Survey: Most Americans don’t know much about nuclear weapons. But they want to know more.

For younger generations, the recent rollout of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer film might raise existential issues surrounding nuclear weapons. In fact, the prospect of the use of nuclear weapons seems more realistic now than it has for decades. Besides Russia’s nuclear threats throughout the war against Ukraine, China’s nuclear build-up raises concerns about a potential arms race with the United States and potentially other countries in Asia. In this context, the United States is undergoing an extensive—and expensive—nuclear modernization process, which may well force nuclear issues back onto the front pages for the American public.

But how ready are Americans to reengage with nuclear issues?  A recent joint Chicago Council-Carnegie Corporation survey among the American public shows that Americans are fairly mixed in their views about nuclear weapons. A limited percentage of Americans say they are familiar with US nuclear weapons policy, their costs, their effects, and other issues related to the US nuclear weapons arsenal. But regardless of their age, most Americans today do not consider themselves familiar with nuclear issues.

A complex array of nuclear beliefs. Many Americans—especially younger and non-white Americans—don’t think nuclear weapons make a difference to US national security or say they don’t know enough to give an opinion. Moreover, relatively few Americans are interested in flexing their agency or getting more involved in making US nuclear policy beyond voting for a candidate who shares their views on nuclear policy.

On the one hand, Americans lean toward positive assessments of US nuclear policy. A majority believe nuclear weapons are either very or somewhat effective at preventing conflict between the United States and other countries (63 percent). Almost half (46 percent) are at least somewhat confident that the US missile defense system will protect them in the event of a nuclear war. And Americans who say they are familiar with nuclear deterrence (40 percent of the overall sample) overwhelmingly think it has been effective at preventing a nuclear attack on the United States (88 percent of those familiar with deterrence).

On the other hand, just under half the public think nuclear weapons make the United States safer (47 percent).  When combined, almost as many say that nuclear weapons don’t make a difference (24 percent) in making the country safer or that they don’t know enough about nuclear weapons to express a view (19 percent). On this question, there are significant differences between age groups, racial groups, and partisan affiliations. Only among Americans over the age of 45 does a majority say that the US nuclear arsenal makes the country safer (55 percent); a plurality of younger Americans say they don’t make a difference. White Americans are more likely than other racial groups to say nuclear weapons make the country safer, largely because Hispanic and African Americans are more likely to say they do not know enough to express a view. And Republicans (61 percent) are more convinced than Democrats (45 percent) that nuclear weapons make the United States safer.

While lacking familiarity about US nuclear weapons policy, a majority (60 percent) of the US public also say they are interested in learning more.  When they are asked in an open-ended question to specify what they would like to learn more about, the responses fall into three broad categories: basic questions about how nuclear weapons operate (24 percent), the effects of nuclear weapons when they are deployed (22 percent), and more details about US nuclear weapons policy (18 percent). An additional 42 percent of people who want to know more did not offer a specific response about what topics or issues they would like to explore.

Where Americans go for information about nuclear weapons. Television is the most popular source for nuclear weapons information for those 30 and over. Social media plays that role for Gen Z, a finding that tracks with where these groups go for most of their news in general. Very few turn to government for more information. Across all age demographics, 9 percent or fewer say they turn most often to the US government for information about nuclear weapons policy. Very few turn to academics or activists to get information about nuclear issues.

Who are the most trusted sources of information on nuclear issues?  Government is once again toward the bottom of the list. Six in 10 respondents say they distrust Congress for information about nuclear issues (63 percent). Party identification and age demographics don’t make a difference; many people are skeptical of information about nuclear weapons from Congress.

While trusted more than Congress, the president (56 percent distrust), elicits more partisan division, with 76 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of Democrats skeptical of the president as a source of information, likely a reflection of a Democratic president in the Oval Office now.  However, there is more partisan agreement around discomfort with the issue of sole authority.  Sixty-two percent of Americans report being somewhat or very uncomfortable with the US president having the sole authority to launch a nuclear strike.

Even though few citizens turn to them for nuclear weapons information, the highest marks on trust go to academics, with 58 percent of respondents saying they place a great deal or fair amount of trust in academics as a source of information on nuclear issues. A close second is the military—56 percent place some or a great deal of trust with the military on nuclear issues.

Will Americans become more involved? Respondents to our survey said they should be more involved; six in 10 say the American people should be more influential in US nuclear policy. But, somewhat discordantly, most don’t want to be more involved personally, with just 21 percent saying they would like to be more involved. Just shy of 40 percent are comfortable with their current level of involvement in US nuclear policy. A third (34 percent) report they have no desire to get involved in this area. This response rises to 43 percent among those between the ages of 18 and 29.

Some have argued that today’s nuclear weapons debate has become too technical and distant, perhaps making the topic less tangible and accessible for most Americans. The fears surrounding the potential use of nuclear weapons related to the war in Ukraine and the Oppenheimer film clearly have stirred some interest among the general public. But it is unclear how long that interest may last. While a minority, the 21 percent who responded in our survey that they want to be more involved could, if they did so, make a real difference in at least the American nuclear weapons debate. But the varied responses to our survey suggest that today’s Americans struggle, like Oppenheimer did, to reconcile conflicting senses: Nuclear weapons provide some security, but if ever used, they would inflict a terrible cost on the entire world.