On
Feb. 9 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) made history, paving the
way for two new nuclear reactors to be built in Georgia. According to
CNN.com, they would provide enough energy to power a million homes [1]. One broadcast network responded by only finding critics of the project, while the other two barely mentioned the news.
ABC
“World News with Diane Sawyer” aired a one-sided story on Feb. 9,
including only opposition to the “historic” announcement for a new
nuclear plant in Georgia, the first in three decades. CBS didn’t mention
it at all that night, while NBC “Nightly News” offered a news brief. In
the few days that followed CBS and NBC provided three more news briefs
about the NRC’s decision, according to a Nexis search..
Diane
Sawyer began the “World News” story saying “the debate about safety has
already begun.” But ABC didn’t supply a debate, they provided an
anti-nuclear hit piece instead. Reporter Steve Osunsami first reminded
viewers of the scary Three Mile Island disaster. He failed to mention
that incident did not injure or kill anyone and no long-term health
impacts have been proven.
Osunsami
included two opponents of the decision, Gregory Jaczko of the NRC and
Edwin Lymna of the left-wing Union of Concerned Scientists. Jaczko was
outvoted by four other members of the NRC, but none of them were
included in the ABC report. Osunsami made sure to mention that “on the
Internet the opposition is already mounting” and families near the plant
might sue.
Noticeably absent from ABC’s report was any proponent of the project or nuclear energy itself.
According to the NRC’s press release [2],
the 4-1 vote makes way for the NRC to grant licenses (COLs), something
they expect to do within 10 business days after “inspection and testing
of squib valves.”
The networks responded in much the same way they have in the past, by either ignoring nuclear energy [3]
or by attacking it. The 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island
terrified many, but not only because of communications problems with
industry and government officials. There were also plenty of frightening
news reports with predictions that ultimately didn’t happen, driven in
part by an anti-nuclear Hollywood film called “The China Syndrome.” [4]
That
fictional thriller was released just days before the reactor shutdown
at TMI. Unfortunately, thanks to the timing and the news media the
“China Syndrome” became nearly synonymous with Three Mile Island despite
stark differences. A 1999 PBS documentary about TMI (which extensively
quotes a writer of “The China Syndrome”) revealed that at least one
national publication picked which reporters to send to Harrisburg, Pa.
based on whether or not they’d seen the movie.
