Yesterday, Bloomberg News wrote a story on NEI’s ad campaign and highlighted one TV spot that will air on, among other programs, Comedy Central’s ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.’ The Daily Show draws a younger, more liberal crowd, some of whom are skeptical of nuclear energy. Since the Bloomberg article appeared, there’s been a surge in commentary from all sides of the nuclear debate at the Daily Show’s Facebook page. If you haven’t been over to the page yet, stop by and add your two cents. The readers over there could use a different perspective on nuclear than from the usual crowd.
From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...
Comments
I'm a bit underwhelmed at the message though- saying "nuclear is safe, clean, and reliable" won't convince anyone who doesn't already agree with us. Rather than farming this out to an advertising agency- let the plants' outreach centers develop short ads showing real people. (At a spent fuel pool showing the EAD.. for example).
Right or wrong- nuclear critics have specific complaints that make perfect sense to people who have never seen nuclear fuel. (Case in point: Diane Sawyer's lead into the SONGS S/G tube leak...)
I suspect an educational outreach program demonstrating plant operations/facilities would go much further to bolster confidence than repeating "clean and safe".
P.S. I'm jealous- this would be an incredibly fun project to work on.
http://canadianenergyissues.com/2012/03/21/battle-of-the-nuclear-ads-brook-vs-nei/
Well, the natural gas kings seem to be doing quite well with "clean...clean...clean..."
True, but, they don't have to contend with Fukishima, Helen Caldicott or rampant public ignorance of radiation. People aren't threatened by the gas that heats their home in the same way they fear a nuclear reactor.
Indeed. A strange phenomenon considering the actual relative risk.
Consider this story, the month before Fukushima:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41503700/ns/us_news-life/t/dead-after-massive-pa-gas-blast/#.T20mFNVmOk8
"A thunderous gas explosion devastated a rowhouse neighborhood, killing five people.."
Long forgotten now, but more deadly than Fukushima.