Bato-Zhargal Zhambalnimbuyev, member of Nuclear Energy Sub-Committee of Federation Council

– In Russia people show positive attitude towards nuclear energy

Chernobyl was a serious accident and people still remember it. The fact that the survey was held on the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the accident could not but have an influence on their answers. The same would happen if you held a survey on the eve of the anniversary of the Great Patriotic War.

One more factor that might have influenced the results of the survey is the crisis and related pessimism concerning the development prospects of the whole industry. But this factor was not as influential as the first one. In our country the public opinion directly depends on situations, facts and occurrences.

I think that in Russia people show mostly positive attitude towards nuclear energy as they believe in its future and in our technologies. We are among the leaders in this field. Nuclear energy is part of our national energy policy and gives us certain dividends on the international market. People worldwide realize that their energy security depends on nuclear energy. This is reality we cannot avoid. Today, nuclear energy is safe. This sector does have problems but they all have solutions. New problems are being seriously studied and will also be resolved. I think that today people are not afraid of nuclear energy, they see that it is safe and efficient and show adequate attitude.

On the eve of the 23rd anniversary of the accident at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, from Apr 10 till 22 2009 Levada-Center held a poll concerning the attitude of the Russians towards nuclear energy. 1,602 people over 18 took part in the survey. 35% of the Russians advocate the preservation of nuclear energy, almost as many support its active development. The results of this poll are not very much different from those of the survey held in 2006. This proves that the Russians show stably positive attitude towards nuclear energy. Only 5% of the respondents have said that Russia must give up nuclear energy, 12% advocate a gradual phase-out (against 15% in 2006). 42.5% of the Russians believe that nuclear energy will be able to replace oil and gas when they come to an end (15% opt for water resources, 9% for coal, 5.1% for other sources of energy). People living in the regions hosting nuclear power plants show more positive attitude towards nuclear energy: 75% in the Central Federal District and 71% in the North-Western Federal District. In Moscow 45% advocate status quo, while 30% say that nuclear energy must be developed.