The Management of the Nuclear Power Station - Example

PUBLIC RELATIONS Name Unit Course Supervisor Date of submission Table of Contents PUBLIC RELATIONS 1 Table of Contents 2 1.0: Introduction 3 2.0: SWOT Analysis 3 2.1: Strengths 3 2.2: Weaknesses 3 2.3: Opportunities 3 2.4: Threats 4 3.0: Stakeholder identification and prioritisation and objective setting 5 3.1: Residents 6 3.2: Local politicians 6 3.3: EDF Energy employees at Torness 6 4.0: Objectives 6 5.0: PR strategy 7 5.1: Action plan 8 5.2: Budget 8 6.0: Evaluation 9 7.0: Conclusion 9 8.0: References 10 1.0: Introduction In the United Kingdom, there has been an increase in the demand of Electricity (Mason 2010, p. 6). As a result, there has been a concerted effort by the government to support construction of new generation nuclear power stations. Nuclear power stations convert uranium atoms into electrical energy that can be used in schools, homes and businesses. In 2008, the UK government, which was then led by Labour Party announced the support for the creation of new generation nuclear power stations (Mason 2010, p6). In 2010, the Coalition Government of Conservative and Liberal Democrats went further and announced several sites in which the new generation power stations could be built and Torness was one of the sites identified. In an endeavour to build new power stations, there are key considerations that are supposed to be addressed. 2.0: SWOT Analysis 2.1: Strengths Nuclear power provides an alternative for the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions. This is because nuclear power relies on low carbon affordable and dependable ways of increasing diversity of electricity generation. It is estimated that, creating of new nuclear powers will reduce greenhouse gas emission by over 80% (Sovacool 2010, p.393). In the United Kingdom, nuclear power generation has been in use for the last 50 years (Mason 2010, p. 6). Therefore, this will not be the first project of nuclear power generation. However, the majority of the nuclear power stations are expected to wide up by 2023. In the construction of nuclear power stations by the private investors, the public taxpayer money will not be used and or any subsidy will not be transferred to the government. This dispels the public fear of increased taxes. New power stations will be instrumental in continuing the economy of UK. Torness has been identified by the UK government as one of the sites that nuclear power stations can be created. This site already has a power station that is expected to close shop by 2023; the power station has been in operation since 1988. Construction of the new power station will be next to existing Torness. 2.2: Weaknesses Nuclear power is generated from radioactive materials that produce radiations that if not well taken care of can leak into the environment and cause serious health effects to the people coming into contact with the radiations (Sovacool 2009, p. 112). According to Sovacool (2009, p.117), the radioactive materials leak slowly by slowly during; the operation of nuclear plants, during the transportation process of the materials and escape of the wastes of the radioactive materials from the set systems of confinements. This raises great concern among different stakeholders, especially those proximal to the power plants. 2.3: Opportunities The announcement by the UK government in support construction of nuclear power station in 2008 and subsequent identification of sites that can be used for the stations points to the government commitment to nuclear power. This shows political commitment. The already operating stations are due to be closed by 2023 which means that there may be an energy vacuum that needs to be addressed (Seawright, 2006, p. 2). In addition, nuclear power provides an alternative in reduction of global warming. This project is expected to be next to Torness thus the chances of opposition in erecting new pylons and cables are precluded as the power station can adopt to share pylons with Torness. The timings for submission of the application may present a great opportunity in case of political changes in Scottish Government in 2016. Another opportunity is the EDF energy has been in power provision for a long time and may thus convince stakeholders based on experience. 2.4: Threats There are many concerns that relate to potential health effects of nuclear power in case of accidents and its operational effects to the communities near the site. Despite of the political commitment from the UK government, the current Scottish Government by National Party is opposed to development of nuclear power. The announcement is supposed to be made in 2015 and may thus face stiff opposition from the Scottish Government that may marshal citizens to reject the plan 3.0: Stakeholder identification and prioritisation and objective setting Freeman in Winn (2001, p.137) defined stakeholders as any group of people that can be affected or can affect the ability of an organisation to attain its objectives. The premise of this definition as provided in the Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory has been criticised that it is more focussed in meeting the needs of the stakeholders. In critiquing the theory, Winn (2001, p. 142) noted that stakeholder management should be oriented to specific identification and communication with stakeholders in order to avoid infinite reaction of people who have an interest or affected by the activities of the organisation. In an organisation, stakeholders include customers, employees, communities, shareholders and suppliers. Communication with each group should be tailored to address the needs of the stakeholders and incorporate them in the project, based on the relation of stakeholder to the organisation (Rawlins 2006, p. 7). A systematic criterion has often been applied to identify and prioritise stakeholders. Systematic criterion entails segmentation of stakeholders on a model of linkages that are based on the stakeholder relationships to the organisation. The key linkages include; enabling linkages, functional linkages, diffused linkages and normative linkages (Winn 2006, p. 142). Over the years, there have been positions towards the use of nuclear energy due to the potential fear of accidents. Fukushima disaster in Japan created awareness on the potential dangers that has made public to be more cautious when it comes to nuclear power stations. Winn (2001, p. 139) classified stakeholders into three parts, those stakeholders with ownership to an organisation such as shareholders, those economically depended on the organisation such as the employees and those that are not linked to the organisation, but they are very much concerned in seeing the organisation act socially responsible such as media, activist and residents. These groups of stakeholders though not directly linked to the organisation, can prevent an organisation from achieving its goals and its objectives if they deem a project not being socially responsible (Dunham, Freeman & Liedtka 2001, p. 13). The three main categories of the stakeholders in the construction of the power station include the residents, local politicians and EDF Energy employees. 3.1: Residents Residents form a diffused linkage with the organisation as they are concerned with the potential effects of the nuclear power. Bearing in mind that this station will be visible by many residents living around Torness, they form a special interest group that will greatly have an interest in the operation of the nuclear power station. The residents include people living in individual dwellings and the 7000 people that live in the town of Dun and East Lothian. These stakeholders are diverse, some will support while others will oppose the construction of the plant. Their stake will be based on the benefits and or the negative effects of the plant to them. 3.2: Local politicians The political orientation plays an important role in determining the approval of the project. Local politicians are mandated with the formulation of policies that affect operations of organisations. In this case, politicians provide enabling linkages, a falter in the linkage, the autonomy of EDF Energy will likely be restricted and hence operations curtailed. The politicians in Scotland are grouped into two, the Scottish Nationalist Party that oppose nuclear plant and Scottish Labour Party in support of the project. 3.3: EDF Energy employees at Torness Employees form functional relationships that are essential in the operations of an organisation. Currently, Torness has more than 500 employees in full time and 200 contractors also on full time. The projected closure of the plant by 2023; will likely lead to the employees losing their jobs. Construction of a new plant will be an opportunity for them to be absorbed and, hence, they are likely to support the new plant. 4.0: Objectives Rawlins (2006, p. 14) noted that, there are two attributes for identification and prioritisation of stakeholders. The attributes include the ability to influence and a claim. These two attributes can be used to analyse the level of support of the project. Based on these attributes and stakeholders analysed above, the public relation (PR) communication main target will be the residents as they have great potential to influence local politicians. Their positive perceptions will lead to uninterrupted project implementation. Therefore the objectives of the brief will include: To bring into attention of residents the proposed construction of the new power station. To enlighten residents on the benefits of the power station to the residents and the future economy of the area. To the ensure negative perception among residents on nuclear power stations are addressed. To minimise the possible opposition to the construction of the power station by presenting factual information on how various concerns have been addressed. 5.0: PR strategy PR strategy has shifted from the traditional form of providing messages and campaigns. According to Gruing and Hunt (2008, p. 118), PR strategy has gone through re-conceptualisation and encompasses communication between organisation and its public. According to Seitel (2007, p.132) strategies in PR include foundational knowledge in public relations and are based on the theory of publics and other models of public relations. This means that, public relations are different from advertisements, which has made PR to be based on evidence that ensures the target audience support is achieved. Our strategic PR communication will thus be based on winning support from the residents and at the same time promoting the positive outlook of the EDF energy. Stakeholders play a crucial role in the functioning of any organisation; they can ease the process of any organisation in achieving its objectives or hinder the process leading to failure of an organisation. Effective communication with stakeholders is essential for any organisation to achieve its objectives and goals (David 2006, p. 22). Our PR strategy will develop an integrated communication process that will reach the target through the use of the internet social media, adverts and print media. The communication will include key messages that target the residents and that are aimed at aligning them to the support of the project. For instance, in addition to provision of electricity that will be used by the locals, the power station is projected to create over 900 permanent jobs during the 60 years of operations. According to Lars (2012, p. 110) fostering the image of an organisation serves as a way of raising positive awareness and engages the public which creates a participatory arrangement for implementation of projects. The action plans for the PR communication will entail the following: Addressing concerns that relate to nuclear power stations Outlining measures to be taken to ensure that there is no disruption of the already existing infrastructure and that sustainable processes will be employed during the constructing and providing of the electricity to customers. Detailing experience of the EDF in nuclear power and the ability to carry out the project successfully due to the capacity. The communication will be drawn based on extensive consultation with relevant bodies and legal firms in order to ensure that it is comprehensive. 5.1: Action plan Activity Time scale - 2015 Developing a calendar of key issues to be communicated. August 30th Design of the key communication messages based on identified issues to be addressed September 5th Identification and short listing of key communication tools to be used September 8th-10th Legal consultation September 10th Publication of the first announcement in the selected channels (tools) September 15th Evaluation of the response and addressing issues arising September 17th -24th 5.2: Budget The budgetary allocations are based on the intended action plans. The allocations provide the estimates for various actions and include the cost of evaluation of the effectiveness of PR strategies. Item Cost (USD $) Collection of information on key issues 4000 Identification of communication channels 2000 Publication of the announcements 12000 Remunerations 25000 Travel allowances 7000 Legal consultation fees 9000 Evaluation 13000 Total cost 72000 6.0: Evaluation Evaluation plays a critical role in gauging whether objectives for a given project were are achieved. It is through evaluation that outcomes and impacts are determined. Effective evaluation is based on step by step process that ensures the indicators are measured against the set objectives (Ross, Ellipse & Freeman 2004, p. 5). The evaluation of the communication will entail: Planning and inception: This will entail making decision on what the evaluation is intended to achieve, in this case, evaluation will be based on set objectives for the communication to the residents. Data collection: Evaluation will entail measuring the outcome, output and impact of each objective. Therefore, data for the evaluation will be collected before the announcement, during the process of announcement and after the announcement. The data will relate the perceptions of the residents before the announcement, after the announcement and analysed on whether there was a perception change. 7.0: Conclusion The nuclear power station is to be located in the vicinity of residents. Even though there is still another nuclear station, there is possibility that it will meet resistance due to the current awareness of nuclear power and its potential danger in case of accidents. Concerns that are to be raised by residents are likely to stem from happenings from other countries such as the Fukushima incident. Therefore, our communication will be at addressing such concerns. The change of perception of residents will be depended on well thought PR strategy that we hope to provide based on the opportunities and supporting factors that are already inherent. 8.0: References David, P. 2006. Towards relationship management: Public relations at the core of organizational development", Journal of Communication Management 1 (1), pp.11- 23 Dunham, L., Freeman, R. E., and Liedtka, J. 2001. The soft underbelly of stakeholder theory: The role of community. Darden School Working Paper No. 01 -22. Gruing, J and Repper, F. (2008). Strategic management, Public and Issues. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 128 (1), pp.117-157. Lars, M. 2012. Corporate Communication Map: Outline of an interactive Overview of the fundamental Models and Theories of Public Relations. Thousand Oaks: Sage, p. 107-110. Mason, R. 2010. More incentives needed for nuclear', says Energy Minister Charles Hendry. London: Daily Telegraph, 5th November. Rawlins, B. 2006. Prioritising stakeholders for public relations. New York: Institute for Public Relations, pp. 2-15. Ross, P., Ellipse, M., and Freeman, H. 2004. Evaluation: A systematic approach (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 2-11. Seawright, S. 2006. Nuclear stations may stay on line to bridge the gap. London: The Daily Telegraph, 6th December. Seitel, P. 2007. The Practice of Public Relations. (10th ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp.129-155. Sovacool, B 2009. The Accidental Century - Prominent Energy Accidents in the Last 100 Years, Journal of Contemporary Asia, pp. 31 (1), pp. 110-121 Sovacool, B. 2010. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 40(3) p. 393. Winn, M. I. 2001. Building stakeholder theory with decision modelling methodology. Business & Society, 40 (1), pp133-166. Read More