Imagine the cartoon character Homer Simpson. He’s munching on a large, pink-iced doughnut. But he’s not paying attention. Green nuclear radioactive material is pouring out of the equipment at the nuclear power plant where he works. The audience laughs.
This is one of the misperceptions of nuclear energy in the United States that members of Eco-Nuclear Solutions, a grassroots, bipartisan, nonprofit organization of local educators and scientists want to change, said Susan Tordella, who manages communications for the group.
One way they are trying to share their message that nuclear power is a safe, green energy source is through art.
In June 2025, the group, which includes residents of Ayer, Groton, Littleton and Westford, held an art contest. Then, they placed the artwork on display in the exhibit, “Atomic Artistry,” held at Fitchburg Art Museum and Parish Center for the Arts (PCA) in Westford. Watch the video of group members discussing the show at the PCA:
The contest was made possible through a $2,400 grant from Mass Cultural Council. Other sponsors included, Generation Atomic, a nonprofit organization that supports promoting nuclear energy, and the Fitchburg Art Museum, said group member Marcia Young, a Westford resident.
Tordella, who used to live in Westford and now lives in Ayer, said that she got interested in promoting nuclear power after learning more about it from a friend who attends her church.
Young said she discovered Eco-Nuclear Solutions after trying other environmental groups in Westford. Young worked in biotech and said of Eco-Nuclear Solutions, “I just liked the science of the group…We encourage everyone to embrace nuclear power. You need to think about the total footprint on the environment,” she said.
“It’s a remarkable source of energy,” Tordella said. “One square mile is all you need for a nuclear plant to power 750,000 homes.”
Tordella compared nuclear power against solar power and wind power. Solar power, she said, requires 75 square miles to generate enough energy to power that many homes and wind requires 300 square miles.
America’s Perception of Nuclear
The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union in 1986 was one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear power generation. Several explosions triggered a large fireball blowing off the lid of the reactor, and, subsequently, large amounts of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
Another incident, a partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1979, “though, minuscule in its health consequences, had widespread and profound effects on the American nuclear power industry,” according to the online encyclopedia.
But what residents of this area may not realize is that they are receiving about 20% of their power from nuclear, Tordella said. She pointed to nuclear power plants in Seabrook, N.H., and Waterford, Conn.
Art as a Communicator
“Art is a communicator. Art is an educator. Art is a side door in,” Tordella said, explaining why Eco-Nuclear Solutions decided to have an art contest.
Bridie Wolejko of Lunenburg, Mass., was the first-prize winner with her piece, “Coherence,” a design featuring a collage of animals and plant life—bears, pigs, a wolf, flowers and mushrooms—flourishing over the outline of a nuclear power plant. The first place prize was $500. (Wolejko’s winning artwork is featured in the image at the top of the article).
There were two second-prize winners, “Nuclear Footprints,” by Gayatri Karnik of India, who used a traditional Indian art style to show a nuclear power plant delivering electricity to a small house where people were reading. And co-second-prize winner, Jenny Jasmin Lacay of the Philippines with her piece, “Unleash the Gift,” which shows nuclear power coming out of a brightly wrapped box on top of a smiling world filled with artists, farmers and scientists.
“In my assessment, the show was wildly successful. The quality of the art was really impressive and I thought it was a challenging subject to deal with,” Young said.
Young, who is also an artist, was asked to contribute a piece because days before the deadline, not many pieces had been submitted. Then, they came pouring in, she said.
The final count was 40 submissions from 10 countries and seven different states, Tordella says, adding the mediums included painting, graphic design and sculpture.
Tordella said the group did not have a way to measure how effective the art contest and exhibit were in conveying their message, but they did meet people in the nuclear power advocacy movement and introduced the subject to some, including some of the artists.
“[Art] just takes you out of reading facts and figures and arguing. It’s a whole different perspective and it does educate,” she said.
“Nuclear Footprints,” Artwork by Gayatri Karnik of India, second-prize winner in the Eco-Nuclear Solutions “Atomic Artistry” contest. (There were two second-prize winners).
“Unleash the gift,” artwork by Jenny Jasmin Lacay of the Philippines. Second-prize winner in the Eco-Nuclear Solutions, “Atomic Artistry” contest. (There were two second-prize winners).