Should the Nuclear Energy Industry Be More Confrontational With Its Critics?

From time to time, readers of NEI Nuclear Notes have urged our industry to get more confrontational with our critics in the public space. Last night up in Peterborough, Ontario, one Greenpeace volunteer, Shawn-Patrick Stensil, ran straight into a number of industry advocates who had obviously had enough:

Early into Stensil's presentation Martyn Wash, general manager of the Organization of Candu Industries, asked Stensil if he was a scientist and questioned his credibility.

The two got into a heated conversation during the question and answer portion of the evening, each accusing the other of providing misinformation.

"They come here and tell half-truths," Wash said, referring to Stensil and Greenpeace.

Wash told The Examiner Greenpeace bases their argument from facts and figures dating back to the ’50s and ’60s.

"Greenpeace presents a story based on falsehoods," Wash said.

It is important to have a dialogue on the future of nuclear energy, Wash said, but there needs to be balance.

While something tells me the conversation was probably a bit more substantive, this is something I'd like to see more of -- much like the work my colleague Lisa Stiles-Shell did last year when Helen Caldicott embarked on her book tour.