Since starting this blog, I’ve enjoyed an ongoing dialogue with Tony Jaques, a Melbourne-based issues and crisis expert. Tony read my posts on the Qantas A380 situation from last November and told me he’d keep me posted on local updates.
Last week, Tony forwarded his update post and granted permission for me to re-post in its entirety, below.
After my March 16 post on risk communications related to the Japan radiation threats, I decided to continue the dialogue with Peter. We traded some emails last Wednesday, which I thought I’d summarize here (edited for brevity/clarity):
Peter,
Three interesting articles to share:
- AP story on concerns over tap water. Note the quotes that suggest “stress over the tap water is more dangerous than the tap water itself.”
- Ropeik weighs in.
- Criticisms on risk communications from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Side note – years ago, I analyzed the Union and found it to be more aligned with political leanings than scientific. I wonder if that’s still the case.
– J.D.
Here is an edited summary of Peter’s insightful responses:
Continue reading More Peter Sandman analysis on Japan radiation threat communications
The nuclear radiation risk in Japan seems to be growing by the day (by the hour?).
How does one attempt to put context on that risk?
On March 14, in that moment in time, The Wall Street Journal opinion page (sub. required) attempted to do just that through the voice of William Tucker, an expert on (and proponent of) nuclear power.
Key quotes:
Even while thousands of people are reported dead or missing, whole neighborhoods lie in ruins, and gas and oil fires rage out of control, press coverage of the Japanese earthquake has quickly settled on the troubles at two nuclear reactors as the center of the catastrophe….
The core of a nuclear reactor operates at about 550 degrees Fahrenheit, well below the temperature of a coal furnace and only slightly hotter than a kitchen oven…. You can’t have a “runaway reactor,” nor can a reactor explode like a nuclear bomb. A commercial reactor is to a bomb what Vaseline is to napalm….
There was a small release of radioactive steam at Three Mile Island in 1979, and there have also been a few releases at Fukushima Daiichi. These produce radiation at about the level of one dental X-ray in the immediate vicinity and quickly dissipate….
If a meltdown does occur in Japan, it will be a disaster for the Tokyo Electric Power Company but not for the general public. Whatever steam releases occur will have a negligible impact. Researchers have spent 30 years trying to find health effects from the steam releases at Three Mile Island and have come up with nothing. With all the death, devastation and disease now threatening tens of thousands in Japan, it is trivializing and almost obscene to spend so much time worrying about damage to a nuclear reactor.
I want to believe Tucker, as I’m sure many others do. But there’s something amiss with his overabundant “calm context.” Something about the way he’s presented his case….
For guidance, I emailed the Tucker article to risk-communications guru Peter Sandman. Peter graciously shared his insights with me – and then with all of his followers through a guestbook post (with my permission, post-haste).
I encourage you to read Peter’s full response through the link above. I’ve have Peter’s permission to cross-post some highlights here:
Continue reading Japan’s radiation threat: Sandman’s risk communications analysis
The situation in northeast Japan is grim and may soon get worse.
At the time of this writing, the earthquake and resulting tsunami has led to early estimates between 900 and 1,800 dead. That does not include the nearly 9,500 people unaccounted for in the coastal town Minamisanriku. Japanese authorities are also presuming that two nuclear reactor meltdowns may already be underway. Broadcast media have already speculated on the possibility of another Chernobyl-like disaster.
The people of Japan will need help. If history is a guide, help will come. It will come from the U.S. and other governments. It will come from citizen donations that will funnel through charitable, religious and disaster-aid organizations. It will also come from emergency management and corporate citizen efforts of many companies that have the resources to pitch in.
I’ve written many “natural disaster” crisis communications plans for organizations. Below, I provide a brief summary of the typical contents of these plans. Perhaps this summary can help an organization that wants to pitch in – but may not know how to start organizing.
These plans are typically split into two halves:
You’ve probably heard that body language is important when communicating.
How important? UCLA Professor Emeritus of Psychology Albert Mehrabian believes that non-verbal communication accounts for more than 50% of the success of getting your message across. (To be exact, Mehrabian believes that words account for 7%, tone of voice 38%, and body language accounts for 55% of a listener’s ability to warm up to you or your message.)
There are nearly twenty non-verbal cues that make the difference between bad and great body language for communicators. However, when I conduct communications training/coaching sessions, I typically don’t share that list at the beginning of a session.
Why? I’m a golfer.
