RE-Alliance Media Release

Just 5% of people living in renewable energy zones would embrace living near nuclear power stations, polling released by RE-Alliance today has shown, while 53% outright reject it.

89 Degrees East polled 1,770 Australians living in renewable energy zones. RE-Alliance has been working in the space where the energy shift meets regional Australia for more than a decade.

The poll measured sentiment around living near energy infrastructure. The key results from the 1,770 people living in renewable energy zones were:

Nuclear: 53% said they’d reject it, 14% said they’d embrace or approve of it

Coal or gas: 36% reject, 15% embrace or approve

Onshore wind farm: 25% reject, 24% embrace or approve

Transmission lines: 23% reject, 11% embrace or approve

Solar farms: 14% reject, 39% embrace or approve

RE-Alliance National Director Andrew Bray said nuclear finished last when country voters were asked ‘how do you feel about living near the following types of infrastructure?’, adding other forms of energy generation and infrastructure still had work to do to deliver benefits to country Australia.

“People living in renewable energy zones rank nuclear last in terms of energy infrastructure they’re comfortable living near,” Mr Bray said.

“Farmers are on track to make $1 billion in passive income from clean energy rent between now and 2030, while nuclear is on track to deliver farmers $0 over the same period.

“Regional Australians are finally sharing in the dividends that come from generating energy through the diversification of wind and solar projects across the country.

Mr Bray said attitudes were just as unfavourable towards living near nuclear in regions where nuclear plants are proposed:

59% of respondents in Central Queensland, which takes in the Coalition’s proposed Callide nuclear site, said they’d reject living near a nuclear power station

54% of respondents in the Hunter, which takes in the Coalition’s proposed Liddell nuclear site, said they’d reject living near a nuclear power station

49% of respondents in Gippsland, which takes in the Coalition’s proposed Loy Yang nuclear site, said they’d reject living near a nuclear power station

“There are too many polls to count that show the shift to clean energy is widely supported in country Australia. There are definitely challenges and a lack of trusted information, but communities are getting stuck in and working together to find a way forward. By contrast, there is little appetite for living near nuclear at all.

“We know nuclear power isn’t compatible with rooftop solar because you have to turn solar off to make the nuclear power plant more viable during the day. What happens to the four million households with rooftop solar in Australia?”