OPINION | JEREMY GORDON
Jeremy Gordon is an independent communication consultant with 18 years of experience in the international energy industry. His company Fluent in Energy supports partners of all kinds to communicate matters of clean energy and sustainable development.
A fresh start on an old problem
Learning to communicate properly seems to be a perennial challenge for the nuclear industry. Could the emergence of the new generation of smaller modular and advanced reactors at last teach the nuclear industry how to see past this glaring blind spot?
THE UNIT: Illustration copyright Alexy Kovynev I recently heard a panel of experts in advanced nuclear
power calling for additional public relations efforts that make society aware of the benefits and the reasons we are pursuing nuclear power. “A lot of the delays are not technical. They are political or public perception delays,” J’Tia Hart of Idaho National Laboratory said during the discussion. Hart continued, noting that new energy products enable
“Do you hire psychiatrists? Not yet!”
HE PHYSICS OF THE FISSION reaction may remain the same, but the overall package that a power plant comes in can make all the difference. That’s why small and advanced nuclear units have the chance to play a different technical and social role compared
current nuclear power plant designs. They bring solutions to different problems, although they still face some of the same old issues.
14 | November 2022 |
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new partnerships, some of which are not traditional or obvious. Those new customers and neighbours don’t need to hear the details of a new reactor design. They need to hear how it will improve people’s lives in their communities or boost the economic development of their industry in contrast to occasions in the past when nuclear has not been a good neighbour, especially to indigenous people. This dovetails with the needs of an incoming workforce which doesn’t just want a job that pays but demands a role that has a purpose. Being environmentally responsible and playing a big role in environmental protection, nuclear energy has the moral compass to offer this, but it won’t be recognised unless it has visible advocates who are proud of their work. “These are extrinsic factors that we need to address,” Hart concluded. These were among the views expressed at a session
on small and advanced nuclear at the IAEA General Conference in September. Checking the conference programme to see how many sessions and side events at that huge gathering of 2500 people were focused on this work of ‘engaging with stakeholders’ shorthand for effective communication as a way to influence the public it became clear that out of 92 side events there was just one.
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