Energy systems across the world must undergo a fundamental transformation towards the use of low-carbon energy sources and technologies in order to reduce global CO₂ emissions. While nuclear energy has historically been highly controversial, especially among people concerned about the environment, some voices have begun to suggest that nuclear energy should be reconsidered as an energy source, to help mitigate climate change.

In this study we explore the relationship between climate change concern and public perceptions of nuclear energy, using representative survey data (n = 4048) from four key energy-producing European countries (France, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom). After constructing a climate-change concern index and applying multiple linear regression models, we find that climate change concern is associated with more negative perceptions of nuclear energy in all four countries. These negative associations remain when we control for political orientation, gender, age, and education. Thus, a stable pattern of disapproval of nuclear energy among people concerned about climate change seems to exist independently of national contexts. This result casts into doubt the prospect that broad public support could rapidly emerge for the use (or the increasing use) of nuclear energy as a means to ensure reduced carbon emissions.

为了减少全球CO ₂排放，全世界的能源系统必须经历向使用低碳能源和技术的根本转变。尽管核能在历史上一直是备受争议的，尤其是在关心环境的人们中间，但一些声音已经开始建议核能应重新考虑作为一种能源，以帮助缓解气候变化。

在这项研究中，我们使用来自四个主要能源生产欧洲国家（法国，德国，挪威和英国）的代表性调查数据（n = 4048），探讨了气候变化关注与公众对核能的认识之间的关系。在构建了气候变化关注指数并应用了多个线性回归模型之后，我们发现，在所有四个国家中，气候变化关注与对核能的更多负面看法相关。当我们控制政治取向，性别，年龄和教育程度时，这些消极联想仍然存在。因此，在关注气候变化的人们中，核能遭到拒绝的稳定模式似乎独立于国家情况而存在。