The outlooks of nuclear energy in society: Unraveling public attitudes in the context of climate and energy security challenges

This article presents the results of a systematic literature review following the PRISMA protocol and answering the research question of how climate change or energy security considerations affect public attitudes towards nuclear energy. 82 articles published in English since 2011 and indexed in scientific databases were selected for the review. After providing quantitative bibliometric information, we conduct thematic analysis to describe qualitatively the main research themes traceable in the literature, using individual articles to illustrate research trends and tendencies. By synthesizing existing social scientific knowledge, we conclude that public support for nuclear energy is generally negatively associated with climate change concerns and positively associated with concerns for energy security. Moreover, the higher the perceived benefits of nuclear energy for energy security and, to a lesser extent, for the mitigation of climate change, the more open or (sometimes reluctantly) favorable attitudes towards nuclear energy are. However, differences between countries have also been observed. We critically discuss existing gaps regarding the objects of study, methods, and role of theory to outline needful research avenues in future. The review contributes to a broader – inter- and transdisciplinary – debate on nuclear energy technologies as a possible means of coping with global climate change and energy security challenges.