No Nukes News: Pickering gets 10-year extension

Tue Aug 14 13:42:44 EDT 2018

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Aug. 14, 2018☢ Another costly nuclear decision – Pickering gets 10-year extension 
Unsurprisingly, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has approved a ten-year extension to the aging Pickering Nuclear Station’s operating licence, meaning the plant can now operate until 2028, dismissing dozens of submissions pointing out the station’s terrible location surrounded by millions of people, the lack of thorough emergency planning despite 50 years of operations, and the absence of plans for better dealing with the tonnes of radioactive waste stockpiled at the station with nowhere to go.

We need an unbiased review of the true costs and benefits of continuing to operate this high-cost, high-risk facility, which should have been closed years ago. Please email energy minister Greg Rickford <greg.rickford at pc.ola.org> and tell him that closing Pickering now is the best way to cut electricity costs while ensuring the safety of millions of Ontarians.

The World

☢ U of A develops new particle accelerator to supply medical isotopes Move over nuclear isotopes – Edmonton’s new particle accelerator can generate a wider range of isotopes without producing nuclear waste, and at much lower cost.

☢ Europe’s heatwave is forcing nuclear power plants to shut down In the past few weeks, French utility EDF shut four reactors, Swedish utility Vattenfall shut one, and nuclear plants in Finland, Germany, and Switzerland have cut back. Scientists warn that thermal power interruptions will worsen because of climate change, heatwaves and droughts.

☢ California’s Wildfires and Nuclear Radiation This land use attorney in California has been monitoring for radiation in and outside his home since spring. Readings have peaked during the wildfires. Has the vast bulk of the 40 million population of California just been unknowingly exposed to high concentrations of radioactive particles released in the fires?

☢ Smokescreen Watch this 2 min. animation by Fairewinds on why building new nukes is no climate solution, but rather is a lost opportunity for humankind with precious time and money wasted on the wrong choice.

☢ US Federal health officials agree radioactive waste in St. Louis area may be linked to bone, lung and other cancers Radioactive wastes persist in the soil; a US federal agency reports that they could cause cancers. News video and article.

☢ Nuclear waste could be buried underneath UK national parks A select committee has suggested putting nuclear waste from power plants under beauty spots in the country.

☢ Great Lakes bad choice for nuke waste shipments High-level nuclear waste could be hauled from Illinois through Port Huron, Michigan, and across the border into Canada. The spent fuel bundles could very possibly end up at OPG’s Bruce nuclear station. Or they could be loading the waste onto ships to cross the Great Lakes, which the authors claim would be suicidal. More here.Ontario

☢ Is algae the new nuisance neighbour for the Pickering nuclear station? Ontario’s 18 working nuclear reactors are heating the Great Lakes. None use cooling towers (like US stations), so warm water feeds the algae and the algae blooms endanger the stations. Last month 4 Pickering reactors were offline when algae blooms blocked cooling water intakes (requiring natural gas back-up).

☢ OPG’s misleading carbon-free claim Excellent letter to the editor by Pickering resident Michael Borie about OPG's disingenuous claims that its nukes are carbon-free.

☢ Lending OPG employees to ministry raises safety and conflict of interest concerns Greenpeace called the practise "outrageous" and "akin to letting Kinder Morgan determine pipeline emergency response… The province let the fox prepare the hen house protection plan."Renewables and Conservation

☼ Solar, Wind Hit Trillion-Watt Milestone as Prices Continue to Fall The next trillion watts will cost half of the price and could be in place in 5 years.

☼ Iowa to ditch nuclear energy for wind power The state’s only nuclear reactor will be shuttered 5 years early (and immediately decommissioned) to make way for 4 wind farms. More here.

☼ Why modern renewable power doesn’t need a breakthrough in energy storage 5 min. Ted Talk with energy and conservation guru Amory Lovins. More Americans work in the booming solar or wind power industries than in the coal industry, yet renewables are often claimed to be unreliable, needing vast and costly energy storage. Amory Lovins explains why that’s a myth.

☼ The way humans get electricity is about to change forever – batteries 4 min. video about how batteries are about to alter the electricity landscape, allowing renewables to take over nuclear and fossils.

☼ EU builds solar powered desalination plant in Gaza to provide drinking water.

☼ US Renewables Are Closing In on Nuclear Generation Renewables produced more electricity than nuclear for the first five months of 2018.Take Action!

☢ Tell Doug Ford: Save green jobs in Ontario! Doug Ford’s gov’t is scrapping 758 renewable energy projects across the province, threatening over 6,000 middle class, green jobs, costing billions in lost revenue and trashing our climate targets.☢ Sign our petitions to Close Pickering and to Buy Quebec Power. And share them with your friends. Watch our 2 min. video here.☢ Can you spare a few hours to leaflet blitz your neighbourhood mailboxes? Help us make the closure of the Pickering nuclear station a public issue. Contact: angela at cleanairalliance.org☢ Support Saugeen Ojibway Nation's right to prior consent on the Bruce nuclear rebuild Petition opposing the Bruce nuclear rebuild.

☢ Stop OPG's  Nuclear Waste Dump Before It's Too Late Learn more about OPG’s nuke waste dump proposal in Kincardine, ON, and write Minister McKenna, Premier Wynne and PM Trudeau here.

☢ Tell the Japanese government: don’t dump nuclear waste into the ocean Petition

☢ Order your free KI (anti-thyroid-cancer) pills here if you live within 50 km of an ON nuclear facility - that includes all of Toronto and beyond. Download your anti-thyroid cancer posters hereto post in your office, school, or local cafe.Events

☢ No War 2018: designing a world beyond war, legalizing peace Toronto Sept. 21-22

☢ ClimaCon – Canada’s largest convergence of climate heroes Oct. 11-12, York University, Toronto

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