Czechia puts greatest faith in nuclear power in the EU, European survey finds

People in the Czech Republic have the greatest confidence in nuclear power in the entire EU. As many as 77 percent of Czechs believe it will have a positive impact in the future, the highest figure of any EU country. By contrast, the most negative attitudes are found in neighbouring Austria. This is according to a new Eurobarometer survey.

The new Eurobarometer public opinion survey, conducted by the European Commission, took place last autumn and focused on citizens’ knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology in individual European countries.

One of the topics was public attitudes towards nuclear power. The Czech Republic came out on top in terms of support. More than 29 percent of Czechs said in the survey that they believed nuclear power would have a very positive impact on the country’s future technological and energy development. A further 48 percent of people in the Czech Republic expressed a somewhat positive attitude. By contrast, around 17 percent of Czechs said they had a very or somewhat negative view, the lowest share in the EU.

„This European survey also confirms our long-term data. Support for nuclear power in the Czech Republic has been the highest in the entire EU for almost a quarter of a century, since the launch of the Temelín nuclear power plant. It also reflects the fact that Czechs have always been closer to technology than other European countries, going back to the Austro-Hungarian era,“ said ČEZ spokesperson Ladislav Kříž, commenting on the results.

Positive attitudes towards nuclear power were also prevalent in the EU in countries such as Finland, at 71 percent, and neighbouring Poland, at 69 percent. Outside the EU, Turks expressed a similarly strong view to that of Czechs.

Some neighbouring countries are at the other end of the spectrum in their attitudes towards nuclear power. People in Austria are the most concerned in Europe about its negative impact, with 67 percent of respondents saying so. Distrust of nuclear power also prevailed, albeit only slightly, in Greece and Germany. In the other EU countries, positive views of nuclear power outweighed negative ones.

Some Czech surveys have also confirmed growing support for nuclear power. According to a survey by the IBRS agency at the end of last year, 71 percent of people support its development, around two percentage points more than a year earlier.

According to government plans, nuclear power, together with renewables, is to become one of the main sources in the Czech energy mix in the future. The state is currently planning to build two new reactors at Dukovany, to be built by KHNP. The first of the new reactors is expected to be completed in 2036. At current prices, the cost of the currently preferred option of building two reactors is 400 billion koruna. In addition, however, the state will also negotiate an option for two more units at Temelín. Alongside conventional units, small modular reactors are also expected to be built in the Czech Republic in the next decade.