Few problems raise more conflicting views than the nuclear issue. This book looks at how the issue has been handled on television, the role of television in informing the public and the reactions of the viewers. During the eighties, nuclear energy became a major international issue. The disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl created global anxiety about its risks and a sensitivity to it among politicians and journalists. This is a case-study into documentary depictions of nuclear energy in TV and video programmes and into the interpretations and responses of the viewers drawn from a cross section of society. How are the complex and specialist arguments about benefit, risk and proof conveyed through the different conventions of commentary, interview and film sequence? What symbolic associations does the visual language of television bring to portrayals of the issue? How do viewers make sense of various and conflicting accounts, connecting what they see and hear on the screen with their existing knowledge, experience and civic expectations? The authors examine some of the contrasting forms and themes which have been used by programme makers to explain and persuade, and then give an analysis of the nature and sources of viewers' own accounts.