Fukushima and the preference for nuclear power in Europe: Evidence from subjective well-being data

The sustainable supply of energy is high on the agenda of many European countries. One of the pertinent issues, the future role of nuclear power, has gained increasing attention after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan. As a contribution to preference elicitation, we test whether the relationship between subjective well-being (SWB) of European citizens and the supply of nuclear power has changed after the Fukushima nuclear accident of March 11, 2011. Survey data for about 124,000 individuals in 23 European countries reveal that while European citizens' SWB was statistically unrelated to the share of nuclear power before the Fukushima disaster, it was negatively related to the nuclear share after the disaster. Taking the relationship between SWB and the nuclear share as an indicator of preference, this suggests the existence of an induced preference change.