Public support for Pakistan's nuclear programme has dropped to 53 percent in the aftermath of Japan earthquake and the subsequent nuclear meltdown from the atomic reactors in Fukushima. About 55 percent people of Pakistan were supporting the continuation of the nuclear programme of the country; however the Tsunami-cum-earthquake in Japan has brought the number to 53 percent.
These were the findings of the Global Survey conducted by WIN-Gallup International and released here on Tuesday by Chairman Gallup Pakistan Ijaz Shafi Gilani. Pakistan, where the nuclear debate is deeply tied to its military dimension, support for civilian use of nuclear technology has remained largely stable and dropped by only 2 percent after Japan's earthquake.
According to the survey optimism about the resilience of Japan's economy is higher in Pakistan than the global average. About 60 percent Pakistanis are of the view that Japan will either restore to pre-earthquake level (50%) or become even stronger (10%). As opposed to this the pessimists who think Japan may not be able to restore to pre-earthquake level are 23%. The remaining 17% are unable to give a view.
A global survey conducted by WIN-Gallup International in 47 countries across the globe shows that several hundred million supporters of nuclear energy have switched sides to become its opponents as a result of Japan earthquake and fears of leakage at its nuclear power plants in Fukushima. Among a sample of more 34,000 men and women world-wide, 8 percent of former supporters said they have switched to the opposite side. Another 3 percent said they were unsure, but are now opposed to the use of nuclear technology as a source of energy or electricity.
The survey shows that supporters of nuclear energy who are 49 percent of the polled world still outnumber its opponents, who constitute 43 percent, but the gap between the two positions was much larger prior to Japan earthquake: Supporters were 57 percent against 32 percent opponents. In a nutshell, the gap between supporters and opponents suddenly fell from 25 percent to a mere 6 percent.
According to an expert at WIN-Gallup International, the new balance of opinion is likely to generate active lobbying on both sides. They point out that as the proponents and opponents of nuclear energy stand neck and neck at 49:43 percent, the debate is likely to be fuelled by strong competitors on both sides.
The findings of the global survey titled Snap Poll by its organisers to highlight its release within 5 weeks from the earthquake show that nuclear energy has lost supporters both among countries, which possess power plants and those do not. In fact the fall in support among nuclear states is sharper at 9% compared to the non-nuclear states of the sample where it is 5%. Among the countries polled in this survey 19 are nuclear states using this technology to produce electricity, while the remaining are non-nuclear states.
Further analysis of the survey shows that the sharpest fall in support for nuclear energy comes from Japan itself where Net Favour fell by 41%: from 34% prior to the Earthquake to minus 7% in the aftermath of the earthquake and Tsunami, which damaged Japanese nuclear power plants at Fukushima.
Not surprisingly 91%, world-wide, were aware of the Earthquake in Japan and 81% had also heard about the issue of nuclear leakages from the power plants at Fukushima. While the principal source of information happened to be the traditional media of television, radio and newspapers, as many as 18% world-wide said they were keeping themselves updated on this historic disaster through the new media of Internet. The sample comprised a cross-section of people belonging to low, medium and high educational and income groups' representatives of their countries and belonged to urban as well as rural settings. The survey was one of the representatives of population in the world.
As Japan struggles with massive relief efforts to cope with one of the worst natural disasters in its history, that killed nearly thirty thousand of its citizens and displaced ten times as many more, the world asks the question: How will this disaster affect the Japanese? Will it succeed or fail in rebouncing to pre-earthquake levels soon. Expert opinions apart, the global popular opinion is on the whole optimistic of Japan's resilience to face the crisis. As many as 48 percent of those polled globally expect Japan to restore to pre-earthquake levels (30%) or even higher (18%). In comparison, 38% are pessimistic and say Japan might find it hard to regain its former economic conditions. Notably the conservative or pessimistic view on resilience of the economy comes from within Japan itself where 55% are somewhat skeptical and its close neighbours, South Korea, where 47% hold this view and China where 67% are pessimistic. These views may reflect modesty in the Japanese and East Asian cultures about what they can achieve.