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Idaho Residents More Open to Nukes Than Neighbors

Dec. 8, 2011 | Boise State Public Radio/Idaho Public Television
CONTRIBUTED BY:
Aaron Kunz

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Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) have less greenhouse gas emissions than other sources of energy. This chart shows current energy generation would need to pick up the slack if nuclear was taken off the table at current energy use. | credit: INL | rollover image for more

BOISE, Idaho — In a poll released this week, residents in Idaho responded more favorably than their Oregon and Washington did when asked if they would favor building a nuclear power plant within 50 miles of their home.

Nearly one third said they would strongly or somewhat favor a nuclear power plant in Idaho. That compares to Oregon’s 19 percent and Washington’s 23 percent.

John Freemouth, a professor at Boise State University, says the fact that Idaho has the nation’s lead nuclear laboratory could have been a factor in the support. The Idaho National Laboratory currently has more than 4 thousand employees and is dedicated to developing the next generation of safe, clean and reliable nuclear power plants.

Fifty-two percent of Idaho respondents said they think nuclear power plants are a very or somewhat safe source of energy. That’s compared to 42 percent in Oregon and 44 percent in Washington.

The survey was conducted by the non-partisan research firm, Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall of Portland. It posed questions about the environment to 1,200 residents of Oregon, Idaho and Washington. The survey was conducted for EarthFix, a public media partnership in the Northwest that covers environmental news.

© 2011 Boise State Public Radio/Idaho Public Television
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