Nix 'clean' in nuke ads, utilities told

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Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009

Nix 'clean' in nuke ads, utilities told

KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) An advertising watchdog has told the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan to come up with another slogan for its nuclear energy ads because the term "clean" is misleading, sources familiar with the matter said.

In a nonbinding adjudication delivered Nov. 25, the Japan Advertising Review Organization Inc. said that a power federation ad published in a magazine in April 2008 inappropriately stated that "Nuclear power generation is a clean way to generate electricity," the sources said.

JARO discussed the matter through a panel of seven experts after a man in Kanagawa Prefecture complained that nuclear power generation should not be described as clean because of the risk of radioactive pollution resulting from accidents.

The panel discussed the complaint and concluded the federation should not use the term, even though nuclear power generates low carbon dioxide emissions, without providing an appropriate explanation on safety.

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