Nuke industry spin: Be "reassured" by Japan

As Japan struggles to contain a growing nuclear crisis — with more than 200,000 people evacuated, an explosion at one power plant, and possible meltdowns in several reactors — the American nuclear industry faces a different challenge: how to position itself in the intense public-relations battle that has already started.

This morning I interviewed a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry trade group, to get a sense of the message being pushed by an industry that, with support from President Obama as well as the Republican Party, has been in the early stages of a renaissance.

The most striking claim made by NEI spokesman Mitchell Singer: Americans should be “reassured” by the crisis unfolding in Japan.

“There hasn’t been any significant release of radiation. So obviously they must be doing something right at this point,” said Singer. While acknowledging that the crisis is still in early stages, Singer argued in our interview, and earlier to the Wall Street Journal, that Americans should be reassured because the industry will learn from the accidents in Japan, where fail-safe systems have themselves failed.

http://www.salon.com/news/japan_earthquake/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/03/13/nuclear_industry_response

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opinion: I honestly don’t have a feel for how serious the risks are with the meltdown(s); are they contained or not?

My main source of TV news is’ ‘CNN International’, and their ‘experts’ seem to have a decidedly, ‘Hey, NO PROBLEMO’.

I believe CNN should OWE it to the viewers to say whether the guest is a salesman for the industry trade group – Nuclear Energy Institute, or not.