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Debate over nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Ontario

flag-canadaNuclear power debated: Darlington plant’s critics line up at hearing, Macleans, 
by Nick Taylor-Vaisey , December 3, 2012 Hope Fellowship Church. It sits on Bloor Street in Courtice, Ont., a small town east of Oshawa, and it’ll be packed with people for the next few days. That’s because the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is holding hearings about the future of the nuclear power plant five kilometres away, nestled against the shores of Lake Ontario. Many don’t much care for the nuclear plant, and they hope to throw a wrench into proposals to keep that plant chugging for years to come. Some are even suggesting Parliament should investigate various elements of nuclear safety. Others support the plant, and intend to tell the commission as much.

What’s on the table, specifically? Ontario Power Generation, the crown corporation that manages the province’s nuclear plants, wants to refurbish the plant, extend its licence until the end of 2014, and renew its waste management facility’s licence, too. The CNSC hearings are part of that application process. The commission received an abnormally high number of interventions, many of which were submitted by individuals, and it was forced delay hearings by several weeks. (By the way, you can request a copy of interventions at the CNSC website. Why they’re not available for download is puzzling.)

Who is opposed? Continue reading →

December 4, 2012 Posted by | Canada, environment | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry sees the writing on the wall, – and attacks renewable energy

nuke-spruikersSmThe Canadian Nuclear Association and the Ontario Power Workers Union have recently been vocal in promoting nuclear power, labelling renewables such as wind and solar as “intermittent” and expensive, and encouraging more investment in nuclear.

Solar industry urged to push back against nuclear ‘attack’ RICHARD BLACKWELL Toronto — The Globe and Mail, Dec. 03 2012,  Canada’s solar power industry needs to market itself more aggressively to counter “misinformation” spread by the nuclear power business, the head of the country’s solar association said Monday.

Claims by the nuclear industry that it is more economical and just as clean as renewable energy sources are essentially an “attack” on solar and need to be countered, said John Gorman, president of the Canadian Solar Industries Association.

“Make no mistake about it, renewable energy, and increasingly solar energy, is under attack,” he told delegates to a solar energy conference in Toronto. Misinformation “is being spread by a small number of short-sighted politicians and by competing industries that see the writing on the wall.” Continue reading →

December 4, 2012 Posted by | Canada, spinbuster | Leave a comment

Cameco and AREVA ‘s deal with indigenous people, to silence criticism of uranium mining

censorship-blackThe agreement would prohibit Pinehouse from criticizing the companies now or in the future, a measure that amounts to an indefinite “gag order”

  • Pinehouse promises to “fully support” Cameco and Areva’s current, proposed and future projects in public, to investors, to regulators and with other groups. Pine-house leaders must make reasonable efforts to ensure community members “do not say or do anything that interferes with or delays” the companies’ operations. 
  • Pinehouse agrees to not make any future financial requests or claims against the companies.

Uranium firms offer deal to Sask. community Agreement sparks opposition By Jason Warick, The StarPhoenix November 27, 2012 An offer by uranium giants Cameco Corp. and Areva could soon deliver jobs, cash payments and other benefits to the northern community of Pinehouse, but some residents worry it’s a thinly veiled attempt to buy their silence. Continue reading →

December 3, 2012 Posted by | Canada, indigenous issues, Reference, Uranium | 1 Comment

Call for General Electric to remove uranium processing facility from populated area

“The question is, is this the right kind of operation that should be in the middle of people’s backyards?”

Councillor asks uranium plant to shut down Facility on Lansdowne has been quietly processing nuclear fuel for decades Toronto NOW, 23 Nov 12 By BEN SPURR Amid mounting concerns from his west downtown community, a city councillor is asking controversial uranium plant on Lansdowne Ave. to pack up and move out of his ward.

 In a motion that will go before council next week, Councillor Cesar Palacio is requesting that the city work with General Electric-Hitachi on a five-year plan to phase out the production of nuclear fuel pellets at the company’s Davenport Village facility. Continue reading →

November 25, 2012 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear, Uranium | Leave a comment

Corporate investors asking hard questions about economics of nuclear power

hard questions have to be put about new nuclear units.

Challenging Ontario’s new nuclear plants By Staff Torstar News Service, 20 Nov 12,  A new nuclear debate is starting to percolate in Ontario. At industry conferences and in the corridors of Queen’s Park, energy activists are questioning whether Ontario should invest billions in new nuclear energy units.

But these activists aren’t the long-time foes of the nuclear industry, who based their arguments on moral and environmental grounds.

They’re working for corporate clients, and asking hard questions about the economics of nuclear power, given the alternatives like plentiful natural gas. Continue reading →

November 22, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Canada | Leave a comment

Close uranium plant – call from Toronto rally

Large crowd calls for closure of uranium plant, Inside Toronto, 17 Nov 12   The GE-Hitachi facility at 1025 Lansdowne Ave. presses uranium powder into the pellets used to power Ontario’s nuclear reactors. The plant releases tiny amounts of radiation into the air and water each year …by Lisa Rainford
Following a march from the GE-Hitachi uranium plant at Lansdowne Avenue and Dupont Street, a capacity crowd of protesters filled the Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre sanctuary for what organizers are calling the first of many meetings to come about the nuclear facility.

Decked out in costume, the “Raging Grannies,” a group of older women who use song to protest and raise awareness of environmental and social justice issues, kicked off the Nov. 15 meeting that brought out local politicians from all levels of government, as well as several guest experts.  “If you love your neighbourhood, no uranium… Kick GE out for good, no uranium,” sang the trio to rousing applause.
Facilitated by the Ontario Clean Air Alliance’s Angela Bischoff, the meeting brought together a host of speakers,  Continue reading →

November 17, 2012 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear, Uranium | Leave a comment

Wake up America, to Great Lakes nuclear waste threat – says Sarnia Mayor

“I do not believe on the American side that there’s very much knowledge what’s going on, on this side of the border.”

Let U.S. comment on Canada’s nuclear waste plans, says Sarnia mayor The Star.com, November 15, 2012 John Spears Business Reporter The Canadian mayor who helped stall transport of radioactive equipment on the Great Lakes is pushing for an “international debate” on Canada’s plan for storing nuclear waste.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley has asked fellow mayors on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border to take a “strong position” on Canadian proposals for nuclear waste.

He has written to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to get the ball rolling. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | Canada, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Canada gives up on nuclear non proliferation, in deal with India

Canada joined the queue of nuclear suitors by concluding its own bilateral cooperation agreement with India in June 2010. Article V of this agreement formalized Canada’s turning a blind eye to India’s nuclear weapon programs,

India and the meltdown of Canada’s nuclear non-proliferation policy  http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1288649–india-and-the-meltdown-of-canada-s-nuclear-non-proliferation-policy  Paul Meyer   15 Nov 12,    Canada and India both want to start a new chapter in the history of our bilateral nuclear relations. This new chapter is meant to put behind us the bitterness of the past, when a Canadian-supplied research reactor was exploited to produce India’s first “peaceful” nuclear explosion in 1974 and subsequently to help create India’s nuclear weapon arsenal that was made overt through a series of nuclear tests in May 1998.

Also to be erased in this revisionist history is reference to UN Security Council Resolution 1172 of June 1998, which demanded that India and Pakistan foreswear further tests and reverse their nuclear weapon ambitions. Despite the resolution’s unanimous adoption and threat of sanctions, states led by most of the Security Council’s Permanent Five were soon privileging their own bilateral relations with India over any effort at maintaining a united front to counter this blatant act of nuclear proliferation. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | Canada, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear waste dump near Great Lakes – a threat to 40 million people’s drinking water

“If this has to exist, it would make more sense away from the Great Lakes” where 40 million people get their drinking water”

Flood of concern over nuclear dump 3, By Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer, November 14, 2012 Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley is asking his fellow Great Lakes mayors to join him in raising concerns about plans to bury nuclear waste near Lake Huron. Continue reading →

November 15, 2012 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear, wastes | Leave a comment

Concerns over transport of nuclear wastes through Northern Ontario

the project hasn’t been discussed enough in communities that might be close to the transportation corridors used to move the waste.

Nuclear waste disposal up for debate in northern Ontario MP hosting meetings across region to shed more light on plans to store nuclear waste in north CBC News   Nov 12, 2012   A northern Ontario MP is holding a series of town hall meetings about the possible transportation and disposal of nuclear waste in northern
Ontario to make sure everybody knows what the project entails. Continue reading →

November 15, 2012 Posted by | Canada, wastes | Leave a comment

Will ratepayers foot the big bill for restarting San Onofre nuclear power plant?

California Regulators Examining Troubled Nuclear Plant’s Costs Fox Business, October 25, 2012 California regulators said Thursday they would decide whether utility customers should pay to fix and restart the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant in a ruling likely to determine the plant’s future.
The nuclear plant, located on the Pacific Coast between Los Angeles and San Diego, has been shut since Jan. 31, when a pipe ruptured and released radioactive steam…

.. The company plans to restart part of the plant for a limited period, but needs approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission before it can proceed. The NRC has said a decision on that plan, filed earlier this month, will likely take several months.
Asked whether the company might delay its plans for the plant pending the CPUC’s decision on whether customers would foot the bill, a SoCal Edison spokeswoman declined to comment…..  http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/10/25/california-regulators-examining-troubled-nuclear-plant-costs/#ixzz2AR7GkP3a

October 26, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Canada | Leave a comment

Powerful opposition growing against nuclear waste in Saskatchewan

The Saskatchewan Aboriginal Women’s Circle Corporation of Saskatchewan also passed a resolution last year, opposing the transportation and storage of nuclear waste in Saskatchewan. The resolution was then adopted by the Native Women’s Association of Canada at its annual general assembly held in Saskatoon in August 2012.

Stopping Nuclear Waste in its Tracks Communities, Indigenous organizations pass resolutions against transportation and storage of nuclear waste in Saskatchewan The Dominion,  by SANDRA CUFFE, 8 Oct 12, Growing numbers of communities in Saskatchewan are vowing to block nuclear waste from being transported through their territory BEAUVAL, SK—Three places in northern Saskatchewan may be on the map in Canada’s search for a high-level radioactive waste dump site, but the spent nuclear fuel bundles may be stopped in their tracks.

 

Communities and Indigenous organizations along potential transport routes and
beyond have been passing resolutions against nuclear waste. Continue reading →

October 9, 2012 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear, wastes | Leave a comment

Costly radiation remediation at Port Hope

Port Hope radiation: $464,615 spent to remediate $130,000 house thestar.com  October 05, 2012 PORT HOPE, ONT.—It started in the attic. Wally Davis wanted to build a room in the attic of his house. Since he lives in Port Hope, he couldn’t just go ahead and do it. He went to the Low Level Radioactive Waste Management Office, a federal agency, requested the file on his property and asked them to test for remnants of historic radioactive waste.

“There was contamination in the roof, on the floors, in the walls . . . everywhere in the house,” said Davis, 75, a retired Ontario Hydro employee.

In July 2011, Davis and his wife, Carole, were relocated to neighbouring Cobourg as agency staff started remediation work. The couple returned to their two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot home this July and discovered that except for the outer walls, it had been essentially rebuilt.

“They did a superb job,” Davis said.

They did indeed. The waste management office spent $464,615 to clean up the house Davis bought a decade ago for $125,000 — or $130,000, he can’t remember.

“We didn’t have a clue how much they spent,” said Davis when the Star told him that almost a half-million dollars had been used to remediate his home.

“They didn’t tell us,” he said. “That is a lot of money.”The Davis home on Bruton St., in a leafy old part of town, is about two kilometres from the waterfront. It has a red-brick façade, an attached garage and a large front and back yard. There’s a shed in the back and a Canadian flag fluttering on a tall post.

Port Hope, the picture-pretty lakeside town about 110 kilometres east of Toronto, will soon see the biggest cleanup of historic radioactive waste in Canadian history. Fifty years of radium and uranium refining at the Cameco refinery, formerly Crown corporation Eldorado Nuclear Ltd., has left contamination spread around the town…. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1267186–port-hope-radiation-464-615-spent-to-remediate-130-000-house

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Canada, environment, Uranium | Leave a comment

Florida Supreme Court considers the forced up front fees for planned nuclear reactors

The advance fee forced down customer throats by state law is “practical” only because Wall Street financiers of nuclear power plants won’t touch such projects. Too pricey. Too risky. Too – wait for it – uncompetitive.

State’s highest court should end forced fees to pay for nuclear power plants By Robert Trigaux, Tampa Bay Times Business Columnist   Oct 01, 2012 It’s a big week for many Floridians, their wallets and their energy bills.

On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court takes a closer look at a 2006 state law that may go to the very top in my personal Guinness Book of Stupid Legislation.

That law forces Florida customers to pay for their utility’s proposed nuclear power plants long before they are built or begin operation. If the utility decides not to build the plant, it can keep much of the money it has already squeezed out of customers. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars already. Continue reading →

October 3, 2012 Posted by | Canada, Legal | Leave a comment

Canada joins the feeding frenzy to sell off nuclear technology to India

Canada turns page, wants to sell nuclear reactors to India Indrani Bagchi, TNN | Sep 13, 2012 NEW DELHI: Canada wants to sell nuclear reactors to India. Putting behind a troubled nuclear history with India, Canadian foreign minister John Baird said, “We have turned the page with India. India is a very different country today.”….. A
nuclear deal between Canada and India signed in 2010 is yet to be operationalized, waiting for a follow-up end-user agreement. After meeting Baird on Wednesday, Krishna said, “We also look forward toearly completion of negotiations on Appropriate Arrangements for the
bilateral Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signed in 2010.”

Acknowledging that the agreement was “actively discussed”, Baird said, “We’re readying an end-user pact with India, same thing we have with 42 countries. We’re not asking for or imposing any additional obligations on India.”

Canada is emerging as a favourite source for energy and resources for India… http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Canada-turns-page-wants-to-sell-nuclear-reactors-to-India/articleshow/16375962.cms

September 13, 2012 Posted by | Canada, politics | Leave a comment

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