Poll: Few confident US ready for nuclear emergency

By Matthew Daly

Associated Press

Published: Friday, April 8 2011 2:25 a.m. MDT

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The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is seen in Okuma town, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Thursday, April 7, 2011. After notching a rare victory by stopping highly radioactive water from flowing into the Pacific, workers at the flooded nuclear power complex turned to their next task Thursday: injecting nitrogen to prevent more hydrogen explosions. Nuclear officials said Wednesday there was no immediate threat of explosions like the three that rocked the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant not long after a massive tsunami hit on March 11, but their plans are a reminder of how much work remains to stabilize the complex.

Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE, Associated Press

Summary

Only one-quarter of Americans are confident the U.S. government is prepared to respond to a nuclear emergency similar to the one in Japan.

WASHINGTON — Only one-quarter of Americans are confident the U.S. government is prepared to respond to a nuclear emergency similar to the one in Japan.

But an Associated Press-GfK poll shows that just three in 10 respondents think it is highly likely that such an emergency would occur at a nuclear power plant in the United States.

The poll also shows that 60 percent of Americans now say they oppose building more nuclear power plants. That's up from 48 percent who opposed it in an AP-Stanford University Poll in November 2009.

The poll comes as Japan continues to struggle with a nuclear crisis caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Officials reported no new problems at the Fukushima nuclear plant after a magnitude-7.4 aftershock rattled the nation's eastern coast Thursday.

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