WARRINGTON, UK--The company charged with transporting nuclear waste from the UK to Japan has retained a US PR firm to help it address global concerns generated by its activities.
International Nuclear Services (INS) made the decision following a review process that began earlier this year. Incumbent agency Gavin Carter & Associates, which is based in the US city of Alexandria, has retained the contract, worth around £500k over 41 months.
The tender from International Nuclear Services called for a firm to handle ‘global acceptance activities’ in the countries its ships pass through on their way from UK nuclear sites such as Sellafield to Japan.
It is understood that four agency proposals were considered before Gavin Carter was retained.
International Nuclear Services comms manager Ben Todd told the Holmes Report that the “longstanding” assignment required an ongoing conversation with stakeholders such as government officials, politicians and universities.
He also said that scrutiny of his company’s operations has not risen since Japan shut down its Fukushima nuclear reactors last year.
“We’ve always faced an awful lot of scrutiny and we’ve always undertaken projects such as the global acceptance activity to work through that,” said Todd. “We’re happy to be scrutinised and we’ve got a long history of being on the front foot.”
International Nuclear Services recently secured a temporary injunction against Greenpeace after the NGO attempted to disrupt a shipment to Germany. However, Todd said that NGO engagement was not a central component of Gavin Carter’s brief.