No New Nukes for Ontario Please
Nuclear power is an incredible waste of taxpayer’s money.
Rarely have we seen the full promised potential of nuclear power, the cost overruns have always been well beyond anyone’s wildest imagination and the risks of dealing with waste greatly outweigh any described benefits of nuclear power.
However, it’s very likely that the McGuinty government in Ontario will sign agreements in the spring of 2009 to bring on 2 new nuclear power plants in this province.
Nuclear power has everything to do with energy consolidation, something that is inconsistent with the general direction of markets, diversification and consumer behaviour. Any portfolio analyst will tell you that you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Why should the people of Ontario?
More importantly, we stand at the cusp of a golden opportunity to make Ontario one of the world’s greatest and dynamic markets for independent power generation – if the province lets it happen. Making the production of cheap, efficient and green energy is the future of this province. Relying on an old monopoly is exactly the reason why manufacturing in Ontario has lost a lot of its cost advantages.
Please petition / attend meetings / write Smitherman and do what it takes to encourage our provincial leaders to spend $50-60 billion on renewable power generation.
Start here and spread the word .
Also, read up on Ontario Clean Air Alliance’s recommendations for a green energy future.
Thanks!
JimBobby has written on January 6th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Whooee! Here's another source of nuke info: http://www.energyquest4nanticoke.ca.
Down here on Lake Erie, we got Bruce Power pushin' to build a new nuke plant in Nanticoke. They contend that since they are a private company, stuff like cost overruns and delays are not the public's problem. They been winin' an' dinin' the local gummints an' got the endorsements they was lookin' for. They been spendin' hunnerts of thousands on advertisin' in all the local papers and radio stations. They been holdin' public information (propaganda) sessions where they been puttin' out deluxe buffet dinners for the rubes.
The local folks got a petition goin' against the plant. The local county gummints have refused to hear delegations from anti-nuke citizens' groups but have been more than willing to allow Bruce's paid liars to present fabrications and exaggerations to councils. Councils are interested in jobs an' tax revenue. They have shown that they don't give a rat's ass for public health and safety.
Bruce got its Environmental assessment officially started in November. They're steamrollin' and the only thing that's gonna stop 'em is public opposition. The Mayors and councillors never did any sorta public opinion gathering before endorsing the proposal. “People be damned; there's money to be made.”
This Nanticoke location will put the entire golden horseshoe in jeopardy… all for 1000 jobs and the continued ability to waste energy at will. Our great-grandchildren will curse us in our graves. Our great-grandchildrens' great-grandchildren, too.
JB
exciteddelirium has written on January 6th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Thanks for the feedback, JB.
What are the answers? Should we get someone like the Clean Air Alliance to create a petition or Facebook page that would help create momentum behind opposition to this kind of project?
The nation (and the world) has a right to oppose the actions of such a small minority.
What do you think?
exciteddelirium has written on January 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Thanks to JimBobby for a couple of other links (which I've lifted from the sites he recommended):
http://www.energyquest4nanticoke.ca/blog/Petiti...
http://haldimandsunheardvoice.blogspot.com/2008...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2006/jul/...
http://a4nr.org/library/failures/07.31.06-bloom...
http://haldimandsunheardvoice.blogspot.com/2008...
JimBobby has written on January 6th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I'm just headed out to the dentist. Dang Christmas candy broke a tooth. I got some ideas and I'll drop back later on an' spout off some. Thankee fer postin' up them other links, too. I blogged on this but I missed linkin' to you. I'm doin' that right now.
JB
JimBobby has written on January 6th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I reckon any and all ways of showing public disapproval for this idiotic energy source will help. Right now, we have a multi-billion dollar industry using its considerable public relations expertise to sell their boondoggle to the public. Don't be surprised if some nuke industry insider shows up here on yer blog and starts propagandizin'. They got plenty of paid minions out there combin' the intertubes for opportunities to dispel public fears… and they don't mind stretchin' the truth to do it.
Bruce's paid physicist/PR-man told Haldimand Council that 200 years from now, a person can stand in the presence of a spent fuel rod for 1 hour and receive the same dose of radiation as one gets from a CT scan. BTW, Dr. Boreham describes his duties with Bruce as “dispelling public fear.” The example he used is quite disingenuous. What he failed to mention is that a CT delivers 400x the radiation of a medical xray. He also failed to mention that fuel rods are welded into bundles of 37 and the welding job is designed to last 18 months at the very core of the reactor.
Nobody will ever be in the presence of a single spent fuel rod. There will be at least 37 in the bundles. The bundles are all stored in centralized locations, too. If you're near one bundle, you're likely near hundreds or even thousands of them.
The public is divided but I think the majority are against nukes. If they were being educated by public interest groups rather than by vested interest groups, there would be even more opposition.
One of the worst parts of this whole thing is that earmarking $$ for nukes takes away $$ that could be invested in green energy sources. The nuke proponents claim that alternatives can't do the job. Give renewables the funding they're giving nukes and I betcha they wouldn't be able to use that argument.
My answer for Ontario: small scale hydro electric generation. Here in my little burg, we had electric lights back in 1902. They were powered by the “dynamo” that was mounted on the local dam. Almost every little town in Ontario has a dam or waterfall. The water goes over the dam 24/7. I envision a coupla thousand generators in a few hundred towns and villages; distributed power, generated close to the consumer. Excess capacity would go into the grid.
My other answer: new building code requirements forcing every new home to have X capacity of solar roof panels. If it is in teh code, all builders must comply and it doesn't create an issue wrt competition and house prices. Mandating solar capacity will trigger a growth in the domestic solar industry and the economy of scale will push prices down low enough that owners of existing homes will be scrambling to buy solar panels and retrofit.
Answers? There's hundreds of non-nuclear, non-controversial, clean, safe affordable answers.
JB