Nuclear spin

This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch. Welcome 'Welcome to NuclearSpin, a website that tracks the companies, people and organisations behind the campaign to build new nuclear power stations in the UK and worldwide. It aims to provide information on who is influencing the debate about nuclear energy, and the techniques and tactics they use to persuade the public that we need more nuclear power. Hinkley Point C in Somerset, England. Source: Flickr/CCSA Become a contributor NuclearSpin is a free encyclopedia, written collaboratively by a wide variety of volunteers and independent researchers, and is part of Powerbase. If you'd like to help us expand and update our NuclearSpin site, please email our editor Melissa Jones. All contributions, big or small are welcome. About us NuclearSpin was set up in 2006 to track a massive lobbying campaign launched by the nuclear industry. In that same year, the British Government began a public consultation which raised the possibility for the first time in many years that new nuclear power stations could be built. Even though the High Court ruled in 2007 that the Government’s consultation was "misleading, seriously flawed, manifestly inadequate and procedurally unfair", and its plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations were "unlawful", Ministers still pushed ahead. NuclearSpin showed how the Labour Government helped the nuclear industry and documented the close links between nuclear insiders and powerful politicians, such as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper. In 2008, the site was expanded to look at the industry campaign for new nuclear in other countries, expose The Secret Pro-Nuclear Push In British Schools and explain why Nuclear is not the Answer to Climate Change. Nuclear power is now central to the British government’s plans for future energy. But our politicians are not being straight with us about the cost of nuclear power or its safety. For example, the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in May 2010 said there would no public subsidies for nuclear – but the Government is now discussing “contracts guaranteeing subsidies for up to 40 years”. We explore this in our 2012 briefing paper Broken Promises: Subsiding the Nuclear Industry. The Government also colluded with the Nuclear Industry Association to play down the safety implications of the nuclear accident at Fukushima in Japan in 2011. In July 2012, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee concluded that public does not trust the Government to tell the truth about nuclear. It said "the Government's position as an advocate for nuclear power makes it difficult for the public to trust it as an impartial source of information”. This site is designed to help you see through the nuclear spin. Hinkley Point C in Somerset, England. Source: Flickr/CCSA

NuclearSpin Categories Source:Flickr bagalute Industry PR, Lobbying and Consultancy firms Organisations Individuals NuclearSpin News NuclearSpin investigations and documents from this website have been covered by: Spinwatch, Hinkley: A huge contribution towards yesterday’s energy thinking, 28 October 2013 Spinwatch, Ed Davey's nuclear Newspeak, Pete Roche, 17 September 2013 Andy Rowell, Safety fears over elite police officers drunk on duty at UK’s nuclear sites, Independent, 26 June 2013 Spinwatch How the Lib Dems help EDF to fleece the taxpayer, Pete Roche, 02 July 2013 Spinwatch, you spend £1 trillion to buy more nuclear waste?, Pete Roche, 24 June 2013 Spinwatch, Nuclear stealth tax will kill the poor, Pete Roche, 26 March 2013 The Independent, Nuclear boss wants to cut family fuel aid, Andy Rowell and Richard Cookson, 17 March 2013 The Guardian, RWE boss warns over nuclear plant subsidies, Terry Macalister and Richard Cookson, 20 February 2013, which included information from a Spinwatch investigation into Nuclear industry staff seconded to Government ministries, 22 Feb 2013 Spinwatch, The Liberal Democrats' nuclear tax bombshell, Pete Roche, 20 February 2013 The Guardian, Nuclear safety watchdog criticises Sellafield's emergency readiness, Terry Macalister and Richard Cookson, 26 December 2012 also posted on Spinwatch, 27 December 2013 Spinwatch, Nuclear Hospitality of Key Officials Exposed, exclusive by Andy Rowell and Richard Cookson, 28 November 2012 (covered in The Guardian) Spinwatch, Big energy's united front: nuclear, CCS and renewables lobbies in joint push for "diverse energy mix", Pete Roche, Spinwatch, 8 November 2012 the Government about to start lining the pockets of its nuclear friends?, Pete Roche, Spinwatch, 24 October 2012 Rob Edwards, Police trying to neuter anti-nuclear protest, 2 October 2012 Pete Roche, The Treasury and Nuclear Power - if they aren't sane how can we trust them with the nation's finances? 17 July 2012 Pete Roche, Spinwatch When is a Subsidy not a Subsidy?, 22 May 2012 Private Eye Waiving the rules to keep the nuclear power programme on course, Rob Edwards, 21 March 2012 Spinwatch The Coalition is set to break its promise on nuclear, 9 May 2012 Spinwatch, A year after Fukushima, nuclear lobby has Brussels in its grip, 8 March 2012 Briefings To help people understand key issues, NuclearSpin publishes a series of briefings. 9 May 2012: Broken Promises: Subsiding the Nuclear Industry Older briefings can be found in our series of in-depth analysis pieces. You can also search for other articles on the nuclear push at the Spinwatch site.