Nuclear Energy Institute

Nuclear Energy Institute
Logo of the Nuclear Energy Institute.

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is a nuclear industry lobbying group in the United States.

Contents

Synopsis

According to its website, the NEI "develops policy on key legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry. NEI then serves as a unified industry voice before the U.S. Congress, executive branch agencies and federal regulators, as well as international organizations and venues. NEI also provides a forum to resolve technical and business issues for the industry. Finally, NEI provides accurate and timely information on the nuclear industry to members, policymakers, the news media and the public." In practice, this takes the form of representing the nuclear industry's interests before Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as serving as an industry think tank in order to influence public policy.

The nuclear energy industry that NEI represents and serves includes: Commercial electricity generation; Nuclear medicine including diagnostics and therapy; Food processing and agricultural applications; Industrial and manufacturing applications; Uranium mining and processing; Nuclear fuel and radioactive materials manufacturing; Transportation of radioactive materials; and Nuclear waste management

NEI is governed by a 47-member board of directors. The board includes representatives from the nation's 27 nuclear utilities, plant designers, architect/engineering firms and fuel cycle companies. Eighteen members of the board serve on the executive committee, which is responsible for NEI's business and policy affairs.

History

The Institute was founded in 1994 [1] from the merger of several nuclear energy industry organizations, the oldest of which was created in 1953. Specifically, in 1994, NEI was formed from the merger of the Nuclear Utility Management and Resources Council (NUMARC), which addressed generic regulatory and technical issues; the U.S. Council for Energy Awareness (USCEA), which conducted a national communications program; the American Nuclear Energy Council (ANEC), which conducted government affairs; and the nuclear division of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which handled issues involving used nuclear fuel management, nuclear fuel supply, and the economics of nuclear energy. In 1987, NUMARC and USCEA were created through a division of the Atomic Industrial Forum (AIF). USCEA was originally founded in 1979 as the U.S. Committee for Energy Awareness. AIF was created in 1953 to focus on the beneficial uses of nuclear energy. This was two years before the international “Atoms for Peace” conference held in Geneva in 1955, marking the dawn of the nuclear age.

Current issues

In addition to its core mission, NEI also sponsors a number of public communications efforts to build support for the industry and the expansion of nuclear energy, a number of which have come under attack from environmentalists and anti-nuclear activists. In 2006, NEI founded the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition (CASEnergy) to help build local support around the country for new nuclear construction. The co-chairs of the coalition are Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore and former United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ Secretary and New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. As of April 2006, CASEnergy boasted 427 organizations and 454 individuals as members.[2]

In April 2004, the Austin Chronicle reported that NEI has hired the Potomac Communications Group to ghostwrite pro-nuclear op-ed columns to be submitted to local newspapers under the name of local residents.[3] In 2003 story in the Columbus Dispatch,[4] NEI said that it engaged a public affairs agency to identify individuals with technical expertise in the nuclear energy industry to participate in the public debate. However, as many of these individuals have little experience in opinion writing for a non-technical audience, the agency provides assistance if requested, a common industry practice.

In 1999, Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission [5] charging that an NEI advertising campaign overstated the environmental benefits of nuclear energy to consumers living in markets where sales of electricity had been deregulated. In a ruling the following December, the FTC rejected those claims concluding: NEI did not violate the law; agreed that the advertisements were directed to policymakers and opinion leaders in forums that principally reach those who set national policy on energy and environmental issues, and therefore did not constitute "commercial speech"; noted that in different circumstances, such as direct marketing of electricity, such advertising could be considered commercial speech and be subject to stricter substantiation.

The Institute continues to run ads with similar content, most recently debuting a new ad in September 2006 [6] touting nuclear energy's non-emitting character and the role it can play in reducing American dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas.

In 2008, Greenpeace criticised NEI's public relations efforts and suggested that NEI's advertising about nuclear power was an example of greenwashing.[7] In the first quarter of 2008 the NEI spent $320,000 on lobbying the US federal government. Besides Congress, the nuclear group lobbied the White House, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy and others in the first three months of the year. The NEI spent $1.3 million to lobby the federal government in 2007.[8]

Key personnel

See also

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nuclear energy policy of the United States — For other uses, see Nuclear policy of the United States. George W. Bush signing the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which gave extensive funding and aid to help reinvigorate the nuclear industry in America. The nuclear energy policy of the United… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear energy policy by country — Contents 1 List 2 Africa 2.1 Algeria 2.2 Egypt …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear Control Institute — The Nuclear Control Institute is a research and advocacy center for preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. The non profit organization was founded by Paul Leventhal in 1981. It went under a reorganization in 2003 to make it a web …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear Energy (sculpture) — Nuclear Energy Artist Henry Moore Year 1967 Type Bronze Dimensions Divergent measurements exist; see text Location University of Chicago (outdoor), Chicago, Illinois …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear energy in Portugal — is very limited and strictly non commercial. Portugal has one research reactor located in the National Nuclear Research Centre. Nuclear energy activities are not planned in the near future. Other nuclear activities include medical applications… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear energy in Ghana — There are currently no nuclear power plants in Ghana, although there are several nuclear research reactors in Ghana and plans to build to a power plant.[1] The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission has been investigating the use of nuclear power and is… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear Energy Board — The corporate logo The Nuclear Energy Board[1] (NEB) was an Irish agency charged with developing nuclear power in Ireland. It was established in Ireland on November 30, 1973 by the Nuclear Energy (An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh) Act, 1971. The board… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear energy in Jordan — Jordan has signed memorandums of understanding with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, China, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Argentina, Romania, and Turkey.[1][2][3] In December 2009, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) in… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear energy in Norway — No nuclear power plant has ever been established in Norway; however, the country has a legal framework for licensing the construction and operation of nuclear installations.[1] Also, four research reactors have been built in Norway, the first was …   Wikipedia

  • Energy Institute - EI — An organization based in London, England, that was formed as a result of the 2003 merger between the Institute of Petroleum and the Institute of Energy. It is a membership based professional organization dedicated to serving those working in and… …   Investment dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”