UK government shared intelligence with nuclear industry to manipulate public opinion

[kristopher]

UK government shared intelligence with nuclear industry, documents show
Greenpeace complains to high court after energy department passes details of legal battle to Nuclear Industry Association
Rob Edwards
guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 December 2011 07.47 EST

The British government has been quietly exchanging intelligence on key policies with multinational companies in an effort to protect and promote their plans for new nuclear power stations, according to internal documents seen by the Guardian.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has also passed the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA), which represents 260 companies, and the French nuclear company, EDF Energy, details of its court battle against Greenpeace, which is trying to block the nuclear plans.

...With the government planning to build eight new nuclear power stations in England and Wales, there is a perception that ministers have been working closely with the industry to manage public opinion and prevent the kind of backlash against the technology that has happened in Germany and Italy.

Internal emails revealed by the Guardian in June showed that British government officials approached nuclear companies to draw up a co-ordinated public relations strategy to play down the Fukushima nuclear accident just two days after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/05/uk-government-intelligence-nuclear-industry?newsfeed=true

[freshwest]

1. Nuclear power and bombs. Never a connection there. Nothing to see here, move along.

[bananas]

2. It's like Dick Cheney's secret energy meetings. nt

[kristopher]

4. In some very significant ways yes.

All of them bad.

[madokie]

3. We have nuclear energy by hook and by crook

the ends justify the means in nuclear talk