Attitudes towards nuclear power have been the most important stimulant and dividing factor in the Finnish energy debate for a long time. It is the clearest issue in the realignment of the front lines in energy policy and stands behind all opinions one way or another. In practice, the other energy options and their pros and cons, as well as the development of the entire electricity generation system, are always assessed in relation to the nuclear power alternative.This deliberation took the form of an open antithesis in the Finnish Parliament's decision on nuclear power in 2002, both in the debate leading up to the decision, and in the final vote, which resulted in a 107-92 split and a narrow victory for the form's supporters.Now that it is again the task of the government to express its opinion on the applications submitted by the power companies concerning the construction of new nuclear reactors, the setting has been actualised the same way as earlier. The difference compared to earlier is a certain kind of weakness - even though the basic permanence of the arguments is still quite the same. Time has been in favour of nuclear power; the main emphasis of opposition rests more in minimising the number of new units instead of rejecting nuclear power entirely.

2.1. Further construction of nuclear power plants

2.1.1. The fifth nuclear power plant

The survey has followed the general attitudes but also specifically the attitudes towards further construction of nuclear power plants. The question, asked in the form of the statement 'A fifth nuclear power plant should be built in Finland', has been included in all surveys since 1984. The long duration of this energy policy trench warfare is evident in the fact that this question has kept its relevance for more than twenty years. When the question was first drawn up, it was not thought that it would still be topical in the new millennium. Even though the significance of the question has partially changed over time (and because the construction of the fifth nuclear power plant has been started), the question will become outdated only when the fifth nuclear power plant is completed.

There are now as many positive attitudes (40%) towards the building of a fifth nuclear power plant as there are negative attitudes (40%). The distribution is more critical than in the previous survey (43%/36%). Indications on the change registered in this survey were already evident in the two previous surveys (in 2007 and 2008); their results were a little more critical than the results in the four surveys preceding those (2003-2006). The above-mentioned six survey years represented the most sympathetic attitudes towards nuclear power in the entire follow-up period, and a clear differentiation from the previous sceptical attitudes that held for a considerable time. The only large shift in the time series occurred in 1986 when the Chernobyl accident resulted in a collapse in the rising positive attitudes towards nuclear power in Finland. No single survey before 2003 showed a distribution indicating greater support for acceptance than for rejection. Even though the current result is more critical than the previous results, it is still the seventh most favourable in the 26-year-long follow-up period [Figure 3.].