Majority of Germans Favor Nuclear Energy Amid Political Divisions
A recent poll reveals 55% support for nuclear energy, highlighting regional and gender disparities in opinion.
A poll conducted by the marketing firm Innofact and released on Friday indicates that 55% of Germans support a return to nuclear energy.
This finding comes amidst ongoing political discussions and coalition negotiations involving the conservative CDU/CSU bloc led by Friedrich Merz and the Social Democrats (SPD).
The survey also found that 36% of respondents oppose a return to nuclear energy, while 9% remain undecided.
The polling data showed notable gender differences, with more than 60% of male respondents in favor of nuclear energy, contrasting with less than half of female respondents.
Geographically, support for nuclear energy was more pronounced in southern and eastern Germany than in the northern and western regions.
Among supporters, 22% expressed the view that only the most recently closed reactors should be reactivated, while 32% favored the construction of new reactors.
In contrast to the support for nuclear energy, a significant majority of participants, 57%, indicated support for continued investments in renewable energy sources, with only 17% opposing this investment direction.
The Innofact survey sampled 1,007 Germans aged 18 to 79 in March 2025, with the findings published through Verivox, a consumer information platform focusing on energy tariffs and services.
In the current political climate, the CDU/CSU is examining the feasibility of bringing the most recently decommissioned nuclear reactors back online, exploring both technical and financial implications.
Conversely, the SPD has voiced its opposition to reactivating nuclear power plants, and the Greens have likewise opposed any reversal of the current nuclear policy.
Party co-chair Franziska Brantner emphasized the need for consistent energy policy without abrupt changes.
The historical context of the ongoing debate includes the 1998 decision by Gerhard Schröder's SPD-Green coalition to phase out nuclear energy, a policy that was later extended by Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU/FDP government in 2009. Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, Merkel's administration accelerated this phase-out.
The final operational nuclear power plants in Germany were taken offline in early 2023, following a temporary extension initiated by Olaf Scholz's SPD/Green/FDP coalition government.
This finding comes amidst ongoing political discussions and coalition negotiations involving the conservative CDU/CSU bloc led by Friedrich Merz and the Social Democrats (SPD).
The survey also found that 36% of respondents oppose a return to nuclear energy, while 9% remain undecided.
The polling data showed notable gender differences, with more than 60% of male respondents in favor of nuclear energy, contrasting with less than half of female respondents.
Geographically, support for nuclear energy was more pronounced in southern and eastern Germany than in the northern and western regions.
Among supporters, 22% expressed the view that only the most recently closed reactors should be reactivated, while 32% favored the construction of new reactors.
In contrast to the support for nuclear energy, a significant majority of participants, 57%, indicated support for continued investments in renewable energy sources, with only 17% opposing this investment direction.
The Innofact survey sampled 1,007 Germans aged 18 to 79 in March 2025, with the findings published through Verivox, a consumer information platform focusing on energy tariffs and services.
In the current political climate, the CDU/CSU is examining the feasibility of bringing the most recently decommissioned nuclear reactors back online, exploring both technical and financial implications.
Conversely, the SPD has voiced its opposition to reactivating nuclear power plants, and the Greens have likewise opposed any reversal of the current nuclear policy.
Party co-chair Franziska Brantner emphasized the need for consistent energy policy without abrupt changes.
The historical context of the ongoing debate includes the 1998 decision by Gerhard Schröder's SPD-Green coalition to phase out nuclear energy, a policy that was later extended by Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU/FDP government in 2009. Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, Merkel's administration accelerated this phase-out.
The final operational nuclear power plants in Germany were taken offline in early 2023, following a temporary extension initiated by Olaf Scholz's SPD/Green/FDP coalition government.
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