World War II film footage of a Nagasaki bombing survivor whose back and left arm were stripped of skin is shown; scar-covered, he tells his story in the present day.

The film closes by highlighting anti-nuclear protest activities directed at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant on the California coast in the USA.

According to Barry Chase, PBS vice-president for news and public affairs: It's an advocacy film and it does not provide any opportunity for any viewer who is coming to the subject for the first time to draw any conclusion other than those which the producers hold.

"[4][5] He extrapolates this critical remark to the media across the board and its failure to focus public attention on the putative biological hazard of nuclear power.

"[1] B. J. Bullert, in her title Public Television: Politics and the Battle over Documentary Film[3] lamented the scuttling of the national broadcast and stated that Dark Circle was outside of the mainstream in making assertions which are now widely accepted.

Nat Katzman, former KQED station manager, quoted in Bullert's book, stated "It's more difficult to say (Dark Circle) falsified anything, but it left one with the uncomfortable feeling that this is propaganda, not journalism.