nuclear-news

Nuclear front group “Third Way” has now got students spinning for nuclear

Local students advocate for nuclear Post  Register, May 11, 2017   By KEVIN TREVELLYAN  ktrevellyan@postregister.com

Emma Redfoot and Kelley Verner noticed something when marching last year in Chicago in an effort to save two nuclear power plants from decommission

……….Fifty-four percent of Americans oppose nuclear energy, according to a 2016 Gallup poll, up from 43 percent in 2015. Last year was the first time the majority of the country opposed nuclear since Gallup started asking the question in 1994.

Public hesitance to embrace nuclear increases the need for advocacy, centrist [??]  think tank Third Way communications adviser Suzanne Baker said. Baker previously was an INL spokeswoman.

“Nuclear is an often misunderstood technology,” she said. “And advocacy becomes an important way to help humanize and tell the story of the technology in a way that connects with people. Technical information is important and useful, but it doesn’t always tell us why something matters, and advocacy can do that.”…….

Advocacy can make a difference, Baker said. Following the Chicago pro-nuclear march, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill subsidizing operation of the unprofitable Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear generating stations.

Students for Nuclear is focusing its efforts on a handful of other plants that may face decommissioning in coming years. The group has about 70 members who attend colleges across the country.

Over the summer Redfoot and Verner will visit Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state to discuss nuclear advocacy. They’ll also speak at an American Nuclear Society meeting, and Redfoot will speak to the Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences.

The group also is in contact with the Idaho Conservation League and The Nature Conservancy……..

Redfoot and Verner are trying to bolster group membership with students who aren’t studying nuclear, and they’re gathering stories of those who are to add to the Students for Nuclear website.

They want to put faces to the technology………   Reporter Kevin Trevellyan can be reached at 542-6762  http://www.postregister.com/articles/featured-news-daily-email/2017/05/11/local-students-advocate-nuclear#

May 13, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Education, USA