WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- U.S. residents are split on building more nuclear plants in the country, with 50 percent opposed, a poll released Tuesday said.
The poll by CBS News found 43 percent of those surveyed would support new construction.
Support for building new plants has dropped 14 percentage points since 2008, CBS News reported. Almost two-thirds, 62 percent, said they would oppose building a nuclear plant where they live, and only 35 percent would support one.
Public support for nuclear energy has tended to drop when there is a crisis involving nuclear energy plants. In 1977, 69 percent of the public backed construction of new plants, and only 34 percent did in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster.
Just over half of respondents to the poll, 53 percent, said the release of radiation at the nuclear plant in Fukushima following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has made them more concerned about nuclear safety. Two-thirds, 65 percent, said they are worried about the safety of U.S. nuclear plants, and 31 percent are very worried.
Only 35 percent say the government is ready to deal with a nuclear emergency, while 58 percent say it is not.
Whatever their concerns, 65 percent of those polled said they have done nothing to prepare for a natural disaster.
CBS surveyed 1,022 adults by telephone between March 18 and March 21. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
