No Nukes News - victory, for now...

Sat Jul 4 13:15:29 EDT 2009

No Nuke News

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Savour the victory – take 2!

How do you like that – 30 cyclists brave the rain on the 50 km. Ride  
for Renewables, and the next day Energy Minister Smitherman announces  
that the province is slamming on the brakes on the Darlington nuclear  
new-builds! J

Seriously, while we’re celebrating the delay, we think it’s a  
negotiating tactic on the part of Smitherman/McGuinty to pressure the  
feds to bail out AECL by subsidizing new nukes for ON. So now we’re  
turning our efforts towards the federal gov’t. Please send a message  
NOW to Prime Minister Harper and all the federal leaders and tell  
them to say NO to subsidies for Ontario nukes! http:// 
www.cleanairalliance.org/send_a_message Thank you!

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Hey all you writers out there – we need you!

You’ve likely read by now that the province of Ontario has put the  
new Darlington nuclear contracts on hold pending a bail out from the  
feds. Now the pressure is on Harper to save AECL.

We need to flood the papers with letters, comments and even op-eds  
congratulating the provincial gov’t for suspending new nuclear  
procurement, and describing the incredibly wide range of more  
attractive alternatives available to Ontario.

But the province’s strategy of asking the federal government to bail  
out AECL and thereby subsidize Ontario’s nukes is no solution to  
nuclear’s prohibitive costs. Green energy is the answer, and the  
solution is to put our Green Energy Act to work by rolling out the  
green power and jobs.

Timing is of the essence so don’t delay! Also, being concise is key.  
Focus your message. Just aim for one clear idea per letter rather  
than trying to squeeze in several. Write for the masses. 100 words is  
best, 200 max.

lettertoed at thestar.ca
letters at globeandmail.ca
http://www.nationalpost.com/contact/letters.html? 
name=Letters&subject=Letter+to+the+editor
torsun.editor at sunmedia.ca

Here are some articles that have been rolling off the press yesterday  
this week. They need to be responded to, both through comments online  
as well as letters to the editor. Thank you!

Energy: Ontario feels the price isn’t right
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/energy-ontario-feels-the- 
price-isnt-right/article1201990/
AECL’s future in doubt as Ontario suspends nuclear power plans
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-suspends-nuclear- 
power-plans/article1200469/
AECL’s future in doubt as Ontario suspends nuclear power plans
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/aecls-future-in-doubt-as- 
ontario-suspends-nuclear-power-plans/article1200469/
Darlington expansion on hold
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/658223
Bruce nuclear plant unsafe, workers say
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/658118
Reactor design puts safety of nuclear plants into question
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/reactor-design-puts- 
safety-into-question/article1200130/
Nuclear tennis match
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/658528
High price for reactors gives Ontario cold feet
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/658573
Darlington project suspended
http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1635331
Smitherman rolls dice on new nuke deal
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/editorial/2009/06/30/9977901-sun.html
Project halt ‘severe blow’ to AECL
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=1745198
Ontario shelves costly nukes
http://www.thestar.com/unassigned/article/658622
Ontario holds off choosing reactor builder; wants better bid from AECL
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5i54H- 
bFYi2pUEA94ME0LrmqQlFsw
Ontario drops plans for 2 new nuclear reactors
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2009/06/29/onatario-nuclear.html
Feds can save nuclear project: McGuinty
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Business/McGuinty+says+feds+save 
+nuclear+project/1748132/story.html
Ontario Puts Nuclear Upgrade Plans on Ice
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/ontario-puts-nuclear- 
expansion-plans-on-ice/
Nuclear delay called risky; Suspension of new power station plan  
could hurt Ontario's ability to provide electricity, critics say
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/659271
Time for caution on nuke plans
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/christina_blizzard/ 
2009/07/03/10010401-sun.html

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Here is an excellent letter to the editor submitted by Greg Allen:

Rather than a tennis match, a more apt depiction is a shell game  
where taxes for corporate welfare are shuffled about.

The editorial plays into the nuclear lobby's extortion racket that  
claims we have no viable alternative. Minister Smitherman's much  
repeated aphorism, that the wind doesn't always blow and the sun  
doesn't always shine, is supposed to dismiss the prospects of  
replacing nuclear and coal with renewable power. Nuclear plants don't  
always run, often for years as in Ontario's recent experience, and  
coal was burned to make up lost capacity. European studies already  
demonstrate the ability to deliver dependable, competitive electrical  
service without nuclear or coal, using an optimum combination of  
wind, hydraulic, solar, bioenergy, and storage assets.

With the Green Energy Act in hand, the Ontario government needs to  
get planning the post-carbon, post-nuclear electrical system and  
energy economy. Our future depends on it.

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Human Health Implications of Uranium Mining and Nuclear Power Generation

 From the extraction of uranium from rock formations, through the  
milling, refining, and enriching of uranium, to the operation of  
reactors, and the unsolved dilemma of what to do with spent fuel,  
there are major health effects at every stage of the nuclear fuel chain.

http://www.safewater.org/PDFS/reportlibrary/ 
HumanHealthImplicationsUraniumNuclear.pdf

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NUCLEAR POWER COULD COST TRILLIONS OVER RENEWABLES

An analysis by economist Mark Cooper at the Vermont Law School claims  
that adding 100 new reactors to the U.S. power grid would cost  
taxpayers and customers between $1.9 and $4.1 trillion over the  
reactors’ lifetimes compared with renewable power sources and  
conservation measures.

The analysis factors in studies from Wall Street and independent  
energy analysts estimating the efficiency of renewable energy at 6  
cents per kilowatt hour versus 12 to 20 cents per kilowatt hour for  
nuclear.  Cooper says those costs will fall on either ratepayers  
through higher electric bills or on taxpayers through large subsidies.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm? 
id=nuclear-power-could-cost-trillions-2009-06-19

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Nuclear bomb

No nuclear power plants have been ordered in this country for three  
decades. Once touted as "too cheap to meter," nuclear power simply  
became "too costly to matter,"

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/02/nuclear_power_price/

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Renewables Approvals

The Ministries of the Environment and Natural Resources are holding  
public information sessions around the province to discuss the new  
environmental approvals process for renewable energy projects they  
have proposed. You can participate in the consultation process via  
email, deadline July 24th.  Tell the MOE that your voice is from the  
silent majority and that you support wind energy in the Province of  
Ontario. Tell them that setbacks should be based on proven science as  
they have been to-date.

http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/searchComment.do? 
actionType=add&noticeId=MTA2NDQ5&statusId=MTU5NjQ1&noticeHeaderIdString= 
MTA2NDQ5

I Support Wind Power has a great list of links about wind power,  
mostly Canadian.
http://isupportwindpower.com/

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Nuclear liability limit called too low

The Conservative government is putting the nuclear industry ahead of  
the lives of Canadians with a proposed law limiting damages in the  
event of an accident.

http://www.thestar.com/article/659526
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Some background to this story from Dr. Gordon Edwards:

Many people are unaware that they cannot buy insurance for their  
property or their persons that will protect them financially in the  
event of a nuclear accident. Every insurance policy has a "nuclear  
exclusion clause" that voids all coverage in such an event.

To encourage and subsidize nuclear power, the federal government has  
a special law which limits the liability of the owner of any nuclear  
plant to a small portion of the anticipated financial damage from  
such an accident (it's sort of a "nuclear deductible" clause) while  
the Government -- that is, the taxpayer -- provides total coverage  
(the amount authorized by Parliament) for the tens of billions of  
dollars in damages to citizens who suffer the devastating effects of  
such an accident.

This "Nuclear Liability Law" also exempts equipment manufacturers  
from any liability whatsoever, even if their equipment was defective  
and caused the nuclear accident to happen.

A few questions come to mind.

(1) If this industry is so safe, why won't the insurance companies  
cover them?

(2) If nuclear accidents are so improbable, how come the owners of  
nuclear plants won't build these reactors unless they are given legal  
protection from full financial liability by the Government?

(3) If nuclear suppliers are so reliable, why won't they sell  
equipment for nuclear plants unless they have a law which protects  
them from all liability?

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France imports UK electricity as nuclear plants shut

France is being forced to import electricity from Britain to cope  
with a summer heatwave that has helped to put a third of its nuclear  
power stations out of action.

shttp://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/ 
utilities/ article6626811.ece

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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
Our Facebook Group
Sign Our Petition

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