It is time for states with Department of Energy nuclear sites and the agency’s cleanup office to consider social media’s role in distributing information, and disinformation, during emergencies, according to a report from the National Governors Association.
“With the proliferation of smartphones and social media, it is critical that intergovernmental partners and the public have access to correct information and that misinformation is dispelled quickly,” according to the report: “Cleaning Up America’s Nuclear Weapons Complex.”
The new report points to the May 2017 Purex tunnel collapse at the Hanford Site in Washington state as a cautionary tale.
Only 10 minutes after the accident, ABC News, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times had information and photos of the collapse; and after 20 minutes, “the news had gone global,” according to the report. “The Hanford website had two million hits within a matter of minutes. There were tens of thousands of posts on Facebook, and the tunnel collapse was among the highest trending stories on Twitter.”
The increased flow of information “can lead to widespread inaccuracies,” according to the National Governors Association report. The governors’ association group has set up a federal facilities task force charged with developing “best practices” for nuclear site communities.
The task force recommends DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and the affected states develop “uniform public communications protocol for emergency situations that recognizes the rapid dissemination of information in the age of social media,” according to the report.
Among other things, the 70-page report also discusses the need for more direct communication between communities and DOE’s $8-billion cleanup office.
The National Governors Association task force also supports DOE’s efforts “to develop interim storage and permanent disposal options for high-level radioactive waste.”
