No Nukes News: costs soar
Angela Bischoff
greenspi at web.ca
Thu Jul 16 09:27:00 EDT 2009
No Nukes News
July 15, 2009
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Leaflet Frenzy
The new leaflets have arrived! http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/
OntarioOption.pdf
They contain a postcard for Prime Minister Harper and one for Energy
Minister Smitherman.
Help us get them out into homes across the country. They’re free.
Order bulk quantities here: http://www.cleanairalliance.org/
get_involved_order_pamphlets
Volunteer Orientation
If you haven’t already attended one, please attend a volunteer
orientation, to learn more about the issue, our campaign and how you
can plug in. Our next orientation is:
Mon. July 20
6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
519 Church St. Community Centre (Church and Wellesley)
Rsvp. to angela at cleanairalliance.org
And if you can’t attend, let me know and we’ll touch base one-on-one.
Blitzing/Canvassing – Can you Help?
After canvassing Smitherman’s entire riding, he backed off on signing
the $26 billion contract for new nukes in Darlington.
Now we’re focusing our next canvass on the Toronto riding of St.
Paul’s (approx. boundaries Eglinton, Bayview, St. Clair, Dufferin)
where a by-election is expected. Let’s make nukes/renewables an
election issue!
I’ll set all canvassers up with background info, a map, and a partner
if necessary.
You can knock-n-drop – that is, speak with residents – or you can
just drop leaflets in mailboxes.
We’ll do group blitzes too.
When we’ve completed the riding, we’ll have a parteeee, so jump on
board!
Drop me a line: angela at cleanairalliance.org, or call me at 416 926
1907 x 246 and I’ll set you up.
THANK YOU!
Letter Writing
Letters to the editor, to politicians, and online comments following
articles (such as the ones below) are ALWAYS worthwhile, even if
they’re not printed. They give newspapers and politicians a sense of
the public interest, so start tappin’.
gsmitherman.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org Ontario Energy Minister George
Smitherman
dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty
pm at pm.gc.ca Prime Minister Stephen Harper
laytoj at parl.gc.ca Jack Layton, Leader of the NDP
leader at greenparty.ca Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party
ignatieff.m at parl.gc.ca Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Liberal Party
lettertoed at thestar.ca Letter to the Editor, Toronto Star
letters at globeandmail.ca Letter to the Editor, Globe and Mail
http://www.nationalpost.com/contact/letters.html?
name=Letters&subject=Letter+to+the+editor Letter to the Editor,
National Post
torsun.editor at sunmedia.ca Letter to the Editor, Toronto Sun
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$26B cost killed nuclear bid
Energy Minister George Smitherman suspended process.
Ontario ditched plan over high price tag that would wipe out 20-year
budget
The Ontario government put its nuclear power plans on hold last month
because the bid from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the only
"compliant" one received, was more than three times higher than what
the province expected to pay, the Star has learned.
Sources close to the bidding, one involved directly in one of the
bids, said that adding two next-generation Candu reactors at
Darlington generating station would have cost around $26 billion.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/665644
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Soaring nuclear costs make green option more attractive
To build a sustainable energy economy and guarantee the phase-out of
coal in 2014, we need cost-effective and flexible energy options that
can be deployed quickly, not new nuclear plants that take at least a
decade to build.
Renewable energy projects can be active in as little as two to three
years, and there are dozens of projects that are already shovel-ready.
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/666293
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Reported $26B price tag for reactors won't derail Ont.'s nuclear
plan: McGuinty
McGuinty was also nonplussed by negative federal comments about AECL.
Officials with Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt have said any
discussions about costs rested with AECL, and there was nothing that
would push Ottawa to get involved at this stage.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/greenpage/environment/Reported-_26B-
price-tag-for-reactors-won_t-derail-Ont__s-nuclear-plan_-McGuinty.html
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'Good news' in stalled reactor plan
After the Star yesterday revealed the price tag for the two Atomic
Energy of Canada Ltd. reactors, McGuinty scrambled to explain how a
project supposed to cost around $7 billion had ballooned to almost
four times that amount.
McGuinty is banking on Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is trying
to sell off AECL's reactor business, agreeing to help Ontario by
covering some of the costs.
He may have Harper over a barrel because senior federal officials
admit AECL is virtually worthless if it fails to secure the Ontario
contract.
"Investing $26 billion in greener alternatives like energy efficiency
or wind and solar power would get twice as much power on to the grid
as the same investment in new nuclear reactors," World Wildlife Fund-
Canada's Keith Stewart said in a statement.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/666396
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Reactor relief
Recession and climate politics team up against old-school fission
mission
Chalk this up as one of those big “I told you so” moments for the
anti-nuke lobby and a symbol of the shifting power dynamics in energy
politics unfolding on both sides of the border.
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=170344
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Stalled nuclear purchase won't cause Ontario blackout
“This pause in the nuclear procurement process gives us the time to
pursue much lower-cost and reliable options to keep the lights on,”
said Jack Gibbons, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, an
environmental advocacy group.
Mr. Gibbons contended that the scope for conservation is huge, in
part because Ontario residents use about 50 per cent more electricity
per person than people in neighbouring New York State.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/stalled-nuclear-purchase-
wont-cause-ontario-blackout/article1207279/
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McGuinty ponders nuke plans
A decline in electricity demand in the face of a ``massive" economic
slowdown was behind Ontario's move to put plans for new nuclear
reactors on hold.
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/662328
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Turbine rules may foil wind ventures
A majority of "construction ready" wind projects in Ontario won't go
forward if the province passes regulations that keep wind turbines a
minimum distance from residences, roads and railway lines, warns
Canada's wind energy association.
http://www.thestar.com/article/666309
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A new face of nuclear medicine
Other materials may be able to take the place of isotopes
The shutdown of the aging NRU reactor at Chalk River has cut off the
supply of the main radioactive material the Heart Institute uses,
called technetium-99.
But as one supply is squeezed, other materials, including this
rubidium dye, can sometimes take its place.
In the institute's basement, there's a machine with a name like a
carnival ride -- the cyclotron -- that produces medical isotopes
(radioactive atoms) without a nuclear reactor.
Rubidium is a major alternative to technetium and it needs no nuclear
reactor.
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Health/face%20nuclear%20medicine/
1758826/story.html
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Letters of the week:
… Those 12,000 good nuclear-industry jobs he mentions come at a very
high risk. According to a recent study out of Saskatchewan, Canadian
nuclear workers will contract cancer at a 7.65 times higher rate than
other employees. Would you encourage your son or daughter to take one
of those jobs?
Secondly, Mr. Denley's price comparison does not include the fact
that the two new plants will cost every man, woman and child in
Ontario $3,000 in subsidies, a decade before the first monthly hydro
bill shows the "5.3 cents a kilowatt hour" that he claims the cost
will be - once they are up and running.
If a small portion of that 26 billion dollar gift to the nuclear
industry were put into renewables, conservation and efficiency, the
bottom line would look very different and we would not be worried
about nuclear (and uranium) contamination affecting the lives of our
children's, children's children... into perpetuity.
Donna Dillman, Lenark, ON
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The new generation of nuclear development is proving to be a lot like
the previous generation: too costly to deserve either private or
public investment. The much-touted "nuclear renaissance" is proving
to be just so much hype from a highly polished and well-heeled sales
force intent on lobbying for a dubious, if not absurd, new round of
fruitless investment… http://www.nonuke.net/Blog/tabid/1147/EntryID/
1333/Default.aspx
Jim Elve Waterford, Haldimand-Norfolk, ON
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Reactor design puts safety of nuclear plants into question
Canadian nuclear safety regulators say they have underestimated the
seriousness of a design feature at the country's electricity-
producing reactors that would cause them to experience dangerous
power pulses during a major accident.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/reactor-design-puts-
safety-into-question/article1200130/
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OPA deal puts lid on ratepayer liability
Cap targets budget overruns at Bruce nuclear plant, but doesn't kick
in until costs surpass $3.4 billion
The bad news: Ontario ratepayers could end up paying $238 million to
cover cost overruns related to the restart of two nuclear reactors
northwest of Toronto.
The good news: at least the buck stops there.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/663126
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Notable Quotes
“The government still seems committed to driving the square peg of
nuclear status quo into the round hole of modern realities and
possibilities.”
John Etches, SAGE (Safe and Green Energy, Peterborough)
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“In spite of all the talk about a nuclear renaissance, the nuclear
industry is in a desperate condition, verging on collapse. The need
for nuclear vendors to sell reactors seems to far exceed the need for
anybody to actually buy one. Even those who like the idea of nuclear
power do not like the toxic assets that go with it -- the high level
radioactive waste, the ultimate dismantling of the radioactive
reactor structures, the full cost of liability insurance, the
proliferation of nuclear weapons, the inevitable cost over-runs and
loan guarantees.... So the government (i.e. the taxpayer) is expected
to swallow the long-term toxic assets and let private industry take
the short-term profits. Am I missing something?” Gordon Edwards,
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
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Angela Bischoff
Campaign Manager
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Tel: 416 926 1907 x 246
625 Church Street, #402
Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
angela at cleanairalliance.org
www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca
www.cleanairalliance.org
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