No Nukes News - nuclear 'renaissance' dead

Fri Nov 6 16:32:45 EST 2009

No Nukes News

Nov. 6 /09

If this newsletter gets cut off before the signature, OR to read previous No
Nukes News, go to: http://www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca/nonukesnews.php 

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Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff needs to hear from his constituents that
they don’t support continued bailouts for the nuclear industry. Help us
reach out to Iggy’s constituents in Etobicoke- Lakeshore by distributing
postcards door-to-door in his riding. We’ve got half the riding covered so
far. If you can spare a few hours, please let me know – we need you! Thanks

 <mailto:-%20angela at cleanairalliance.org> - angela at cleanairalliance.org

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Another $200 Million for AECL

Ottawa gives Crown corporation another cash infusion so it can continue
Lepreau, Ontario nuclear projects

The federal government has given another $200 million to Atomic Energy of
Canada Ltd. to complete the overdue, over-budget refurbishment at Point
Lepreau and another running into trouble at the Bruce nuclear plant in
Ontario
 The $200-million figure is likely to climb.

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/848565 

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/722050--atomic-challenges-prompt-
ottawa-to-shell-out-another-200-million 

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Setbacks slow Bruce Power reactor restarts

Refurbishment over budget by almost $1 billion, with work more than 12
months behind schedule

It's the latest sign that the nuclear "renaissance" in Canada is off to a
slow start, if not stalling altogether.

Plans to build a new nuclear plant in Ontario are on hold and the only two
refurbishment projects in the country – the restart of Bruce A Units 1 and 2
northwest of Toronto and the overhaul of the Pointe Lepreau plant in New
Brunswick – are over budget and more than a year behind schedule.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/721335 

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Privacy Act shields AECL salaries

The salaries and bonuses paid to all executives of Ontario crown
corporations are disclosed each year, but the same principle doesn't apply
to federally owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. 

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/720722--privacy-act-shields-aecl-sal
aries 

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Real Cost of Nuclear Power Disguised By Subsidies

 The Energy Fair group believes that these and other subsidies for the
nuclear industry create unfair competition for renewable sources of power
and energy conservation measures. The group has received legal advice that
the subsidies for nuclear power may well be illegal under EU competition
laws.

"In terms of the fight against climate change, nuclear power is a
mis-allocation of resources. It diverts funds away from where it would be
better spent - on renewables and conservation of energy." said Dr Lowry.
"Nuclear power is one of the expensive ways of generating electricity and
there are more than enough alternatives that are cheaper, quicker to build,
and without the many headaches of nuclear power. Several reports now show
how to decarbonise the world's economies without using nuclear power."

http://newsblaze.com/story/20091102060621zzzz.nb/topstory.html

The report, "Nuclear Subsidies" may be downloaded via a link from
<http://www.nonukes.org.uk/home> www.nonukes.org.uk/home or directly via
<http://www.mng.org.uk/nsubsidies.pdf> www.mng.org.uk/nsubsidies.pdf (PDF,
167 KB). 

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Wind Moratorium Bill goes down in flames

On Oct. 29th, Ontario Tory MPP Bill Murdoch moved a private members’ notice
of motion, proposing that “the province of Ontario impose a moratorium on
all new wind turbine projects in Ontario until such time as Ontario's chief
medical officer of health, the Ministry of Health ... and the Ministry of
the Environment have stated that wind turbines do not have any adverse
health effects on people who live near them.”

After much discussion, the motion was defeated. 

You can read the gov’t Hansard transcript here:
http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardeissue/39-1/l181.htm 

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Native American Uranium Miners Still Suffer, As Industry Eyes Rebirth

ACOMA, NEW MEXICO - On the Navajo Nation, almost everyone you talk to either
worked in uranium mines themselves or had fathers or husbands who did.
Almost
everyone also has multiple stories of loved ones dying young from cancer,
kidney disease and other ailments attributed to uranium poisoning.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5090/native_american_uranium_miner
s_still_suffer_as_industry_eyes_a_rebirth/

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UK regulator raises French nuclear concerns

French plans to lead a nuclear power renaissance in Britain have been dealt
a major blow after regulators warned of serious reservations about the
safety of the reactor technology earmarked for use.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_reso
urces/article6613960.ece 

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New study shows Canada can meet global-warming reduction targets while
growing jobs and economy 

“This new analysis shows that with strong policies, Canada can meet a 2° C
target in 2020 and have a strong, growing economy, a quality of life higher
than Canadians enjoy today, and continued steady job creation across the
country.”

 <http://www.davidsuzuki.org/latestnews/dsfnews10290901.asp>
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/latestnews/dsfnews10290901.asp

Climate change report 'irresponsible,' Prentice says

<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/climate-change-report-irrespon
sible-prentice-says/article1344485/>
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/climate-change-report-irrespons
ible-prentice-says/article1344485/

Climate-change deniers horrified by Pembina report should read it

<http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Climate+change+deniers+horrified+Pe
mbina+report+should+read/2166550/story.html>
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Climate+change+deniers+horrified+Pem
bina+report+should+read/2166550/story.html 

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Wind turbine research set for Lake Ontario – Scarborough Bluffs

Toronto Hydro Corp. was given permission on Friday to erect a wind research
platform, with an anemometer to measure wind direction and speed, about 1.2
kilometres off the Scarborough Bluffs.

"The research study will be conducted for approximately two years and the
collected wind data along with other important factors will help determine
whether an offshore wind project is economically viable," said the release. 

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/10/23/ont-wind.html 

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<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-radiation-newmexico1-2
009nov01,0,6423820.story?track=rss> Toxic waste trickles toward New Mexico's
water sources

More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites
and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to
250,000 residents of northern New Mexico.

http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-reaction/2009/11/nuclear_news_toxic_was
te_trick.html

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Indian Villagers oppose nuclear power plant

About 300 villagers in the southern province of Surat Thani on Monday
protested in front of Tha Chana district office against the possible
construction of a nuclear power plant there.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/158869/villagers-oppose-power-plant-
construction 

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<http://thefastertimes.com/nukesandotherwmd/2009/11/02/nuclear-power-fuel-to
o-close-to-nuclear-weapon-fuel-for-comfort/> Nuclear-Power Fuel Too Close to
Nuclear-Weapon Fuel for Comfort

Turns out that transubstantiating the fuel used for nuclear energy into
nuclear-weapon fuel, far from a miracle, is all too commonplace.

<http://thefastertimes.com/nukesandotherwmd/2009/11/02/nuclear-power-fuel-to
o-close-to-nuclear-weapon-fuel-for-comfort/>
http://thefastertimes.com/nukesandotherwmd/2009/11/02/nuclear-power-fuel-too
-close-to-nuclear-weapon-fuel-for-comfort/  

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NRC CITES WAL-MART FOR VIOLATIONS IN HANDLING TRITIUM EXIT SIGNS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., with four
violations concerning improper disposal and transfer of tritium exit signs
at its stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2009/09-180.html 

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Background:

Canada's CANDU reactors produce enormous quantities of radioactive hydrogen
(called tritium) as an undesirable waste byproduct.  

Tritium is a health hazard for atomic workers and for others chronically
exposed to tritium contamination. Municipal water treatment facilities are
unable to remove tritium from drinking water.  Airborne tritium is easily
inhaled and is absorbed directly through the skin, and it eventually comes
to earth as radioactive rain, snow, or dew.

To help defray the cost of removing tritium from heavy water, efforts have
been made to find commercial markets for the radioactive waste byproduct,
tritium.  

Tritium has important military uses in advanced nuclear weapons, greatly
increasing the explosive power of atomic explosions.  More benign
(non-explosive) markets were sought for the tritium produced by commercial
reactors.

One of those markets is tritium-filled signs, which glow in the dark without
the need for batteries or electrical connections.  But these signs are
themselves a form of radioactive waste, and they can end up exposing people
and animals due to breakage or leakage.  They can also end up causing
radioactive contamination of property, landfills and over time, surface and
ground water.  

Since tritium has a 12-year half-life, it remains a hazard for more than a
century. 

There are two plants in Ontario that manufacture such tritium-filled signs,
one at Pembroke and the other at Peterborough.  In both cases, extensive
contamination of the environment has occurred, and significant numbers of
civilians are unnecessarily and unknowingly being exposed to fugitive
tritium emissions from these plants.

Gordon Edwards.

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Australia's Future Power Sources Won't Include Nuclear - PM

The future sources for Australia's power needs include coal, natural gas and
a range of renewables rather than nuclear, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said
Wednesday.

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200911031959
dowjonesdjonline000733
<http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=20091103195
9dowjonesdjonline000733&title=australias-future-power-sources-wont-include-n
uclear-pm> &title=australias-future-power-sources-wont-include-nuclear-pm 

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<http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2009/10/31/deal-could-undercut-ontarios-green-ene
rgy-plan/> Deal could undercut Ontario’s green energy plan

Smitherman is intentionally creating an uneven playing field, and with good
reason. If his plan works, Ontario would win both clean energy and
desperately needed jobs.

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/718253--deal-could-undercut-onta
rio-s-green-energy-plan 

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Good Green Jobs For All Conference 

brings together environmentalists, innovators, trade unionists and
communities to discuss jobs, equity, social justice and environmental
sustainability. 

Sat. Nov. 7

Exhibition Place, Toronto

http://goodjobsforall.ca/

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PeaceFlicks! Presents:

The Strangest Dream

Tuesday, November 10 at 7 PM 

at the NFB, 150 John St., at Richmond.

The Strangest Dream tells the story of Joseph Rotblat, the history of
nuclear weapons, and the efforts of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and
World Affairs - an international movement Rotblat co-founded - to halt
nuclear proliferation.

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Angela Bischoff

Outreach Director

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 

 <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48852021264&ref=ts> Our Facebook
Group

 <http://www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca/petition.php> Sign Our Petition

 <http://www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca/nonukesnews.php> No Nukes News

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