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The report also found a US public increasingly unhappy with oil and more willing to develop alternative energy sources like wind and solar.

Moreover, the national survey of 1,200 Americans' opinions on different types of energy indicated growing concern about global warming - but an apparent reluctance to pay to fight it.

Professor Stephen Ansolabehere, the MIT political scientist who conducted the survey through Knowledge Networks, a consumer information company, said he hopes that tracking Americans' attitudes toward energy will help policy-makers decide how to chart the United States' energy future.

?We're trying to understand what public policy in the US should do to encourage new kinds of energy development or different patterns of energy consumption,? Ansolabehere said.

The report, 'Public Attitudes Toward America's Energy Options: Insights for Nuclear Energy' was recently published by MIT's Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems. Ansolabehere conducted a similar survey in 2002 as part of the MIT study, 'The Future of Nuclear Power'.

In the five years since the last survey, public preferences have remained fairly stable, but the%age of people who want to increase nuclear power use has grown from 28% to 35%. That increase in popularity is likely due to concern over global warming caused by carbon emissions from fossil fuels, Ansolabehere said.

The Bush administration has been pushing to expand nuclear power, which doesn't produce carbon dioxide, but Americans are still concerned about storing nuclear waste. Nearly 40% oppose the proposed storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and only 28% agree that ?nuclear waste could be stored safely for long periods of time.?

Because of those concerns, ?getting the public behind a serious expansion of nuclear power in the US is going to be difficult,? Ansolabehere said.

While Americans have some doubts about nuclear power, they are more opposed to oil, which has dipped below nuclear as the least popular fuel source. In the 2007 survey, 74% wanted to decrease oil use, compared to 56% in 2002.

Ansolabehere said:

?People have really turned on oil in a big way,? a trend he attributes to rising prices and growing concern over the United States' oil dependency.

?People say, if not for our oil dependency, we wouldn't be in Iraq. Also, rising prices at the gas pump provide a daily reminder of the high cost of oil,? Ansolabehere added.

The survey also found that even though concern over global warming has been rising in the past five years, that doesn't translate to a willingness to pay to combat the problem.

When people are asked how much more they would pay for their electricity to counteract global warming, the average answer is $10 more on their monthly electric bill. The amount needed would likely be closer to $25, Ansolabehere said.

Ansolabehere said: ?Willingness to pay is going to be a big obstacle.?

The report was funded by MIT's Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems.