This Is the Current Level of Swedish Support for Nuclear Power

According to a new annual survey, Swedish public support for nuclear power remains at historically high levels, with only a small minority wanting to phase it out. At the same time, there are certain differences between genders as well as across age groups.

Novus, on behalf of the Analysis Group, has examined the Swedish public’s attitude toward nuclear power—whether people want to maintain and, if necessary, build new nuclear power plants in Sweden. 56 percent responded yes, which is a sharp increase compared to 2018 when support stood at 30 percent.

29 percent want to continue using the current nuclear power plants, but not build new ones. At the same time, there is a record low of just five percent who want to phase out nuclear power through political decisions—something the Social Democrats and Greens did last time they were in power.

Men and Women

This means the differences from last year’s survey are small. However, there are some distinctions in how the support is manifested—a larger proportion of men are positive toward building new nuclear power compared to women, a gap that has increased slightly over time.

76 percent of men want to continue using nuclear power and, if needed, expand it, compared to 37 percent of women. But among women, 43 percent support the continued use of existing nuclear power but do not want to build new reactors—among men, only 16 percent choose this option.

Concern about potential problems is also much higher among women, with 46 percent expressing worry compared to 16 percent of men.

When it comes to age groups, the younger population stands out somewhat. In the 18-29 age group, 45 percent want to build new nuclear power plants if necessary, a declining trend from 54 percent in autumn 2022.

Strong General Support

77 percent say they believe Sweden’s operating nuclear power plants are safe or very safe. However, people do not have quite as much faith in the safety practices of other countries.

“It would be strange if there were no one opposed to nuclear power, but the proportion of respondents who want to phase out nuclear power with political means is remarkably low,” says Mattias Lantz, a researcher at Uppsala University and chair of the Analysis Group. “Very few people want nuclear power to disappear quickly, even when we look at differences by gender and age group.”

The Analysis Group is a network of experts and researchers from the energy industry and universities, funded by the nuclear power industry. The measurements have been conducted since 1997.