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  Six out of 10 Americans favor nuclear energy, according to a new poll from Gallup.

An increase: This reading represents a 6 percentage point increase from the last time Gallup polled Americans on the question, in 2023—and it’s just a percentage point below the all-time high since the survey began in 1994, which occurred in 2010.

• This year, 29% of U.S. adults say they “strongly” favor nuclear energy and 32% say they “somewhat” favor it.

History of opinion: Back in 1994, 57% of Americans opposed using nuclear energy, but opinion turned positive in 2004 and kept rising through 2015.

• Another run of positivity began in 2019.

What’s changed: As Gallup points out, recent upward trends in energy demand have increased interest in nuclear, including by some of the biggest companies in the U.S.

• “Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon … have joined large financial institutions in pledging to greatly increase nuclear power. With artificial intelligence data centers on the rise, tech companies are finding that their energy needs will exceed what is available from other energy sources.”

Critical source: “Nuclear energy—both traditional and advanced—will be a key party of the U.S. energy mix needed to support manufacturing,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.