Nuclear Airplane

[Trakar]

The current furore about GM food, the uproar about vaccines and doubt about global warming indicates that there is a scientifically illiterate group out there and/or a group of people who are simply anti-science. OTOH the number of science enthusiasts is shrinking.

I would say that it means that the number of people being swayed by largely specious and inaccurate extremists is increasing, somewhat, not that the number of science enthusiasts is shrinking. But if you have evidence that science supporters are actually declining in numbers I would like to see your support.

Do you have any evidence to support these assertions ?

The polls in question (that rated opposition in the 33-48% range) related nuclear power in general not to a specific incident or design. I've showed you my evidence that a sizeable minority of people are anti-nuclear, please show me your evidence to support your assertions.

To far too many undereducated people the word "nuclear" equates to mushroom clouds in populated areas, but as more detailed polling tends to indicate, the understanding levels of the people polled and how questions are worded and asked in such public polls about the topic seem to be the largest determinant of the types of responses which are received.

I don't want to derail too far into a more general discussion of nuclear power in a nuclear airplane thread, but, support for my statements can be found in:

"What people really think about nuclear power" - http://www.foratom.org/jsmallfib_top/Publications/Opinion_Poll.pdf

"Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power: A constructionist approach."

Abstract -
Explores the relationship between media discourse and public opinion by analyzing the discourse on nuclear power in 4 general audience media: television news coverage, newsmagazine accounts, editorial cartoons, and syndicated opinion columns. The analysis traces the careers of different interpretive packages on nuclear power from 1945 to the present. The authors argue that this media discourse provides an essential context for understanding the formation of public opinion on nuclear power. More specifically, it accounts for such survey results as the decline in support for nuclear power before Three Mile Island and the rebound in support levels after media publicity declined.

(full paper available for reading online at http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.23...2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102576930653)


http://www.gallup.com/poll/153452/Americans-Favor-Nuclear-Power-Year-Fukushima.aspx

Peering more deeply into the Gallup data, it is fairly clear that strong support and opposition have both historically ranged around 23%(pro-nuclear power) and 21% (nuclearphobe). The core elements of support and repulsion has been supplemented by the more concerned groups who "somewhat support" (33%) and "somewhat oppose" (19%), this is where the flux of public opinion resides as those who generally really don't have an opinion except as it is stimulated by media promotion or the perceived impact of this issue upon issues they these individuals do care about are swayed by media advocates. This has not really been affected much at all by the Fukushima - overall support remains constant at 57%.