We love pictures and photographs that portray nuclear energy as ‘green’. We have a small collection of which we’re very proud.

This is one of our favourites - the nuclear symbol adorned with flowers and leaves. It’s supposed to give an impression of some kind of nuclear bucolic beauty and a mythical oneness with the environment. It makes us think of the glaring headlight of a nuclear waste transport truck that’s careered through some woodlands and is about to hit us at speed. Now that’s a metaphor for the nuclear industry.

The latest addition to our collection is this one accompanying a news article about China being about to begin construction of two AP1000 reactors in the Shandong province. Just look at all that green and blue. Beautiful isn’t it? Of course, the picture is painted from a point of view too far away to identify where the tonnes of high-level waste are going to be stored (see also Areva’s unintentionally hilarious Funkytown video where the company claims its green nuclear energy gets people dancing in Chinese bars).

Clearly, the picture of the Shangdong reactors was created by a talented artist with an eye for what sells when it comes to nuclear propaganda. We’d like to see him attempt a similar feat with other scenes from the nuclear industry. Could he for instance beautify Russia’s Mayak nuclear waste site (which has irradiated half a million people) or the Ranger uranium mine in Australia’s Kakadu national park (which is leaking 100,000 litres of contaminated water every day)?

These are the sights we so rarely see when the nuclear industry talks of its ‘safe’ and ‘clean’ energy source. So come on guys, get out your brushes and your green paint.