No Nukes News: Canada’s ‘We Can Have It All’ Energy Minister

Wed Feb 17 14:17:33 EST 2021

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The World
☢ Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s ‘We Can Have It All’ Energy Minister He says tarsands output must rise and small nuclear reactors (SMRs) will solve our climate crisis. The problem is, there’s no market for SMRs, they’re exorbitantly expensive, they’re a decade away from producing any power, they produce deadly waste, and they suck public funds away from renewables which are a fraction of the cost and available now.

☢ Don't let the Trudeau Government make the same mistake again With the federal budget already under enormous stress from the COVID crisis, why would the feds waste more money on new nuclear when renewable solutions are exploding in popularity worldwide thanks to ever better technology and lower costs? Read our new factsheet and send a message to Finance Minister Freeland here urging her to not subsidize costly nuclear.

☢ Nuclear energy is dirty. It should never be funded by governments. At Lepreau (New Brunswick), spent nuclear fuel is in temporary storage silos. The “small” nuclear reactor projects plan to open the storage silos, access the plutonium and other materials inside, and make new fuel for the “small” reactors. This has never been done before in Canada and raises many safety and security concerns. 

☢ New Brunswick gives a $20 million gift to our American nuclear company which plans to use new fuel types for its reactor. The first type will use enriched uranium; we don’t have a uranium enrichment plant in Canada though the US does. The second type would use the waste from light water nuclear reactors which we also don’t have in Canada, though the US has as well as lots of nuclear waste that it would be happy to export to Canada.

☢ Groups oppose plans to abandon defunct nuclear reactors and radioactive waste The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has just given a green light to the preferred industry solution for disposal of nuclear reactors -- entomb and abandon them in place, paving the way for SMRs. Over 100 Indigenous and civil society groups have signed a public statement opposing SMR funding.

☢ A Brief History of Radioactive and other Toxic Contamination in Port Hope, Ontario By Dr. Gordon Edwards

☢ Ending the Global Security Threats of Nuclear Power: Lessons from the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 90 min. video webinar

☢ Nuclear Power is not a Climate Solution 11 min. animation.

☢ The Threat of Nuclear Waste 29 min. video interview with Beyond Nuclear’s Kevin Kamps

☢ Questions and Answers about Irradiated Nuclear Fuel in Canada By Gordon Edwards.

☢ Radiation illnesses and COVID-19 in the Navajo Nation Among the Diné, the coronavirus is spreading through a population that decades of unsafe uranium mining and contaminated groundwater has left sick and vulnerable. 

Ontario
☢ Protect  Our Waterways - No Nuclear Waste POW-NNW demands that South Bruce Municipal council commit to a binding referendum to determine support for a Deep Geological Repository (DGR) in South Bruce.

☢ OPG and Enbridge Oppose Toronto's Gas Plant Phase-Out Motion Toronto Councillors Jennifer McKelvie’s and Mike Layton’s motion asking the province to phase-out gas-fired electricity generation will be debated at Toronto City Council on March 10th. If you're a Toronto resident, please send a message to Toronto City Council here. All others, please sign the petition to phase out gas power plants in Ontario and replace with renewables.

☢ President Biden signs Executive Order to Phase out Gas Power by 2035 - Ontario can one-up them President Biden is committed to a zero-carbon electricity system by 2035. Ontario could phase out gas plants by 2030 - here's how. 

Renewables and Conservation
☼ Why cheap wind power is making Quebec's big, old dams more valuable as a 'battery,' say experts Ontario should buy storage from QC.

☼ Quebec bets on wind, citing shift in cost of power Hydro Quebec and Premier Legault say no to new dams and are building wind power with First Nations instead which are even lower cost.

☼ Rethinking Energy 2020-2030: 100% Solar, Wind, and Batteries is Just the Beginning 21 min. video. Adoption of SWB is growing exponentially worldwide and disruption is now inevitable because by 2030 they will offer the cheapest electricity option for most regions. Coal, gas, and nuclear power assets will become stranded during the 2020s, and no new investment in these technologies is rational from this point forward.

☼ Solar is booming in oil-rich Alberta Since 2014, individual Albertans and small businesses have installed 6,168 small solar systems on homes and businesses.

☼ Energy efficiency boosts jobs and cuts climate heat 

Take Action
☢ On the 10th Anniversary of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster - International Petition Against the Discharge of Contaminated Water into the Sea

☢ Tell Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland: Don't Subsidize New Nuclear Once again, the federal government is planning to waste taxpayers dollars on a new nuclear technology which is far more hype than substance with no working prototypes in Canada. Send Freeland and your MP a letter here.

☢ Nuclear waste should not be buried underground in Ontario – Petition The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is proposing a deep geological repository to abandon spent nuclear fuel bundles underground in South Bruce, Ontario. Support the community in their request for a referendum.

☢ Create Jobs - Decommission the Pickering Nuclear Station immediately after shutdown in 2024 This would provide a jobs transition for the workers and would reclaim the Pickering waterfront. Send a message to Ontario’s Finance Minister and your MPP here. 

☢ Say no to new nuclear in the GTA Tell our political leaders that you want Ontario to invest in wind and solar energy, not a new GTA nuclear reactor.

☢ Order your FREE leaflets here calling on the Ford Government to phase out gas power plants, immediately dismantle the Pickering nuclear station after shutdown in 2024, and calling on Chrystia Freeland to not fund new nuclear in the GTA. High school students can claim volunteer hours distributing leaflets to mailboxes in their neighbourhoods. 
Events

☢ Nuke Waste in South Bruce in SW Ontario Wed. Fed. 17, 7 p.m. EST. A closer look at the NWMO (Nuclear Waste Management Organization) in SW Ontario, where they have optioned 1500 acres of farmland near the community of Teeswater in South Bruce.

☢ Radioactive Waste and the Ottawa River - Town Hall Thur. Feb. 18, 7 p.m. EST. Learn about Ottawa City Council's motion opposing radioactive waste dumps at Chalk River next to the Ottawa River.

☢ Where Quebec leads Thur. Feb 18, 7 p.m. EST. Hydro-Québec is betting on a new player: hydrogen power. Can the move to hydrogen be achieved without further dependence on oil, gas or nuclear?

☢ Nuke Waste in NW Ontario Wed. Feb. 24, 7 p.m. EST. A closer look at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization in NW Ontario, where they have partnered with the Municipality of Ignace but have targeted the Revell Lake area, 40 km west of Ignace, in the heart of Treaty 3 territory.

☢ 10 years living with Fukushima - Symposium Sat. Feb. 27, 4 am – 11 a.m. EST. 35 years after Chernobyl and 10 years after Fukushima, the medical organization IPPNW (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) will take stock of the situation at Fukushima.

☢ International Update on Nuclear Waste dumps Wed. March 3, 7 p.m. EST. Canada is considering a site for deep dumping our high-level nuke fuel waste, while Ontario is also considering deep dumping low and int. nuke waste. There is no operating deep geological repository (DGR) for nuclear fuel waste anywhere in the world. This session will provide an overview of DGR programs in other countries.

☢ Rio de Janeiro International Uranium Film Festival Thur. March 11 - 17. To honor the 10th year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear triple meltdown, catch this double-feature doc screening.

☢ Port Hope: A Case Study in Radioactive Risk Wed. March 17, 7:30 p.m. EST. Speakers will look at Port Hope, the legacy of radioactive wastes the community is burdened with, and community concerns. 

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