75 per cent of Americans don¿t believe U.S. could cope with nuclear disaster
Most Americans believe that the White House is not prepared to respond to a nuclear emergency like the one in Japan, a poll has revealed.
However the study also showed that few people thought a similar disaster would happen in the U.S.
The Japanese disaster has turned more Americans against nuclear power, with 60 per cent now opposed to building more plants.
One the brink: The Fukushima power plant went into meltdown after the tsunami in Japan last month
That's an increase of 12 per cent from a poll conducted in November 2009.
The research comes as Japan continues to struggle with a nuclear crisis caused by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
The crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant has leaked radiation into the environment and radioactive water gushed into the Pacific Ocean.
There was fresh misery for Japan today after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed two people, left a million homes without power and piled more misery on a region buried under the rubble of last month's devastating tsunami. 
Country in turmoil: A man walks towards a boat stranded inland at Kessenuma, Japan after the earthquake and tsunami last month
Only 25 per cent of those surveyed in the U.S. were confident that the government could handle a nuclear emergency.
Among people who thought a disaster was likely, 80 per cent didn't think the government would act quickly enough.
Even in those who think the chance of a nuclear meltdown is extremely rare - two-thirds still lacked confidence in the White House.
Some Americans, however, were still placing their faith in nuclear power.
Health concerns: A man being tested for possible radiation exposure at an evacuation centre in Kuriayama, Fukushima about 44 miles from the tsunami-crippled reactor
Nancy Hall, from Long Beach in California said the Japanese crisis had not soured her opinion.
She said: 'Despite the disaster in Japan, I think that nuclear power still has a lot of advantages over fossil fuels.
She added that nuclear energy, unlike oil, does not funnel money to 'Middle East dictators' and causes less pollution than coal-fired power plants.
'You have to keep in mind that gas and coal are constantly polluting, day in and day out, and we don't even think about it.'
Nowhere to go: Evacuees survey their flattened town at Onagawa in north-eastern Japan
Miss Hall, 36, a linguistics professor, lives within a four-hour drive of two nuclear plants but said she is not too worried about them.
'I do hope the government is looking carefully at how to safeguard them,' she said. 'But truthfully, nuclear power is not at the top of my list of worries.'
Her more immediate concern is that the building she works in is not earthquake-proof.
Past disaster: Three Mile Island nuclear power station in Pennsylvania which suffered a partial core meltdown in 1979
One in four Americans live within 50 miles of a nuclear reactor. Those who lived within that zone did not necessarily show greater concern than those who were further away.
The study also revealed those who lived closer to nuclear plants were less likely to oppose the building of more facilities than those who lived farther away.
American regulators are reviewing safety at the nation's 104 nuclear reactors in the wake of the Japanese crisis.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it will look at the plants' ability to protect against natural disasters and terrorist attacks, respond to complete power blackouts and cope with accidents involving spent fuel.
The NRC said nuclear plants continued to operate safely. But that doesn't prevent some American citizens having serious concerns.
Kelli Hughes of Brookhaven, New York called nuclear power 'a toxic menace'. Miss Hughes, 33, who runs an online business and lives less than 80 miles from a nuclear plant said she strongly opposed expansion.
She said: 'We have to think about what it's going to do to the environment when we're done with it. Look what's happening in Japan now. Radioactive waste is leaking and it's toxic.'
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