When explaining their campaign during an advertising presentation in 1989, the group said:
Being independent. Standing on your own two feet. Providing for yourself. These ideals have long been part of the American character. We found that when we defined the need for nuclear energy, our message was not only better understood, but was also one Americans felt good about supporting. And the role nuclear energy plays as a way to help Americans be more energy independent is especially effective.
Of course, the public was skeptical — particularly after the 3-Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters. The oil industry was understandably opposed, and encouraged the anti-nuclear movement and funded anti-nuclear messages.
Peruse the vintage ads below to see how the pro-fission profession professed their preference for the promotion of nuclear power.
How nuclear energy can help defuse the next oil crisis (1987)
Nuclear-generated electricity, still the fastest-growing major energy source in America, may be our best defense against another oil crisis.
More and more energy experts are asking the same question: How long before another oil shock torpedoes our economy and threatens our national security?
Oil turmoil: Signs of the next energy crisis
US oil imports soared last year, costing the country $27 billion. This year, America’s foreign-oil bill is expected to grow even bigger.
Many oil analysts are saying that in three years or less, as much as 50% of all the oil used in the US will have to be imported. That’s a higher percentage than we have ever imported before, even during the oil crises of the 1970s.
A whopping two-thirds of the world’s oil lies under the sands of OPEC nations.
The need for nuclear
Nuclear energy is a domestically produced alternative to foreign oil. Not just at the power plant, where nuclear energy is used instead of oil to generate electricity, but wherever Americans choose electricity (instead of oil) to heat their homes or run their factories.
The 1987 special report on US energy security, ordered by the President and prepared by the US Department of Energy, states that without electricity from nuclear energy, the United States “would be using more oil, paying more for each barrel of it, and feeling much less secure about its energy outlook.”
The more we use our own nuclear energy, the less we’ll have to rely on energy from unstable regions of the world.
Nuclear energy for a secure future
With over a hundred operating plants in the US, nuclear energy is now our second leading source of electricity. But in spite of all that we have accomplished, the threat of foreign oil dependence remains. Difficult choices still need to be made, but one fact is clear: the more we develop our own energy sources, the more we can control our own destiny.
Nuclear energy helped America achieve its energy balance. (1987)
Is it a balance we can keep?
Without nuclear power: American dollars spent on foreign oil (1988)
There’s an incredible amount of American money going overseas to buy foreign oil. How much?
MORE: Thomas Edison says electricity will cure everything (1914)
Without nuclear power: American dollars spent on foreign oil (1988)
Electricity is so vital to our economy and our way of life that a shortage of electricity is unthinkable. yet some parts of the country are already experiencing brownouts during peak periods of demand.
The question is not, “Will we run out?” The question is: “What price will we have to pay?”
Nuclear power vs foreign oil’s ups & downs
MORE: Nikola Tesla’s revolutionary ideas included wireless electricity & free power for everyone
