Nuclear industry digs in its heels. Nuclear power was in trouble long before Chernobyl. Dozens of US nuclear projects have been scuttled, and public confidence has plunged. But the industry is fighting back.

Despite its many problems, nuclear power is not fading into the sunset. Indeed, the promoters of the industry are gearing up for a battle likely to stretch well into the next century.

Rebuilding public support is their primary goal. Pro-nuclear groups have mounted national publicity campaigns emphasizing nuclear power's contribution to the ``energy mix'' of the country. Nuclear plants provide 18 percent of the nation's electricity.

Money is also being poured into local campaigns, such as the fight against tomorrow's referendum in Maine which would shut down that state's only nuclear power plant. (Story, Page 8.)

And last, the nuclear industry is pushing for changes that will make it easier to build and license plants in the future.

``The nuclear industry clearly believes it will come back,'' so it's working at setting up the framework for that now, says John Ahearne, a former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and vice-president of Resources for the Future, a Washington think tank.

Nuclear advocates confirm this. ``I have no doubt that we're going to go back to nuclear energy - the only question is when,'' says Harry Finger, president of the pro-nuclear US Council for Energy Awareness.

Mr. Finger's council is an example of the industry's high-pressure push to get its message across. Recently reorganized, the council now combines the public relations activities of what were previously divided between two nuclear-power related advocacy groups. The group spends about $7 million a year on national advertising, which includes television commercials warning about the dangers of over-reliance on imported oil.

``The industry is streamlining its structure in Washington in order to magnify its impact,'' says Scott Denman, director of the Safe Energy Communication Council, an antinuclear group.

Mr. Denman says this has already helped the industry. For example, in the congressional fight over renewal of the Price-Anderson Act - the federal law that limits the liability of utilities that operate nuclear power plants - the industry now speaks with a more unified voice.

The pro-nuclear lobby already has considerable clout with the Reagan administration, which strongly supports nuclear power. The administration has encouraged simplification of licensing procedures, extension of Price-Anderson, and the development of standardized designs for nuclear reactors.

The industry won a major victory last week when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted to allow federal officials to approve emergency evacuation plans for the regions surrounding nuclear power plants, even when state and local authorities refuse to cooperate. Such state and local opposition has blocked the opening of two plants - Seabrook in New Hampshire and Shoreham in New York.

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