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Voters Express More Concern About Radiation, Economic Fallout From Japan

With Japan now admitting its ongoing nuclear plant crisis is as bad as Chernobyl, concern about radiation from that plant reaching the United States has risen, and Americans are more worried about the overall impact on the U.S. economy.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters are at least somewhat concerned that radiation that escapes from Japanese nuclear plants may reach this country, with 15% who are Very Concerned. The overall finding is up from 39% in late March. While it’s the highest finding to date, it’s in line with the level of concern earlier last month shortly after the crisis began. At the same time, the number who are Very Concerned is unchanged from the previous survey.

Most Americans (53%) continue to express little concern about the dangers from Japanese radiation, but that includes just eight percent (8%) who are Not At All Concerned. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

However, 69% of voters now believe the crisis caused by the earthquake in Japan will hurt the U.S. economy. That’s up nine points from 60% a month ago. Nine percent (9%) believe the Japanese crisis will help the economy, while 13% say it will have no impact.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook. 

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters nationwide was conducted on April 13-14, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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