Press Releases
March 23, 2009
New Poll Finds Local Residents Support Oyster Creek
A majority of residents living within 10 miles of the Oyster Creek Generating Station are in favor of renewing the station’s operating license, according to a poll released by the New Jersey Energy Coalition.
The poll found that 67% of those surveyed support the renewal of the facility’s operating license. Additionally, 44%of respondents who were familiar with Oyster Creek have a positive impression of the plant and just 22 % have a negative impression. Three in five (62%) of those surveyed support the use of nuclear power in New Jersey.
“This poll definitively proves that, contrary to certain media reports, the majority of the people who live and work near Oyster Creek recognize its benefit to their community and support its presence and continued operation,” said Dr. Edward H. Salmon, Chairman of the NJ Energy Coalition and former President of the NJ Board of Public Utilities.
Richard Mroz, Senior Advisor to the NJ Energy Coalition and former Chief Counsel to the Governor of New Jersey, stated, “As the NRC review process enters its final stage, it is important to reiterate, as this poll does, that the majority of Oyster Creek’s neighbors, who are most affected by its operations, understand its economic importance in their community and are comfortable with the levels of safety and reliability that its operators provide.”
Other highlights of the poll, which is available in full at this link, include:
- • Nearly half (46%) of the respondents feel that Oyster Creek’s overall impact on the area is generally good; just 15% say it has a negative impact.
- • Respondents say each of the following phrases describes Oyster Creek very or fairly well:
- o Brings good paying jobs to the community (60%)
- o Provides significant economic benefits to the community (51%)
- o Provides an important source of electric power (66%)
- o Operates with strict security standards (56%)
- o Has a good record of operating safely (57%)
- o Has a good record of operating in an environmentally friendly way (50%)
- • Sixty-two (62%) percent of those surveyed support the use of nuclear power in New Jersey.
- • Seven in 10 (70%) respondents feel good about using nuclear power to provide energy to New Jersey because studies have shown it is a cleaner form of energy than coal, oil, or natural gas.
- • Two-thirds (67%) of those surveyed agree that nuclear power plants are an affordable way to provide New Jersey with power.
- • Two-thirds (66%) of the respondents feel good about using nuclear power to provide energy to New Jersey because plants have a proven track record of providing power in a safe and reliable way.
The poll was conducted by Hart Research Associates of Washington D.C. and surveyed 301 registered voters living within a 10-mile radius of the Oyster Creek Generating Station with an overall margin of error of ±5.8%. It was funded by Exelon Corporation.
This is the second public survey poll released by the NJ Energy Coalition in fulfilling its mission to educate the public on the need to keep existing clean energy providers in operation and to promote the development of more affordable, clean and reliable sources of energy in New Jersey.
The first poll, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, was a statewide survey released in September 2007 that found New Jersey residents support the use of nuclear power in New Jersey by 2 to 1 margin, and that they believe nuclear power operators have a track record of operating in a safe manner by a 4-to-1 margin.
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The mission of the NJ Energy Coalition is to generate public support for the production of clean, reliable, affordable, American energy to meet New Jersey's growing energy needs. The Coalition seeks to achieve this goal through increasing the public's awareness of the need to keep existing clean energy providers operational and to promote and support the development of new affordable clean sources.
For more information, please contact:
Andrew Young
Phone:856-308-3656
ayoung@njenergycoalition.org