British PR Firms Go Nuclear

"In the year or so before the general election" 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'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, Financial Dynamics." The Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, which is "charged with cleaning up the mess from Britain's previous nuclear programme, poached Jon Phillips," 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."