British PR Firms Go Nuclear [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
"In the year or so before the general election [3]" in Britain, "the nuclear industry slowly but surely put together a classy public relations act," report Jonathan Leake and Dan Box. "Last October, British Energy appointed Craig Stevenson, formerly Monsanto [4]'s top UK lobbyist, as head of government affairs. ... In December, BE enlisted Helen Liddell, the former energy minister, to provide 'strategic advice.'" This "on top of the £1m BE paid to another PR firm [5], Financial Dynamics." The Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, which is "charged with cleaning up the mess from Britain's previous nuclear programme, poached Jon Phillips [6]," Heathrow Airport's PR head who led a "successful campaign for a fifth terminal at Heathrow despite furious public opposition." The waste disposal body Nirex hired "the Promise public relations firm to promote a multimillion-pound rebranding and renaming exercise," while the UK Atomic Energy Authority "employed Grayling Political Strategy to help raise its profile."