The differences in attitudes towards a fifth nuclear power plant within population groups are great, in the same way as before. There is distinctly more understanding for the project among men (63% supporting, 20% opposing) than among women (27%/44%). This contrast reflects the fact that the construction decision in principle clearly pleased more men than women [Figure 5.].

The difference according to gender has been great throughout the follow-up period. The time series illustrating this brings about a persistent invariance. The distance between the attitudes of men and women has in practice remained constant for more than twenty years. When the support for nuclear power increases or decreases at the level of the whole population, the change is seen almost equally among both men and women. When the follow-up has progressed, the attitudes of the genders have not become closer nor wider apart; each gender has in a way operated at its own level [Figure 5b.].

The opinions seem to become somewhat more positive along with age. However, the age dependency in this direction is weaker than in many of the previous years, the results of which were distinguished by the negative attitudes of the younger age groups. The evening out of the age profile indicates that younger people have started to accept – or at least tolerate – the construction solution slightly more than previously. In the early years of the follow-up and in the material about ten years ago, opinions regarding nuclear power were hardly at all tied to age.

When the education level rises, the attitudes become more positive almost linearly. Even if this dependency is, as such, traditional, it can be seen in the current results more clearly than in the past few years. In terms of nuclear power acceptance, those with an academic education (61%) differ from the others. The connection with the education level is also clearly a gender-related phenomenon: with men, positive attitudes towards nuclear power strongly increase along with a rise in their level of education, whereas women’s opinions on nuclear power are quite independent of their level of education (not in the figure).

Among the different occupational and social groups, those in a leading position and managers and professionals are most in favour of nuclear power. Politically, the supporters of the National Coalition Party (74%) are distinctly more positive about nuclear power than the others. The project also has above-average acceptance among the supporters of the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. As usual, the supporters of the Green League have the most anti-nuclear power attitudes. As a supplementary detail from outside the figure, it can be mentioned that the Swedish-speaking population is more anti-nuclear power than Finnish-speaking citizens.

The population of the municipalities in which nuclear power plants are already located are more positive about the building of additional nuclear power capacity than people elsewhere in the country – in the same way as in the previous results. Supporters of the fifth nuclear power plant constitute a significant majority in both Loviisa (65%) and Eurajoki (58%). The attitude development by municipality shows not only uniformity but also differences. The two latest results from Eurajoki indicate that the greatest enthusiasm has subsided. Before the construction decision was made, the ‘demand’ for a new plant saw a strong increase in the municipality for several years. It is presumable that the commencement of the construction project brings a certain degree of confusion to the local society and its established patterns of life. Statistical factors must naturally be kept in mind when assessing the municipality-specific (as other sub-group-specific) results: figures calculated from relatively small groups of respondents must always be observed with a certain degree of slackness [Figure 6.].

______________________________