UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 27, 2016. People living in the Urals believe their future depends on the success of nuclear industry enterprises in the area, so they tend to trust ‘the peaceful atom’ more, Assistant Professor at Ural Federal University Ural Power Institute’s Department of Nuclear Plants and Renewable Energy Sources Vladimir Welkin told UrBC.

According to Levada Center’s survey findings for August-September 2016, 75.3% of Russians feel positive about the nuclear energy. The approval is traditionally strong in the north-west of the country, where a lot of nuclear power facilities are located, with 77.9% of locals in support of its further development. In Moscow, the figure is 76.6%, whereas in Central Federal District (excluding Moscow), the Volga Region, in the south and the Crimea, in Siberia, and in the Far East 75.8%, 77.7%, 72.4%, 71.3%, and 69.4% of respondents, respectively, were in favor of the nuclear industry.

‘Judging by this survey findings, nuclear power is seen as something good. However, only a few of those surveyed could explain why they thought so. Yet the fact remains that the population feels good about it,’ says Levada Center’s Deputy Director Alexei Grazhdankin.

Remarkably, the number of nuclear power supporters is at its highest (78.7%) in the Urals.