Compare and Contrast

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PaperBrattleboro ReformerRutland Herald
HeadlineNRC: Tritium leak no danger to public healthNRC: Yankee could have done more
Lead Paragraph

The potential radiation dose to a member of the public due to the migration of tritiated water into the Connecticut River is less than .01 millirems a year, according to a letter from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Michael Colomb, site vice president at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon.

Federal regulators said Friday that Entergy Nuclear had failed to complete expected but voluntary industry-recommended actions to prevent tritium leaks or other radioactive problems at the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor.

These two pieces cover the same story, but in very different ways.  Just the headline itself presents a significantly different picture, and the lead paragraphs are significantly different.  They both cover so much in common, referencing VY Communications Director’s comment that they agree with the NRC’s assessment of their program.  They reference the voluntary nature of the program, but the Reformer jumps right on pro-VY spin, leading right away with hey, lucky us, no one’s in danger, whereas the Herald addresses some major shortfalls in VY’s response.

There are reasons that I read more than one paper.  This is a big one.

5 thoughts on “Compare and Contrast”

  1. Speaking of other papers:

    Check out “USA Today” from Friday.  They have an interesting front page article on Vermont Yankee.

    Consider this quote, “Larry Smith, spokesman for Vermont Yankee, says its opponents won’t listen to reason:’They’re hippies from the 60’s who want to be against something, and it’s nuclear power'”

    NE

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