Friday, April 23, 2010

And the radio doesn't work, either

This is the sort of correction that makes you really, really want to see the original:

A story in Thursday's Local & State section on claims of flaws in a nuclear reactor design incorrectly quoted Westinghouse Electric spokesman Vaughn Gilbert. Gilbert said the steel of the containment building around the AP1000 reactor is unlikely to corrode.

And the original:

"This has been reviewed and analyzed over the years. Without question, corrosion will not be an issue," said Vaughn Gilbert, a Westinghouse Electric spokesman in Pittsburgh. The steel of the containment building is highly likely to corrode, Gilbert said, but would be detected by inspections.

Reporters work in a hurry, and they can make mistakes. For such an exigency were copy editors placed on this earth Amen. But unlike yesterday's vend/vent confusion, it's hard to imagine this one getting by any reader who wasn't -- figuratively or literally -- asleep at the switch. I mean, what do you suppose he meant by "corrosion will not be an issue"?

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3 Comments:

Blogger John Cowan said...

I find the original version rather plausible, and read "corrosion will not be an issue" as meaning "there will be corrosion, but we'll catch it and fix it, so it won't be an issue." There's corrosion on the Brooklyn Bridge, too, but nobody thinks it's going to fall into the East River — we just scrape off the rust and repaint.

11:22 AM, April 23, 2010  
Blogger The Ridger, FCD said...

Same here - it'll be caught so it won't be an issue.

9:05 PM, April 23, 2010  
Blogger The Ridger, FCD said...

After all, where did the inspectors go in the corrected version?

9:06 PM, April 23, 2010  

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