Pandora's Promise on CNN Tonight--Enjoy It!

Pro-Nuclear on TV!

The pro-nuclear documentary Pandora's Promise will be shown on CNN tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time, 8 p.m. Central time.  Plus, for the night owls, there will be encore showings on CNN, starting at 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.

Banned in Germany!

This pro-nuclear documentary is creating a lot of interest and a lot of anger.  We are lucky to be able to see it.  It's banned-in-Germany.  Okay, that is an exaggeration.   The movie is not banned, it's just that no TV station in Europe will air it.  Here's Rod Adams post on the European refusal to show it.   (Warning...video clip includes some sailor-language.)

Supported by Environmentalists!

Top climate change scientists from Carnegie Institute, Columbia University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Adelaide wrote a open letter in favor of nuclear energy.  A quote from the letter:  ...in the real world there is no credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power.

Lied about by the Sierra Club!

Aww...just watch the clip below in which the head of the Sierra Club talks about how the U.S. has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions--because the price of solar panels is falling fast! Puh-leeze. Robert Stone, the director of Pandora's Promise, points out that natural gas is replacing coal in the U.S.  Solar is not replacing coal.

For some reason, the Sierra Club talks about solar, not natural gas. (snark alert)

Gee, in the old days, (2007-2010), the Sierra Club quietly accepted  $26 million dollars from Chesapeake Energy, a natural gas producer. In those days,  the Sierra Club was not so reluctant to expound on the virtues of natural gas.




Available in your living room!

Watch Pandora's Promise!  Watch it tonight!


Personal Note:

I saw Pandora's Promise at Dartmouth several months ago. Robert Stone presented the movie at key universities.  It's a wonderful documentary, and Robert Stone carefully checked everything for accuracy. He had layers of review of the facts presented in the movie. Of course, this doesn't keep nuclear opponents from calling him a liar.  Sigh. But what do you expect....

Also, watch out for the "no true Scotsman" logical fallacy being applied to this movie. As in "no true environmentalist..." etc.

92nd Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers at ANS Nuclear Cafe

The Vermont Yankee Edition

The 92nd Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers is up at ANS Nuclear Cafe. This one is of special interest to the readers of this blog. At the top of the Carnival post, compiler Dan Yurman writes that we might as well call the Carnival the "Vermont Yankee" edition because of all the news coming out of that state about that reactor.

The 92nd Carnival includes links to the three excellent NEI Nuclear Notes blog posts on the hatchet-job CNN program. It includes ANS Nuclear Cafe posts by Tamar Cerafici on a Plain English review of the Court Decision, and the post by Howard Shaffer on the politics of States Rights in Vermont and other states. There are links to some recent Yes Vermont Yankee posts, including the Vermont AG's appeal of the court's ruling. Will Davis, at Atomic Power Review debunks the Vermont Yankee CNN program. Yes, a large part of this Carnival is the Vermont Yankee edition.

Beyond Vermont

Of course, there's a wide world beyond Vermont. Brian Wang of Next Big Fugure reports on nuclear generation figures world-wide, and on the Areva Anteres reactor. Dan Yurman at Idaho Samizdat reports on the Areva HTGR design for process heat applications. He also reports the result of a face-to-face meeting between U.K. Prime Minister Cameron and French President Sarkozy. The meeting led to a deal involving Areva reactors to be built in the U K. Rod Adams of Atomic Insights looks at the relationship between M I T and natural gas money. and Cheryl Rofer of Nuclear Diner explores the music of the (very little) spheres in the gammaphone. You read that right, the gamma-phone. She also describes the nuclear technology NASA needs for space exploration. Meanwhile, at Nuke Power Talk, Gail Marcus describes the relationship between regulators and regulated in Japan. It's not a pretty sight, unless you think regulators should depend on the regulated for...their own next job.

Come to the Carnival! Learn about Vermont Yankee! Learn about Areva! Learn about Japan! The Carnival is great reading all the time, and especially when it is the Vermont Yankee edition.

Two Vermont Yankee Links From Today

Last night, many of us watched the twenty minutes of direct lies and half-truths that CNN is showing about Vermont Yankee. Today, two of the top nuclear bloggers wrote about the CNN show, and I encourage you to read their posts:

At Idaho Samizdat, Dan Yurman writes: Vermont Yankee in the Spotlight. It is cast as the central figure on CNN horror flick.

At Atomic Insights, Rod Adams posts CNN's carefully timed attack on nuclear energy and NRC credibility. Among other things, Rod figures out how CNN managed to make the NRC look so very unresponsive.

Enjoy the Carnival and these recent posts, too.

CNN Hatchet Job about Vermont Yankee

The Hatchet is Raised

CNN doesn't want both sides of the story on Vermont Yankee. A CNN show is airing today and tomorrow: U S Nuclear Plants Similar to Fukushima Raise Concerns. The show is basically a hatchet job on all Mark 1 reactors, with extra-special attention to Vermont Yankee. The trailer includes extensive interviews with Arnie Gundersen, scary music, and a segment that makes the NRC look like a bunch of stone-walling idiots. Watch the trailer if you have a strong tummy.

Why do I say CNN doesn't want both sides of the story? Well, some of it is just seeing the trailer. Some of it is personal. CNN called me in November about getting both sides of the story, but they never called back or interviewed me. They never interviewed Howard Shaffer or any other plant supporter whom I know. To me, it's all adding up to a show that Helen Caldicott would love. It will air tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET and PT. But you can make a difference!

The Audience Strikes Back

Pro-nuclear bloggers have already put up some excellent blog posts about this show:

Eric McErlain at the Nuclear Energy Institute blog Nuclear Notes wrote a Preview of CNN's Report on Vermont Yankee. His post includes a video of American nuclear plants withstanding flood, tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes...all in 2011! McErlain also notes that CNN never called the Nuclear Energy Institute about this program. (So it's not just me, Eric. I'm glad to know that...)

McErlain also posted Some Facts on Vermont Yankee That Didn't Make the CNN Report and How Safe is Vermont Yankee? Ask the NRC, not CNN. The latter has great links to the NRC reports on VY safety and operation.

Meanwhile, at Atomic Power Review's February 17 post, Will Davis has links to everything you would possibly want to know about Mark 1 reactor safety and containment. Great job, Will!

The more general audience has also struck back. At the main CNN page about the upcoming video, there are over 1000 comments at this writing. Many of the comments are pro-nuclear. At a webpage CNN wrote about the comments on the original page (the page about the page is called overheard on CNN) CNN notes that the comment below has the most "Likes".

Jack Baker: "We have been using nuclear power for over 50 years, and there have been very few serious incidents, and only a couple of incidents with injuries or radiation release. And considering that the quantity of waste by-product is significantly less than any other type of power generation, including natural gas, how can people be so adamant against nuclear power?"

You Can Take Action and Let People Know What You Think

The first and most simple action would be to go to the CNN page about the video, register, and post a comment. You can also post a comment on that page through Facebook or Disqus or Twitter. Most of the people who have commented on the page are using screen names. If you want a screen name, I think that the CNN registration is the easiest way to get one.

You can also comment on the

CNN Presents Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cnnpresents. I just did. Obviously, my name appears on the comment. (Update. My comment disappeared from FB and will probably appear on the CNN page. I should have expected that...)

You can also tweet to @cnnpresents and @amberlyon (Amber Lyon is the reporter.) I recommend that you tweet while the show airs, sometimes called live-tweeting. Live-tweeting would probably be most effective way to comment with Twitter.

Don't sit by while extremely biased reporting and scary music set the nuclear agenda for Vermont. Say something!