As the nuclear crisis in Japan deepens, attempts by the nuclear industry in the United States to calm a rightfully unnerved public are gaining intensity.

Unfortunately, there’s a common thread weaving through the very real disaster overseas and the surreal attempts in this country to push legislation that would help utility companies finance the rising costs of nuclear plants by asking consumers to gamble on their future.

In Japan, Richard Lahey, the former head of reactor safety at General Electric, told The Guardian newspaper this week that he believes that one of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors has melted through its containment vessel. Other researchers are calling for an independent analysis of radiation levels, questioning the numbers being released by the utility company Tepco and the Japanese government.

So why should this matter in Missouri?

Because a nuclear energy coalition here also is spreading misinformation.

On Monday, the advocacy organization representing Ameren Missouri and other utilities touted a poll that indicated that Missourians still favor nuclear energy.

Well, of course they do. So do most of the organizations fighting Ameren Missouri’s bill in the Legislature that would let the company charge consumers at least $45 million for a site permit for a new Callaway County reactor.

We haven’t […]