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A nuclear company official says ads mischaracterize nuclear power and Exelon. An ad creator says they work.

“Our three ads worked,” John Figer, executive director for Texans for a Sound Energy Policy Alliance, said. “The main goal with those ads was to wake up Victoria County. They’re standing up asking questions.”

More than 270 folks signed up to the group’s e-mail list, Figer said. The alliance was created in June to demand hard questions of Exelon Nuclear. Figer also lives in Paradise Ranch, whose landowner’s association unanimously opposed Exelon from surveying property near McFaddin.

Exelon welcomes the chance to address public concern.

“To me this broadens the dialogue,” Bill Harris, community outreach manager, said. “It opens the venue for people to ask questions and Exelon welcomes that opportunity.”

But residents and online bloggers have challenged the advertisements’ claims.

The ads contained nothing false, Figer said, but he added that maybe a couple were questionable. The ads were supposed to serve as real questions for the nuclear company to answer.

Harris answered them.

One ad questioned why other cities weren’t lining up for the nuclear plant. More than 12 cities in Texas were competing to be the site Exelon chose, Harris said.

“They were lined up,” he said. “Victoria was the most agreeable site for Exelon to choose.”

A second ad questioned how a thirsty nuclear plant would help a region where water sources are already limited.

First, Harris objects to the phrasing that Exelon “cut a deal” with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. The plant would divert 75,000 acre-feet but use only about 53,000 acre-feet a year. That’s 20,000-some acre-feet that should always flow downstream, Harris said.

Secondly, the plant will build another 1,500-acre lake for GBRA’s customers.

People also confuse usage of water with consumption of water, Harris said. Some water is lost through evaporation and seepage into the aquifer, but the water that is turned into steam to move the turbines condenses again and cycles back.

“It isn’t high consumption,” he said. “It’s just high usage.”

A third ad accused Exelon of leaking tritium at its Braidwood, Ill. plant and not disclosing that fact for years.

“That’s just not true,” Harris said about not disclosing the information.

When the leakage – which didn’t exceed federal drinking water standards – occurred, the nuclear company notified the authorities, Harris said. The company then developed a well monitoring system and discovered tritium seeped into the water table.

Harris admits Exelon didn’t do a great job communicating with the community and has since learned from that.

Another part of the ad states that the state of Illinois took the company to court and won.

While there are pending lawsuits, they have never gone to court nor won, Harris said.

With these ads, Figer wanted residents to evaluate whether they truly want a nuclear plant. The alliance hopes residents can ask questions without fear of getting beat down.