Nuke lobbyists to spend millions on new campaign

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The nation's top nuclear power lobby group is planning another public relations campaign to promote the industry, and possibly to advance the stalled Yucca Mountain program.

The Washington-based Nuclear Energy Institute is planning to hire a public relations firm to launch a campaign that would "dovetail" with a resurgence of interest among lawmakers and White House officials in constructing new nuclear plants, NEI spokesman Steve Kerekes said.

"We're in the midst of putting together a broad outreach effort to promote nuclear energy to the next level," Kerekes said.

The campaign would focus primarily on promoting nuclear power to serve the nation's energy needs, Kerekes said. Nuclear plants generate roughly 20 percent of the nation's electricity, and industry officials have been elated with the interest of President Bush and lawmakers in constructing a new generation of U.S. nuclear plants. A comprehensive energy bill signed by Bush last week contained industry incentives such as tax breaks for new plants.

Nuclear industry officials have long touted the emissions-free benefits of nuclear plant-generated electricity and in recent years have talked about a "renaissance" in nuclear power.

It's not clear how much the campaign would focus on Yucca Mountain, Kerekes said.

Yucca has suffered budget cuts in recent years and NEI plans to continue to goad Congress this year to approve new rules that would give the Energy Department more access to a national nuclear waste fund, Kerekes said. Many lawmakers have been reluctant to give up their authority to set Yucca budget caps.

The overall campaign likely would be long, possibly several years, Kerekes said. NEI is reviewing bids from public relations firms and could spend up to $8 million for the effort, industry newsletter Energy Daily reported on Tuesday. Kerekes would not confirm the amount.

"It could be more, could be less," he said.

The Energy Department's Yucca Mountain program has suffered some high-profile setbacks and bad publicity. Most recently, Nevada officials last week said they likely would challenge in court a radiation standard they view as "outrageously" lax. The Energy Department also launched an investigation after it revealed in March that Yucca worker e-mails suggested quality assurance documents had been falsified.

NEI is experienced with public relations campaigns. Along with a massive lobbying effort, the group in 2002 led an expensive campaign that included newspaper ads and television commercials designed to win the support of Congress for Yucca Mountain in a crucial vote.

Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency director Bob Loux said another NEI public relations campaign mounted in the 1990s in Nevada backfired, generating more negativity toward Yucca in the state.

Loux said he was not surprised, nor too worried, that NEI was launching a new public relations campaign.

"Historically, NEI has not been very effective at these kinds of things," Loux said. "So I'm not too concerned. You can't publicize away the fact that it (Yucca) is a bad scientific site."

The $8 million would dwarf what Nevada and anti-Yucca groups will spend on public relations this year. The state spends several million dollars a year on anti-Yucca legal work and watchdog activities. But Nevada pays only $2,500 a month for what could be called public relations.

The money is paid to keep Las Vegas firm Brown and Partners on retainer, mostly to produce an electronic newsletter, Loux said.

It's hard to believe a broad NEI public relations campaign would not contain a significant focus on Yucca Mountain, given that Yucca is a critical to the industry's plan to construct new plants, said anti-Yucca activist Kevin Kamps.

"From our perspective, Yucca has always been central to their nuclear renaissance plan, or nuclear relapse, as we call it," Kamps said.

Kamps noted that in 2003, one year after NEI worked to win Congress' formal approval of Yucca, NEI and Exelon Corp., along with public relations firm Direct Impact, detailed the industry's success in a presentation for the Public Affairs Council.

One slide reads, "Why We Were Successful" with a giant "$" underneath.

"It looks like they are up to their old tricks," said Kamps, a nuclear waste specialist with Nuclear Information and Resource Service, which obtained a copy of the presentation.

"It's ($8 million) a daunting figure, but we won't be daunted," Kamps said. "We'll fight it. Their attitude is let's have the best Congress and White House money can buy."

NEI serves as the top industry lobby group in Washington, and is a leader in advocating Yucca Mountain. The group was established in 1994 when several industry organizations merged. Its members include more than 250 corporate members in 13 countries, according to the organization.

NEI has its own in-house lobbyists and hires others. NEI also operates a political action committee that gives money to members of Congress. It gave about $150,000 to 82 lawmakers in the 2004 election cycle.