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SW: →The propaganda wing of the U.S. nuclear industry: Modified the text to make it seem more objectivel.
[[Image:NEI Coaster.jpg|250px|A NEI beer coaster distributed at an international meeting on global warming in approximately 2002.|right|thumb]]According to its website, the '''Nuclear Energy Institute''' (NEI) is "the policy organization of the [[nuclear energy]] and technologies industry and participates in both the national and global policy-making process. NEI's objective is to ensure the formation of policies that promote the beneficial uses of nuclear energies and technologies in the United States and around the world." [http://www.nei.org/aboutnei/]
==The propaganda wing public-information organization of the U.S. nuclear industry==
The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI){{ref|NEI}} is described by Dr Helen Caldicott - a pediatrician and long-standing nuclear critic - as "the propaganda wing and trade group for the American nuclear industry [which] spends millions of dollars annually to engineer public opinion".<ref>Dr Helen Caldicott, [http://www.no2nuclearpower.org.uk/reviews/index.php''Nuclear Power is not the Answer''], The New Press, 2006.</ref>
NEI’s objective is to ensure the formation of policies that promote the “beneficial uses” beneficial uses of nuclear energy in the United States and around the world. It has over 280 corporate members in 15 countries, including companies that operate nuclear power plants, as well as design and engineering firms, fuel suppliers and service companies, and labor unions.<ref>[http://www.nei.org/index.asp?catnum=2&catid=136 NEI Profile,] NEI website.</ref>
NEI is governed by a 47-member board of directors and has more than 130 employees. NEI's board includes representatives from the nation's 27 nuclear utilities, plant designers, architect/engineering firms, and fuel cycle companies. Eighteen members of the board serve on the executive committee, which is responsible for NEI's business and policy affairs.<ref>"[http://nei.org/aboutnei/governanceandleadership/ Governance and leadership]," NEI website, accessed March 2008.</ref> NEI also takes part in [[Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth]], a group funded by the gas, oil, electric and nuclear industries. <ref>"[http://nei.org/newsandevents/allianceforenergy/ Alliance for Energy & Economic Growth Calls for Comprehensive National Energy Policy]," NEI press release, May 2, 2001.</ref>
In recent years, the NEI has used a whole host variety of techniques and tactics approaches to try and win the PR battle to secure a new generation of offering positive information about nuclear power plants.
===Sponsoring auto racers===
NEI sponsors Swiss auto racer [[Simona De Silvestro]], "the second woman in the 34-year history of the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda to win a race with her victory in the Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach." After her historic April 2008 win, De Silvestro said, "It was a very tough weekend, especially on Friday, but we got everything together. ... For the race, I was pretty confident, because the car felt really good. ... I also need to thank the Nuclear Energy Institute for supporting me. I am proud to be a brand ambassador for the Nuclear Clean Air Energy Initiative." <ref>"[http://www.champcaratlantic.com/News/Article.asp?ID=3343 De Silvestro Becomes Second Woman to Win in Atlantic Championship Competition with Victory in Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach]," Champ Car Atlantic News, April 20, 2008.</ref>
===Spinning Information on nuclear energy as "an emission-free"electricity source===
Bowman's words formed part of a carefully-crafted public relations campaign. According to the leading PR magazine, ''O'Dwyers'': "The H&K (Hill and Knolwton) campaign plays up nuke power as a major player when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases". <ref>''Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter'', "H&K Extols Nuke Power", Vol. 39, No. 7; February 15, 2006, p1</ref>
In March 2008, a press release from the [[Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization]], an industry association "advancing the development, commercialization and global adoption of clean technologies and sustainable industry practices," listed NEI as a member. <ref>Press release, "[http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/clean-technology-tour-participants-create-big-footprint-in-dc-results-of,311943.shtml Clean Technology Tour Participants Create Big Footprint in DC--Results of Tour to be Presented at Clean Technology 2008]," Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization via Business Wire, March 12, 2008.</ref>
===The power behind the nuclear resurgence===
Opponents of nuclear energy regard NEI is as undoubtedly the power behind the current resurgence in nuclear power in the US.<ref>Lisa Rainwater van Suntum, [http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2005Q1/nuke2.html "Spinning Nuclear Power into Green",]''PR Watch'', Volume 12 No.1</ref> In March 2006 it launched its largest campaign in years to build support for nuclear energy, acciording to the ''Wall Street Journal''<ref>John Fialka, [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113918919762465643.html?mod=todays_us_page_one "Nuclear Industry Plans Ad Push for New Plants",] ''Wall Street Journal,'' February 6, 2006. </ref> and ''PR Week''.<ref>Michael Bush, "NEI Efforts Aims to Build Support for Nuclear Plants", ''PR Week'', February 13, 2006</ref> The ad campaign - run by the PR firm [[Hill & Knowlton]] to promote a "nuclear renaissance" – aimed to prepare the ground for as many as four proposals for nuclear plants that are expected to enter the licensing process at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2007. NEI's Scott Peterson said the goal is to "build a broader base of bipartisan support, both in Washington and across the country." <ref>Smith & Harroff, [http://www.smithharroff.com/cs_nei.htm ''Two Cases Studies on Advertising Campaigns by Smith & Harroff for NEI'']</ref>
The campaign had three themes; firstly to show that the widely held belief earlier beliefs that the public does not want nuclear power is incorrect; secondly to show that nuclear energy is consistent with environmentalism; and thirdly that nuclear power should be part of a portfolio of sources to wean the US off foreign sources of energy.
In January 2007, the NEI predicted a huge expansion of nuclear plants in the US - saying they had seen over 30 letters of intent to build new plants. "We see a wave,” said Steve Kerekes, from the NEI. "We definitely believe it’s going to be a whole new era of new plant construction in this country.”<ref>Mike Stuckey, [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16272910/ "New Nuclear Power 'Wave’ — or Just a Ripple? How Millions for Lobbying, Campaigns Helped Fuel U.S. Industry's Big Plans"], ''MSNBC'', January 22, 2007</ref>
===NEI attacks myth debunkersdefends against attackers===
In October 2006 the New York City-based Grass Roots Action Center for the Environment (GRACE) published a report entitled “False Promises: Debunking Nuclear Industry Propaganda”.<ref>GRACE Energy Initiative, [http://www.graceenergyinitiative.org/download/FalsePromises.pdf ''False Promises: Debunking Nuclear Industry Propaganda'',] October 2006.</ref> NEI’s response was published in a matter of days claiming that the GRACE report was full of “gross inaccuracies and blatant misrepresentations” and that NEI had produced a “point-by-point discrediting of the report’s fallacious conclusions”.<ref>NEI, [http://www.nei.org/doc.asp?docid=1633 ''NEI Exposes Grace Myths with Facts''], October 26, 2006.</ref>
In September 2006 the NEI ran full page ads calling on Congress to "Fix Yucca Mountain." It was part of NEI's campaign to pressurize Congress to pass legislation that would boost progress in opening up the repository for highly-radioactive nuclear waste that has been blocked by lawsuits for several years.<ref>''UPI'', "Nuke Lobby Says Yucca Needs Help", September 12, 2006 </ref>
The NEI is was hoping that President Bush will would fix the problem in his last two years in office. "The president has been a strong friend of nuclear, and we would certainly like to see legislation advance under his administration," Michael Bauser, an NEI associate general counsel said.<ref>''Associated Press'', "Industry Group Floating Bill to Speed Opening of Yucca Mountain", 21 September, 2006</ref>
==="Clean, safe" pro-nuclear [[front group]]partner organization===
[[Hill & Knowlton]] and NEI have also been involved in the setting up of a pro-nuclear front group. In April 2006, the ''New York Times'',<ref>Matthew L. Ward , [http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/us/25nuke.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q26exQ3D1146974400Q26enQ3D993d75a6dbd2c2e3Q26eiQ3D5070&OP=b008760Q2FesYieQ22hQ3EgQ3BhhJAeA((xe(Q5BeACeQ7CgeACuQ7CaYQ3A_JQ5C8 "Ex-Environmental Leaders Tout Nuclear Energy",] ''New York Times'' April 25, 2006 </ref> reported on the formation of the [[Clean and Safe Energy Coalition]]. It said that a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, “acknowledged that it was providing all of the financing, but would not say what the budget was". Former New Jersey Governor and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, [[Christine Whitman]], and former environmentalist, [[Patrick Moore]], were hired to lead this new public relations campaign for new reactors. The formation of the new [[front group]] coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_accident]
The [[Clean and Safe Energy Coalition]] was described as a front group forged by [[Hill & Knowlton]] for the nuclear power industry, by the ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (CJR).<ref>[http://www.cjr.org/issues/2006/4/editorial.asp "False Fronts: Why to Look Behind the Label",] ''Columbia Journalism Review'' July-August 2006, Editorial.</ref> The ''Review'' criticised the ''Washington Post'' for simply referring to Moore as an “environmentalist” and a cofounder of Greenpeace — without mentioning that he is funded by the industry.
A string of other newspapers followed this, failing to mention that Moore is also a paid spokesman for the nuclear industry. CJR concluded that it is “…maddening that Hill & Knowlton, which has an $8 million account with the nuclear industry, should have such an easy time working the press”.
The words "Clean" and "Safe" were deliberately used chosen as part of the nuclear industry's mult-million pound dollar campaign to repackage describe itself. It is interesting that the The industry carries on continues using these words even after similar campaigns were found to be misleadingdespite opposition from anti-nuclear groups.
===NEI ghostwriters===
In April 2004 ''The Austin Chronicle'' <ref>William M. Adler [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A206880 "Will Shill for Nukes",] ''Austin Chronicle'', April 16, 2004.</ref> revealed that NEI had hired the [[Potomac Communications Group]] <ref>[http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Potomac_Communications_Group Potomac Communications Group,] Sourcewatch 2005.</ref> to ghostwrite pro-nuclear op-ed columns to be submitted to local newspapers under the name of local personalities. Other clients of this Washington DC-based public relations firm include: [[Areva]], [[Bechtel]], [[BWX Technologies]], [[Entergy]] and [[Washington Group International]].
===Criticism for saying nuclear is clean ===
In 20041998, NEI had released ''Vision 2020: Powering Tomorrow with Clean Nuclear Energy'' - a report calling for the building National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of 50 new nuclear power plantsBetter Business Bureaus found that some advertising claims were misleading. NEI adjusted its advertising and NAD has made no further criticisms.<ref>NEI, [http://www.nei.org/index.asp?catnum=2&catid=143 Vision2020: Powering Tomorrow with Clean Nuclear Energy,] NEI website, 2004 <newsandevents/advertisingruling/ref> It promoted nuclear power as "clean energy" or “the largest source of clean-air, carbon-free energy in North America". The NEI continues to produce adverts with this message today, despite the fact that it directly defies a 1998 ruling by the Appeals National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. NAD stated that the NEI should "discontinue" its "inaccurate" advertisements that claim nuclear power is clean. The NAD called on NEI to terminate its advertisements to "avoid any potential for consumer confusion and that broadRuling; Advertising, Aimed at Policymakers, unqualified claims that nuclear energy is 'Environmentally Clean' or produces electricity 'without polluting the environment' be discontinuedSupported By Fact". ]</ref><ref>Lisa Rainwater van Suntum, [http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2005Q1/nuke2.html "Spinning Nuclear Power into Green",]''PR Watch'', Volume 12 No.1</ref> In their decision, the NAD noted that nuclear energy cannot be considered "environmentally clean" for several reasons. First, the uranium enrichment process relies heavily on electricity generated from coal-burning plants that produce "a significant amount of greenhouse gases." And perhaps most importantly, unlike other forms of energy, nuclear power produces toxic, radioactive waste, for which no safe method of disposal has been approved.
==Quietly lobbying local communities to accept waste==