---
title: "Anti-nuclear movement"
chunk: 14/15
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-nuclear_movement"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:22:20.182369+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

During Barack Obama's successful U.S. presidential election campaign, he advocated the abolition of nuclear weapons. Since his election, he has reiterated this goal in several major policy addresses. In 2010, the Obama administration negotiated a new weapons accord with Russia for a reduction of the maximum number of deployed nuclear weapons on each side from 2,200 to between 1,500 and 1,675—a reduction of some 30 per cent. In addition, President Obama has committed $15 billion over the next five years to improving the safety of the nuclear weapons stockpile.
Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Italian government put a one-year moratorium on plans to revive nuclear power. On 11–12 June 2011, Italian voters passed a referendum to cancel plans for new reactors. Over 94% of the electorate voted in favor of the construction ban, with 55% of the eligible voters participating, making the vote binding.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition announced on 30 May 2011, that Germany's 17 nuclear power stations will be shut down by 2022, in a policy reversal following Japan's Fukushima I nuclear accidents and anti-nuclear protests within Germany. Seven of the German power stations were temporarily closed in March and will remain offline and be permanently decommissioned. An eighth was already offline, and will stay so.
As of 2011, countries such as Australia, Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Norway remain opposed to nuclear power. Germany, Switzerland and Belgium are phasing-out nuclear power.

=== Public opinion surveys on nuclear issues ===

In 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency presented the results of a series of public opinion surveys in the Global Public Opinion on Nuclear Issues report. Majorities of respondents in 14 of the 18 countries surveyed believed that the risk of terrorist acts involving radioactive materials at nuclear facilities is high, because of insufficient protection. While a majority of citizens supported the continued use of existing nuclear power reactors, most did not favor building new nuclear plants, and 25% of respondents felt that all nuclear power plants should be closed down. Stressing the climate change benefits of nuclear energy increases support for expanding the role of nuclear power in the world by 10%; however, there is still a general reluctance to support building more nuclear power plants.
There was little support worldwide for building new nuclear reactors, a 2011 BBC poll indicated. The global research agency GlobeScan, commissioned by BBC News, polled 23,231 people in 23 countries from July to September 2011, several months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In countries with existing nuclear programmes, people are significantly more opposed to them than they were in 2005, with only the UK and the US bucking the trend. Most believed that boosting energy efficiency and renewable energy can meet their needs.
The Eurobarometer 2008 poll indicated that 44% supported and 45% opposed nuclear energy in the European Union. The majority (over 62%) also appreciated nuclear power as a means to prevent climate change. Both Eurobarometer and subsequent OECD poll (2010) indicated a "clear correlation between knowledge and support", so respondents who were more aware of the greenhouse gas emissions from energy sector were more likely to support low-emission nuclear power. A 2012 meta-analysis also confirmed positive correlation between support for nuclear power and understanding of nuclear power operations, with a significant effect where people living closer to nuclear power plant showed higher levels of support in general. In the United States, support and opposition to nuclear power plants is split almost equally.

== Criticism ==