The structure of nuclear energy beliefs in Norway: a psychological network analysis

Understanding public attitudes toward nuclear energy is increasingly important in the context of climate mitigation and energy security. This study applied psychological network analysis to examine the structure of beliefs underlying attitudes toward nuclear energy among 1,017 Norwegian adults. Attitudes were generally favorable (54.0% positive), while 24.5% were undecided and 21.5% reported negative attitudes. Men expressed more favorable attitudes than women. Network analysis identified three clusters of interconnected beliefs: a Materialist cluster emphasizing economic and self-sufficiency considerations, an Environmental cluster encompassing both climate-related benefits and ecological concerns, and a Burden cluster focusing on perceived risks and costs, including terrorism/warfare, accidents, and waste management. The belief that nuclear power provides a stable energy supply emerged as the most structurally prominent node and showed connections to beliefs across clusters. When attitude groups were examined separately, belief networks were similarly interconnected among supporters, opponents, and undecided respondents; the groups differed instead in which beliefs were most central, with perceived supply stability anchoring supporters' belief systems, whereas terrorism/warfare concerns were most prominent among opponents. These findings describe how nuclear energy beliefs are organized in a national context without nuclear power in the current energy mix. The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, and centrality should be interpreted as structural prominence rather than causal importance. Future research should use longitudinal and experimental designs and incorporate broader constructs such as political ideology and institutional trust.