Who Does the Public Trust on Nuclear Energy?

Ann Stouffer Bisconti, PhD

Bisconti Research, Inc.

May 2023

Observers have offered various opinions about who would be credible spokespersons on nuclear energy topics.  Some say that persons who are not associated with the industry would be most credible.  Decades of research show that many of these ideas are wrong. For information on nuclear energy, the public trusts experts in the field and, especially, experts who have day-to-day experience with the technology.

The U.S. Public

Our 2023 National Nuclear Energy Public Opinion Survey found that the most credible, from a list of 10 sources, are a safety engineer at a nuclear power plant in your area, a scientist at a U.S. government national laboratory who is developing advanced-technology nuclear energy, a university professor of nuclear science, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Department of Energy. These information sources also proved highly credible in past surveys.  The public is increasingly skeptical of antinuclear groups, the news media, and Congress. 

National Public Opinion Survey May 2023: Credibility of Sources

In your opinion, would each of the following be an excellent, good, fair, or poor source for accurate information on nuclear energy? RANDOMIZE (%)

Source: 2023 National Nuclear Energy Public Opinion Survey, May 2023, with 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults, selected from the Quest Mindshare Panel.  

Nuclear Power Plant Neighbors

From 2005 to 2015, Bisconti Research national surveys of nuclear power plant neighbors also asked respondents to rate sources of accurate and reliable information about nuclear energy. These surveys also found high trust in plant experts and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as sources of reliable information. Those findings are no surprise. However, it might be surprising that one of the two top-rated sources for reliable information about nuclear energy was booklets or brochures from the local nuclear plant. The level of confidence given to these written materials shows that the plants have done a good job in community relations. They are trusted neighbors. 

Also interesting is plant neighbors’ high trust in information from local news media. That stands in sharp contrast to the general public’s low level of trust in the news media in general.

National Survey of Nuclear Power Plant Neighbors, June 2015: Credibility of Sources 

Please tell me if you think each of the following would be an excellent, good, fair, or poor source of accurate and reliable information about nuclear energy. RANDOMIZE (%)

Source: Bisconti Research telephone surveys of at least 1,000 residents living within 10 miles of the nation’s nuclear power plants, excluding households with persons who work at the nearby plant.

Insights from Focus Groups

Focus groups are useful for supplementing survey information with nuanced understanding.  Three takeaways from focus groups are:

1. The public near or far from plants would like to hear from more than one expert.  In today’s world where expertise is so specialized, audiences might like to hear from a safety expert, a radiation expert, and an environmental expert from the plant.

2. Certain topics might raise the importance of one type of expert over another.  For example, focus groups on nuclear security topics found that the FBI ranked higher on credibility than the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

3. The findings on credibility of groups in surveys do not necessarily predict public reactions to any individual spokesperson.  Spokesperson effectiveness depends not only on expertise but also on interpersonal dynamics and communications skills.

© Ann Stouffer Bisconti, 2023.