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Myth: People don’t want Nuclear power plants in their backyards
Where do I even start? This is an enormous myth. I was pleased last week to find that Bisconti Research Inc. made public their Nuclear Plant Neighbor Survey results because it makes my job in disproving this myth embarrassingly easy.
The Nuclear Plant Neighbor Survey used a sample of 1,100 adults living within 10 miles of one of our nation’s 64 nuclear plant sites. Plant employees living within ten miles of a site were not surveyed. Below are some of the results worth highlighting:
- 84% of Americans living near nuclear power plants favor nuclear energy!
- 90% view the local nuclear power station positively!
- 76% would support the construction of a new reactor near them!
- 72% associate nuclear energy “a lot” with reliability!
- 71% have heard or read about the clean-air benefits of nuclear energy!
- 58% strongly support nuclear energy whereas only 5% strongly oppose!
- 83% believe that companies that own sites are involved in the community!
Wow! Nuclear plant neighbors are not only happy with the plants, but they wouldn’t even mind more reactors being constructed on site. These survey results really point out what great stewards domestic nuclear sites are within their respective communities. It doesn’t hurt that no member of the general public has ever been killed as a result of nuclear power plant operation something even wind turbines can’t claim.
Separate from the survey, I also wanted to take a more in depth look at another argument made by the “not in my backyard” crowd. Some residents have expressed worry that nuclear power plants could drive down home prices and hurt nearby communities. I decided to take a look at home prices directly next to McGuire Nuclear Station outside of Charlotte, NC where the median home price is $169,000. Using Zillow.com, I scanned prices of homes that have recently sold or are for sale near McGuire Nuclear Power Station. I found that there are several houses within less than ten miles of the power plant that have recently sold for over $1 million. Some of Charlotte’s most wealthy residents are choosing to live near the plant. When people that can afford to live just about anywhere invest in a home that close to a plant it makes you wonder if the “driving down home prices and hurting communities” fear really carries any weight. And the answer is no.
I dug deeper and found a 2006 study by Roger Bedzek and Robert Wendling that specifically studied the impact of 7 nuclear sites on property values. The results of this study can be summed up in one excerpt:
“The taxes and fees the facilities pay often fund over half of the county and school district budgets and provide levels of public and educational services that are far above those of surrounding counties and greater than the state averages. In each of the seven regions, housing and real estate values have benefited from the operations of the nuclear facilities.”
If nuclear power plants make for better schools and higher property values you can put one in my backyard today!
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Editor’s Note: This article was featured on National Review’s Planet Gore blog. See here.
Great investigative reporting, Tyler. You really went at this Myth head on.
Carrington
The community of Shippingport, PA installed a city sewage system with no cost to the citizens of the town thanks to the two unit Beaver Valley Power Station. The plant picked up some of the tab because they would be the major customer and the taxes they paid annually to the community were able to take care of the rest. How many other towns have you heard of that were able to install city sewers with no tap in fees or “per frontage foot” charges?
[...] The first ban on new nuclear plants was instated in California. Twelve states now ban the construction of new nuclear plants. Many bans were developed shortly after Three Mile Island. Improvements in operation and reliability in existing plants have since proven that nuclear power provides safe, clean, CO2 free energy. These bans come despite the increasing support shown by the general public for nuclear power as reported in an earlier blog post. [...]
[...] want it in my backyard anymore. Give me nuclear plants any day of the week. And as discussed in an earlier blog, residents near nuclear power plants agree that more nuclear is the way to go. Share this post: [...]