The Realism Project: It's time to get real

摘要

Do we already have analysis and data to show that the ultimate casualty—a meltdown with damaged containment—cannot cause a significant number of deaths? If not, what more would it take? The nuclear community ago-nizes over its inability to communicate its message to the public. We hire public relations experts, pollsters, and communication consultants to polish up our messages of reassurance. But PR expertise cannot overcome a basic problem: Our credibility is continually undermined by ostensibly authoritative statements that no amount of radiation is small enough to be harmless and that a nuclear casualty could kill as many as hundreds of thousands of people. That message we have communicated, and therefore the public and the media are not wholly to blame for the resulting public fear of radiation and all things nuclear. We cannot expect people to believe our assurances of safety so long as we acquiesce in terrifying messages to the contrary.