nuclear-news

Sins of omission in mainstream media’s praise of nuclear power

Major Media Sing Nuclear Praises Washington Spectator, January 7, 2014  |  by Joe Mangano  The nuclear power industry is having its roughest time since reactors were first conceived in the 1950s. Health risks are at the core of the problem……Closer to home, things are not going well. U.S. reactors are aging and leaking more often as they reach the end of their operating lives…..Chief executives of utilities, faced with high costs of maintaining old reactors and skidding stock prices, say they’re considering more closings.

But recent major media stories make one think that all is rosy………

But in addition to what big media is reporting, an equally disturbing trend is what it is omitting—especially at Fukushima, including:

-The ongoing story about the perilous attempt to move rods at containing high-level nuclear waste

-Last week’s study by Fukushima Medical University which documented 26 actual and 33 suspected thyroid cancer cases in local children since 2011 (one or two is normal), and that a staggering 56 percent of the children have pre-cancerous thyroid nodules or cysts

-A November 2 story by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announcing University of Alaska-Fairbanks scientists’ discovery of rising radiation levels in Alaskan waters from Japanese fallout—which they estimated will match the high levels at the apex of above-ground atomic bomb testing in the 1960s

Major media coverage has ignored or made deceptive claims on nuclear health and safety issues………..

The fault lies with a media that fall short of standards of good journalism so integral to a free society. Along with Fukushima and other meltdowns, a growing number of scientific studies link routine emissions from aging, leaking reactors to high local cancer rates. This “dirty laundry” terrifies leaders of the powerful nuclear industry. Fearing this information will speed the demise of their product, they encourage the all-too-obliging media to say anything to stop the current slide.http://washingtonspectator.org/index.php/Media/major-media-sing-nuclear-praises.html#.Us2hYdJDt9U

January 8, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | media