Even nuclear defenders begin to have their doubts

[GLT]

Analysis: Even nuclear defenders begin to have their doubts
•
By Ben Berkowitz
NEW YORK | Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:23pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even the most ardent defenders of nuclear power
are starting to admit the situation in Japan looks bad.
The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi complex is now generally held to
be significantly bigger than the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island
in 1979. Some fear it could yet become as grave as the explosion that
tore apart the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine in 1986 and spewed
a radioactive cloud over Europe.
While the believers in the promise of nuclear energy haven't yet
become non-believers they are more questioning than they were and in
an increasing number of cases are willing to acknowledge that the
disaster reflects poorly on the industry.
On March 14, the Wall Street Journal carried an opinion piece from
author William Tucker condemning those who were expressing concern
about nuclear safety when there was the full devastation from the
earthquake and tsunami to focus on.
"With all the death, devastation and disease now threatening tens of
thousands in Japan, it is trivializing and almost obscene to spend so
much time worrying about damage to a nuclear reactor," said Tucker,
whose 2008 book "Terrestrial Energy" is an argument for nuclear power.
On Thursday, Tucker told Reuters the situation had changed since his
article.
"I think that story probably has to be revised, we seem to be in
deeper water now than we were originally," he said. "I think we are
facing another Chernobyl now or something on that order."
Tucker remains an advocate for the promise of nuclear power, but he
acknowledges there is an engineering challenge that has to be
addressed.
"There's going to be a lot of rethinking," he said. "The point I've
been making to people is that nuclear is an evolving technology."
Tucker is not alone. It has become hard for proponents of nuclear
energy to ignore the blown-out roofs, damaged container vessels,
compromised spent fuel pools and clouds of radioactive steam -- and
the resulting terror that has swept Japan.
That is starting to reshape the message about the advantages of
nuclear power, for America and the world.
"Nothing is worse than fear and nothing sells like fear. If you're an
anti-nuclear advocate this is perfect to use to drum up fear -- 'let's
shut them down, this could happen here,'" said Michael Sitrick,
chairman of the public relations firm Sitrick & Co. and a top name in
crisis communications.
They're going to use Japan to say 'tell me there's no difference,' and
it's up to the industry to say 'oh yes there is,'" Sitrick said.
DEFENSES WOBBLE
Those who spoke out early to play down what was going on at the Tokyo
Electric Power Co complex may now be reconsidering their words, or at
least the strength of them.
One prominent change of view that has made the rounds of the Internet
in the last few days came from risk management expert Josef Oehmen at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Oehmen sent an email to family and friends following the earthquake,
which made its way to a blog and became a viral sensation online. In
the mail, he attempted to explain how the reactor and its safety
procedures worked, and why the sum total of information suggested his
family in Japan would be safe.
What ensued was a firestorm, as people accused Oehmen of getting his
facts wrong, being a nuclear shill and trying to mislead the public.
Subsequently Oehmen issued an explanatory note on the blog, and the
original posting was moved to a website run by MIT's Department of
Nuclear Science and Engineering, where it has since been updated and
edited.
"Whether my unwavering trust in my fellow engineers of 50 years ago
who designed and build the plant, or my complete trust and admiration
of my fellow engineers who are currently operating the reactors makes
me a level-headed guy or right-out stupid is also hotly debated. Most
people hope for the former, but some opt for the latter," Oehmen said
the explanatory note.
Sitrick's colleague Lew Phelps, a veteran of public relations in the
energy industry, said it is now incumbent on the American nuclear
power lobby to take a proactive stance and make the point that what
happened in Japan cannot, for a variety of reasons, happen here.
"It would be very easy for the U.S. nuclear industry, to whatever
extent it's being raised as an issue, to differentiate U.S. power
plants from Chernobyl," Phelps said.
CAUSING COMPLICATIONS
The nuclear lobby has at least begun that effort, though at the same
time it admits that it faces some challenges.
The Nuclear Energy Institute is the policy arm of the nuclear
technology industry. The home page of its website offers no fewer than
three different links to the same mostly optimistic information page
on the disaster in Japan.
In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, NEI executives said
they were hard at work meeting with legislators and policymakers to
answer their questions and push for the development of new reactors
domestically.
Yet even as they struck an upbeat note on future reactor construction,
they also admitted there will be roadblocks.
"I think this certainly will complicate already very complicated
efforts to put together energy legislation in the Senate," said Alex
Flint, senior vice president of governmental affairs for the NEI.
The NEI is in many ways doing what any trade group would do, defending
its industry in a time of crisis.
But even those who follow the NEI's work, and believe in it, say there
is little positive to be said right now, given all that is happening
in Japan.
"I've been a supporter of nuclear power for years, and all I can say
is, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," said Noel Corngold, an emeritus
physics professor at CalTech with more than 50 years' experience in
academia.

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz, editing by Martin Howell)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/17/us-japan-quake-nuclear-defenders-idUSTRE72G8WU20110317?pageNumber=2