Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Beyond Nuclear - Pandora's False Promises - Pandora's People: Not who the film's publicity claims they are



Pandora’s Promise
 is a new documentary by Robert Stone whose website, Robert Stone Productions, proclaims: “The film is anchored around the personal narratives of a growing number of leading former anti-nuclear activists and pioneering scientists.” The film’s website also asserts that nuclear power is “now passionately embraced by many of those who once led the charge against it.”
Our research found that there is no evidence that any member of the “cast” of Pandora’s Promise ever led the anti-nuclear movement. READ OUR FACT SHEET.
The film’s participants advocate for the deployment of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) as the best pathway to addressing climate change, a canceled breeder reactor design whose so-called “Generation IV” iteration, re-considered by the George W. Bush administration, does not exist anywhere in the world.
If Stone had interviewed those with the authority and credentials in the areas he covers — even without featuring them in his film — and then still come to the conclusions he has today reached, his credibility might be intact. But Stone apparently chose not to talk to those with genuine research credentials and depth of knowledge on the issue and whose evidence would have contradicted his film’s protagonists. Therefore, we must reluctantly conclude that Stone’s agenda was to produce a propaganda piece. 
Here we fact check the credentials of those members of the Pandora’s Promise “cast” who allegedly fit the profile of “leading former anti-nuclear activists.” (The film also includes two scientists who worked on the original IFR program at the Argonne National Laboratory, Len Koch and Charles Till, not profiled here, whose vested interest in the technology is self-evident).


Beyond Nuclear - Pandora's False Promises - Pandora's People: Not who the film's publicity claims they are

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