Saugeen Ojibway Nations (SON) community won’t agree to Ontario nuclear waste dump in any hurry
Securing approval for nuclear waste site won’t be ‘quick or easy process’: First Nations “If things go south in a hurry, where do our people go? We do not have the luxury of picking up and leaving.” The Star, By: John Spears Business reporter, on Mon Sep 16 2013 KINCARDINE—First Nations communities near Ontario Power Generation’s proposed nuclear waste disposal facility won’t be rushed into supporting the project, a federal hearing has been told. Continue reading
Nuclear Academic Capture in Canadian University
The university administration is complicit, the faculty and staff are largely acquiescent, and the vast majority of students appear to be oblivious to the dangers of encroaching corporate influence. It has been left to a few faculty and students and a minority of university senators to raise the alarm about the murky undercurrents.
In light of these alarming trends, it is essential that opposition to the university’s role in nuclear development extend to the wider community.
“……….A gentle wooing The readiness with which the university administration and faculty accepted the establishment of the CCNI comes as no surprise. One might conclude, after reading to this point, that there is an aura of inevitability about it. But in fact, the foundations for university support have been carefully built over several years.
The uranium industry, and particularly Cameco – its chief manifestation here in Saskatchewan – have assiduously wooed the University of Saskatchewan and given millions of dollars in endowments to chairs, scholarships, and infrastructure over the past two decades. Cameco Plaza, next to the Administration Building, and Cameco Skywalk at Royal University Hospital, are among the most visible physical signs of this corporate impact.
Several of the faculty, directors, and department heads who wrote glowing letters of support for the establishment of CCNI have at one time or another seen their programs benefit from Cameco’s largesse. Continue reading
How the nuclear lobby captured the University of Saskatchewan
Follow the yellowcake road Nuclear power, tarsands extraction, and the co-option of the University of Saskatchewan Briar Patch magazine, BY D’ARCY HANDE • FEB 28, 2012 In 2011 the University of Saskatchewan went truly nuclear, realizing, in many respects, the loftiest ambitions of the uranium industry and its supporters within the provincial government and the university. On October 14, 2011, the University of Saskatchewan board of governors formally approved the incorporation of the Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation (CCNI) “to stimulate new research, development and training in advanced aspects of nuclear science and technology.”
Although the pieces seemed to come together in just a few short months, the game plan had been coalescing since Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government was first elected in 2007 (read the full timeline here). Tracing corporate connections and developments behind the scenes shows how a coordinated strategy can be implemented largely outside public purview and beyond generally accepted public accountability…… Continue reading
Radiation concentrates as it goes up the ocean’s food chain
Canadian University Scientist: Test seafood for Fukushima contamination — Continuous inputs for 2 years and counting will lead to ample opportunity for re-concentrating up food chain — Simply not enough being done on this side of Pacific http://enenews.com/canadian-university-scientist-continuous-input-of-fukushima-contamination-for-two-years-and-counting-will-lead-to-ample-opportunity-for-re-concentrating-up-food-chain-simply-not-enough-tests-being
Title: Nuclear meltdown’s effect on B.C. fish unclear
Source: Times Colonist
Author: Judith Lavoie
Date: August 21, 2013
[…] Nikolaus Gantner, an ecotoxicologist affiliated with Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., said the challenge is to discover how much radiation is accumulating in migratory or long-lived fish, such as halibut, salmon and tuna.
“There are simply not enough measurements being done in water and biota on this side of the Pacific Ocean,” he said.
“Continuous input to water for two years — and counting — will lead to ample opportunity for re-concentrating … up the food chain.”
[…] Gantner would like testing extended to seafood eaten frequently by First Nations, such as oysters and crab.
Gantner doubts whether studies will find dangerous levels of radiation in fish, and said he has no hesitation in eating fish from the Pacific. […]
Like Eisenhower, Edward Snowden warns against the military-industrial complex
Daniel Guerin warned in his 1936 book Fascism and Big Business warned to be vigilant against ”an informal and changing coalition of groups with vested psychological, moral, and material interests in the continuous development and maintenance of high levels of weaponry, in preservation of colonial markets and in military-strategic conceptions of internal affairs.”
President Eisenhower updated this message with a similar warning to fear the rise of the “military-industrial complex.” Edward Snowden has updated the message that Americans must fear the rise of the “military-intelligence complex.”
Snowden Warns Americans: Fear The Military-
Intelligence Complex The Testosterone Pit, By Chriss Street 2 Aug 13, : “….. the latest
depressing revelations about the rise of the military-industrial complex from whistleblower/traitor Edward Snowden as he accepted political asylum in Russia today.
Snowden’s latest bombshell is the outing of the NSA’s XKeyscore software that is vacuuming up “nearly everything a typical user does on the internet.” The top secret program allows civilian contractors in the U.S. to troll vast databases containing emails, online chats
and the browsing histories of millions of individuals around the world. The NSA boasts in training materials that XKeyscore is its “widest-reaching” system for developing intelligence from the internet.
Snowden was already the “most wanted person on earth”, but after today’s disclosures, he must be on the Obama Administration’s secret double most wanted man in the universe list. With his newly-awarded legal status in Russia, Snowden cannot be legally handed over orkidnapped by the CIA. Snowden remains a very “marked man” and will need to stay in the public eye to avoid accidentally beingassassinated in some lonely hideout. Consequently, I believe that he will continue to talk to the international press………… Continue reading
Cameco to sell less uranium
Cameco lowers uranium sales projections STARPHOENIX BY CHRISTOPHER DONVILLE, POSTMEDIA NEWS AUGUST 2, 2013 Cameco Corp., the world’s third-largest uranium producer, will sell less of the nuclear fuel via its German trading unit than previously planned because of the decline in the price of the commodity.
Sales volumes will be 8 million to 10 million pounds, down from an earlier projection of 9 million to 11 million, the Canadian company said Thursday in a statement. It now sees the unit’s 2013 sales at $450 million to $550 million, from $500 million to $600 million previously……..Uranium spot prices have fallen 27 per cent in the past year amid delays in resuming electricity output from nuclear power plants in Japan following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Cameco+lowers+uranium+sales+projections/8740104/story.html
Gathering storm of protest against endangering Great Lakes by radioactive waste
The Canadian nuclear industry, like its counterparts in nuclearized countries around the world, was born promoting the myth that nuclear energy is safe, green and too cheap to meter
why would anyone consider dumping radioactive poisons that will remain deathly dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years next to such an integral part of the our Great Lakes ecosystem?
Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Waste Dump Eco Watch, Michael Leonardi July 3, 2013“……….More than 500 citizens from across North America gathered at the Southampton, Ontario, flagpole on High Street by the lake. They gathered to voice their opposition to nuke dumps on these beautiful shores and to the continued production of this dangerous and deadly waste. They walked several kilometers through the town and along the beach to heighten awareness and bring attention to this diabolical plan, orchestrated largely in secret by local and national authorities and a deceitful industry, to bury low level, intermediate and high level nuclear waste underground and less than a mile away from this important fresh water source. They gathered to push back against a corrupt political leadership from the local level to the upper levels of dirty energy frontman Stephen Harper’s disastrous national government. They marched to say no to an industry that has been lying and deceiving the public about the dangers of nuclear energy and radiation exposure for decades. They walked to promote real renewable wind and solar energy alternatives.
Surely the question that comes to many is why on Earth would anyone in their right mind consider the shores of Lake Huron for the first permanent nuclear dump in North America? Lake Huron sits to the north of Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario and the water of this lake flows southward and eastward, eventually connecting to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Great Lakes account for 21 percent of the world’s fresh water resources, Continue reading
Great Lakes nuclear waste dump: secret deals by government officials and local mayors
Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Waste Dump Eco Watch, Michael Leonardi July 3, 2013 “…….With what is now the world’s largest nuclear power plant steaming away on the shores of Lake Huron and a pile of deadly and poisonous radioactive waste that is decades high and growing, Ontario Power Generation is now pushing to transform Lake Huron into a nuclear sacrifice zone. Their plan is to dig out two, what they call Deep Geological Repositories (DGRs), less than a mile away from the Lake and 680 meters below the surface to bury low level, intermediate-level and high-level radioactive waste permanently in shafts carved out of limestone. This is an experiment that has never been done anywhere else in the world and yet just as the nuclear industry tells us that radiation is harmless, we are to believe that this waste will remain safely out of harms way under the Lake for hundreds of thousands of years to come.
Recently, it has come to light that government officials from local mayors all the way up to the current president and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Michael Binder, held secret meetings with an association of nuclear power companies called the Nuclear Waste Management Organization charged with locating a dump site. The meetings were held under the guise of the Deep Geological Repository Community Consultation Advisory Group, which consists of a quorum of eight mayors of communities in Bruce County, from 2005 to the fall of 2012. Many of these meetings took place before the public was even made aware of the possibility of siting a high-level waste dump in Bruce County and while the process for siting the low and intermediate level waste dump was still ongoing.
According to documents uncovered by the local group, Save Our Saugeen Shores, Binder, who is a political appointment of the Harper government and chairs what is supposed to be Canada’s neutral nuclear watchdog, warned participants at a meeting on September 30, 2009, of environmental and anti-nuclear groups who “have the project on their agenda. You haven’t seen anything yet.” It seems that Binder had already made up his mind about the validity of the low and intermediate level waste dump as well, stating he hoped “their next meeting with him would be at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the low and intermediate-level waste DGR.”
“Secret meetings between industry, government officials and the nuclear oversight commission are a definite slap in the face to democratic transparency, if not downright illegal,” said Jutta Splettstoesser, a resident and farmer from Kincardine. “The timing of this discussion is troublesome,” says Cheryl Grace, a spokesperson for Save Our Saugeen Shores, the group which accessed the information. “What’s troubling is the secrecy exhibited by the mayors who were elected to serve the public, not the nuclear industry. We can find no evidence that the mayors, meeting as a county council, felt the need to discuss these issues in a public forum. In our own experience with Saugeen Shores council, the council regularly goes around the table and each councillor reports on their activities between council meetings. Mayor Mike Smith, who attended these meetings with the nuclear industry, never saw fit to inform his council and the public about these discussions and meetings. Either that or he did so in a separate secret forum, making all of this even more troubling for our community.”
Fortunately, ground has not yet been broken on either of these ill conceived nuclear waste dumps and resistance is growing as word gets out despite Ontario Power Generation and the Canadian Nuclear industry’s best efforts to keep a lid on the project. Locally, citizens groups plan on challenging the legality of the secret meetings and the collusion demonstrated between the mayors of Bruce County and the nuclear industry prior to public knowledge of the dump siting process.
Any serious political opposition party with a little clout can use the obvious industry bias exhibited by the chair of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to further expose the Harper government’s marriage to dirty energy. Harper already faces sinking popularity and credibility, protecting the nuclear industry’s profit motives in this case has international ramifications for the health and sustainability of the entire Great Lakes region. Even in the U.S., with all its problems of transparency and nuclear malfeasance, an uncovering of such industry bias by an NRC commissioner as was exhibited by Michael Binder would end in his forced resignation or removal, coupled with criminal prosecution………..” http://ecowatch.com/2013/stop-great-lakes-nuclear-waste-dump/
Public needs to know the full costs of new Darlington nuclear plans
Make proposed nuclear bids public: NDP http://www.oyetimes.com/news/canada/45664-make-proposed-nuclear-bids-public-ndp Oye! News from Canada, 28 June 2013 by Justin Stayshyn NDP Energy critic Peter Tabuns urged the Liberal government to make public the full costs of two bids to build new nuclear reactors, including information about whether taxpayers will be on the hook for cost overruns.
Bids to build two new nuclear reactors next to the existing Darlington nuclear plans were submitted to the government today by Westinghouse and CANDU/SNC Lavalin. “The government must be open and transparent about the full costs and risks of building new nuclear reactors so that there can be an informed public discussion about whether the government’s nuclear-first energy plan is cost-effective,” said Tabuns, MPP for Toronto-Danforth.
A 2008 proposal to build a new nuclear plant at Darlington was said to total about $26 billion, and hence was abandoned by the McGuintygovernment.
“The government argues that nuclear power is affordable even though nuclear costs have soared since the Fukishima disaster and every nuclear project in Ontario has gone over budget by millions if not billions of dollars,” said Tabuns. “Ontarians need to know the full costs and terms of the two bids, including who will pay the inevitable cost overruns, so that potentially lower cost alternatives like importing hydro power from Quebec are considered before the government signs another misguided private energy deal.”
Canada’s Harper govt increases nuclear operators’ liability to just $1 billion
Nuclear power plants to be on the hook for $1-billion in event of meltdown GLORIA GALLOWAY OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail, Jun. 10 2013, The Harper government says Canada’s nuclear operators should not have to pay more than a billion dollars in total compensation in the event of a catastrophic incident at one of their reactors.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Monday he will introduce legislation in the fall to increase the liability limit from the current $75-million – an amount set four decades ago and one that is widely recognized to be grossly inadequate….. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/nuclear-power-plants-to-be-on-the-hook-for-1-billion-in-event-of-meltdown/article12446956/
Canada’s nuclear operators to pay more, in the event of an accident
Federal government poised to raise nuclear liability cap The Canadian Press Jun 9, 2013 Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver is set to roll out his plan to raise the amount in damages that Canadian nuclear operators would have to pay in case of an accident, the Canadian Press has learned.
He is expected to announce the details at a nuclear conference in Toronto on Monday morning, although he will likely hold off on tabling legislation until the fall.
The liability cap is now set at $75 million but that is widely considered outdated, especially in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster that has led to tens of billions of dollars of damage claims…….. ritics say anything except unlimited liability acts as a subsidy to the nuclear industry.
“Increasing the cap only decreases the subsidy; it does not eliminate it. The government of Canada should proceed with legislation that removes the liability cap entirely rather than legislation that maintains it, or increases it to be harmonious with other jurisdictions,” wrote Joel Wood, a senior research economist at the Fraser Institute, in a 2011 analysis.
In February, the federal government introduced new financial penaltiesfor companies found in violation of the law in an effort to increase pipeline safety. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/06/09/pol-federal-government-poised-to-raise-nuclear-liability-cap.html
Secrecy in plans for radioactive dump near Great Lakes
Used nuclear fuel is a touchy subject because it is so highly radioactive. It must be encased in heavy radiation-proof containers, and remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years.
The idea of entombing it close to the Great Lakes has drawn criticism from both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.
“Canadians have been very clear that this generation must begin to take responsibility now, and not leave used fuel as a legacy for future generations to deal with,”
Nuclear waste meetings draw criticism in Bruce County, The Star, Meetings between Bruce County mayors and nuclear waste planners took place for years behind closed doors, local groups have learned. By: John Spears Business reporter, Jun 05 2013 Two citizens’ groups in Bruce County have asked for a probe of what they say are secret meetings held between local mayors and nuclear waste planners.
Records of meetings going back to 2005 show that mayors and nuclear waste planners discussed both plans for a low and intermediate nuclear waste site and a site for highly radioactive spent fuel, although the projects are supposed to be separate.
No public notice of the meetings was ever given, nor were records published until this spring, according to the groups.
Plans are far advanced for a low- and mid-level waste sitenear Kincardine, Ont., and some residents fear the used fuel site will automatically follow.
The citizens’ groups have filed a formal complaint about the process with Bruce County Council, saying that some of the sessions may have violated the rules governing open meetings under the Municipal Act.
Records of the meetings, though incomplete, show that the mayors were discussing the possibility of locating a used fuel disposal facility in the region before the public was let in on the possibility of it being in Bruce County…… Continue reading
Serious safety concerns about Pickering, Canada’s oldest nuclear reactor
The lack of comparable plants means safety and accident statistics for the industry are based on much newer plants. As a result, he said, it’s questionable whether they should be used to predict events at Pickering.
Gunderson also said that Pickering’s vacuum building, which is designed to suck in radioactive steam and air in case of an accident, can handle only one reactor failure. Pickering has six operating reactors.
Aging Pickering nuclear plant seeks five more years, The Star, Canada’s oldest nuclear power plant is seeking to renew its operating license for five years. Critics say it should be closed By: John Spears Business reporter, May 29 2013 Ontario Power Generation is confident it can safely operate its 40-year-old Pickering nuclear generating station 18 per cent longer than originally planned, OPG officials told Canada’s nuclear regulator Wednesday.
But members of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission still peppered emergency planners with questions about what happens if a nuclear accident does occur at the station, located in Canada’s largest urban area.
Pickering’s operating license expires June 30, and original plans called for it to be wound down in the next few years. Continue reading
Michigan concerns over plans for nuclear waste dump near Lake Huron
Nuclear waste site on Lake Huron concerns Michigan, Sarnia Ontario Power Generation plans to build underground repository in Kindcardine, 1.6 km from Lake Huron CBC News May 27, 2013 The mayor of Sarnia, Ont., is rallying opposition to Ontario Power Generation’s plan to store nuclear waste underground on the shores of Lake Huron…..
Michigan worriedIn Michigan, lawmakers worry that the facility might affect the Great Lakes, and they want Congress to help ensure Michigan’s concerns are fully resolved.
A state Senate resolution that was introduced by Democratic Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood of Taylor passed last week.
According to Ontario Power Generation, the deep geologic repository would be located 680 metres below ground, in stable rock formations over 450 million years old. (Ontario Power Generation)“Lake Huron and the Great Lakes are some of Michigan’s most vital natural resources, containing 95 per cent of North America’s surface fresh water and providing drinking water to tens of millions of people,” Hopgood said in a statement. “This type of nuclear waste repository, planned within water-soluble limestone, is unprecedented and could present a danger to our lakes and our environment.”
According to Hopgood, Michigan law already strictly prohibits the disposal of radioactive waste of any site within 16 kilometres (10 miles) of the Great Lakes and certain other major bodies of water connected to them.
Resolution 58, introduced by Hopgood and passed last week, urges Canada to consider similar criteria……
The group Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump has been opposing the project for six months. It bought billboard space on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto to make its point.
“Burying radioactive nuclear waste beside the Great Lakes — 21 per cent of the world’s surface fresh water, and the supply of fresh drinking water for 40 million people in two countries — defies common sense,” said Beverly Fernandez.http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2013/05/27/wdr-nuclear-waste-lake-huron-ontario-power-generation.html
Plan for nuclear waste near Lake Huron concerning Michigan State Senators
Michigan state Senate says Ontario nuclear waste site ‘raises serious concerns’ The Star, 24 May 13The proposed site, a Senate resolution notes, is less than 1.6 kilometres from the Lake Huron shoreline and “upstream from the main drinking water intakes for southeast Michigan.” State senators in Michigan say that a planned nuclear waste disposal site near Kincardine, Ont., “raises serious concerns.”
The concern is expressed in a resolution passed Tuesday by the Senate.
The senate also proposes that the public comment period on the proposal, which wraps up Friday, should be extended.
Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, who introduced the resolution, said that it will be submitted to the formal comment process on the waste site.
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) proposes to construct the facility at the Bruce nuclear station beside Lake Huron….. The proposed site’s proximity to the lake caught the attention of the Michigan senators.
The resolution, which carried without dissent on a voice vote, notes that Michigan rules prohibit low-level nuclear waste from being stored within 10 miles (16 kilometres) of the lakes and rivers in the Great Lakes system bordering Michigan.
“We encourage Canada to consider similar siting criteria,” the resolution says.
The proposed site, the resolution notes, is less than a mile (1.6 kilometres) from the Lake Huron shoreline and “upstream from the main drinking water intakes for southeast Michigan.”….. http://www.thestar.com/business/economy/2013/05/23/michigan_senate_says_ontario_nuclear_waste_site_raises_serious_concerns.html
1 This Month
26 April – Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown airs on National Geographic on Sunday 26th April from 4pm
29 April – Nuclear Expert Webinar #1 – Radiation Impacts on Families with Mary Olson and Cindy Folkers
- 12:15 PM MT – 1:45 PM MT
- Location: Virtual – REGISTER TODAY
4 May -West Suburban Peace Coalition to discuss Iran war at May Educational Forum
Monday, May 4, 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
Title: : How Trump’s Narrative Tries to Shape the Reality of the War on Iran.
Contact Walt Zlotow, zlotow@hotmail.com 630 442 3045 for further information
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
Pine Ridge Uranium is the real threat, not Tehran- Tell Burgum: Stop the Extraction.
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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