact that Russia has also driven up gas prices has created a perfect storm that has made nuclear power more useful and seen as a solution to the problem.

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The poll shows that neither party’s voters have a clear majority against nuclear power.

We see today that there is a clear majority in favor of using nuclear energy, as they want us 36 percentage points more than using it compared to phasing out it. This is remarkable because public opinion has been in favor of deconstruction for the past ten years.

Right-wing bloc voters, M + SD + KD + L, are unanimous with 94% in favor of nuclear power.

Among left-bloc voters, C + V + S + MP, is more divided, with 32% in favor, 29% against and 39% doubtful/don’t know.

– But that does not mean that 100 percent of voters support expansion, 27 percent want to phase out nuclear power but use the nuclear power reactors we have. I would say the difference today is that people feel that nuclear power cannot be phased out at the moment.

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