No Nukes News: from protests to consultations

Fri Jun 25 13:53:55 EDT 2010

No Nukes News

June 25, 2010

Pass this onto a friend! - a

Let <http://www.cleanairalliance.org/files/active/0/CoalPhaseOut-web.pdf> ’s
show the world at the G20 Summit that we are taking action on climate
change!

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AECL requests hearing to restart leaky isotope reactor

Canada's nuclear watchdog is fast-tracking a request for a hearing to
consider reopening the country's aging medical isotope-producing reactor.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. made a request Friday for a formal hearing in
hopes of restarting medical isotope production at the Ontario plant by
mid-summer.

"The Commission will vary the CNSC Rules of Procedures so that AECL's
request will be dealt with in a fair and expeditious manner."  Speeding up
the process will mean the public will have little time to respond to
documents filed by AECL to the regulator.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100612/aecl-nuclear-10
0612/20100612?hub=Canada

Background:

CNSC shows that its first priority is getting nuclear facilities approved
and back in operation quickly, for the sake of the business interests
involved --  not protecting the public and the environment, as the CNSC
legal mandate dictates.  Health and safety are not just given a lower
priority, they are hardly even considered in any serious manner.

AECL has had more than a year to make repairs to the geriatric NRU reactor,
but public concerns over its radioactive emissions and nuclear waste
production will be given scant attention.

Nor does the CNSC show any inclination to tackle the question of whether
Chalk River should be continuing to use weapons-grade uranium.  President
Obama's Washington summit in April 2010 aimed at eliminating the transport
and use of such high-security weapons-grade material for any civilian
purposes, but the CNSC seems to be oblivious to the global threat posed by
such traffic.

To top it all off, there is no indication that CNSC will be considering the
cancers caused by the use of medical isotopes, nor the long-term
environmental impact of such use.

-       Gordon Edwards

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Public Hearing on Chalk River

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will host a one-day public
hearing to consider Atomic Energy of Canada¹s (AECL) application for the
restart of the National Research Universal (NRU) Reactor located at the
Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site in Chalk River, Ontario.

Hearing: Mon. June 28, 9 a.m.

Place: CNSC Public Hearing Room, 14th floor, 280 Slater Street, Ottawa,
Ontario

The public hearing will be webcasted live on the Internet via the CNSC Web
site and archived for a period of 90 days.

The public is invited to comment on AECL’s request. Requests to intervene
must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission by June 23, 2010 directly
on-line at
http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/intervention/index.cfm

Find out more:

http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/commission/pdf/Notice-2010-H-07-AECL-NRU-
Restart-Revision1-Edocs3562071-e.pdf 

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Canada is falling behind on true green innovation

“The unfortunate truth is that, today, Canada has virtually no national
strategy on renewable energy; no plans for high-speed rail lines in
development; no national smart-grid plans of any consequences; no greenhouse
gas emissions reductions goals of any meaning; and no energy efficiency
goals,”

http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/824436--hamilton-canada-i
s-falling-behind-on-true-green-innovation

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Management of Uranium Mine Waste Rock and Mill Tailings

Provide your feedback on comments received: Discussion Paper DIS-10-01
before July 14, 2010

http://oen.ca/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0
<http://oen.ca/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=255&cnt
nt01dateformat=%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returnid=75>
&cntnt01articleid=255&cntnt01dateformat=%25b%20%25d%2C%20%25Y&cntnt01returni
d=75 

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Atomic Café 

Not a moment too soon, THE ATOMIC CAFE is back to provide us with a
much-needed release of comic energy. A dark comedy in the truest sense, this
timeless classic took the nation by storm when it first debuted in 1982. The
film recounts a defining period of 20th century history and serves as a
chilling and often hilarious reminder of cold-war era paranoia in the United
States--artfully presented through a collage of newsreel footage, government
archives, military training films, and fifties music. Profoundly shocking
and perversely topical, THE ATOMIC CAFE craftily captures a panicked nation,
offering a fascinating and witty account of life during the atomic age and
resulting cold war, when fall-out shelters, duck-and-cover drills, and
government propaganda were all a part of our social consciousness. Regarded
by critics as a nuclear Reefer Madness and likened to Stanley Kubricks Dr.
Strangelove, this profoundly shocking and highly amusing film is a stunner,
a gripping account of an unforgettable era and an indisputable must-see for
all Americans. 

You Tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOUtZOqgSG8

Google Video

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1126269724766604475#

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Anti-Nuke Fact Sheets Galore – Everything you wanted to know about nukes but
were afraid to ask

Nukes and Climate Change

Radioactive Waste

Radiation

Alternatives

And much more!

http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/fctsht.htm

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How The World Nuked Itself Over 2,000 Times

Who needs a wartime nuclear exchange when you have peaceful countries nuking
the gamma rays out of their own sovereign territories? The following video
shows all the nuclear "tests" conducted by the world in the period between
1945 and 1998. Based on public data, the world's peaceful countries have
already nuked themselves at least 2,054 times, with the US nuking the state
of Nevada and its immediate neighbors about one thousand times. And keep in
mind -- the fallout does not just miraculously "disappear."

Watch clip:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/how-world-nuked-itself-over-2000-times

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Safe and Green Energy Peterborough (SAGE) is holding a

Public Consultation on the proposed New Nuclear Build at the Darlington
Plant

 at the Peterborough Public Library on Tuesday June 29th from 11am to 2pm
and Wednesday June 30th from 6pm to 9pm. 

As part of SAGE's mandate as an intervening group in the New Build's
Environmental Assessment, the group is inviting individuals and groups to
present their findings and concerns around the environmental, economic, and
social impacts of OPG's proposed New Nuclear Build at Darlington. SAGE will
be selecting and compiling the presentations to be submitted in the Proposed
New Nuclear Build's Environmental Assessment. 

Backgrounder:  Safe And Green Energy (SAGE) Peterborough is comprised of a
group of concerned Ontario citizens who peacefully oppose the renewed focus
on nuclear energy and the mining of uranium in Ontario, and is an advocate
for safe and renewable energy sources. SAGE members share a concern for the
environment, the future of humanity, social equity, and the responsible
management of public funds. SAGE activities focus on exposing the drawbacks
and costs of nuclear energy in the light of renewable energy options. SAGE
also recognizes the short and long-term hazards of uranium mining as major
pitfalls within any nuclear energy strategy. SAGE networks with other
anti-nuclear and environmental groups across Ontario and Canada. SAGE is an
Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) working group. SAGE recently
received funding to submit a report to the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Agency (CEAA) on the proposed Darlington Nuclear New Build.

Background on the Proposed New Nuclear Build at Darlington Nuclear Plant:
On September 21st, 2006, OPG applied for the license to build up to four new
nuclear reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Power Plant. On November 22nd,
the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission informed OPG that the project would
require an Environmental Assessment (EA) in order to receive a license to
build. As part of this EA, OPG is required to produce an Environmental
Impact Statement that meets all of the requirements laid out in the
Guidelines for the Preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement. This
measure is to ensure that OPG is aware of and prepared to mitigate the
environmental and social impacts of the proposed Nuclear Newbuild at the
Darlington Nuclear Power Plant. This Public Consultation is a part of SAGE
Peterborough’s participation in the EA process.

For more information please contact:  Roy Brady (705) 745 2446
rbrady1 at cogeco.ca -  John Etches (705) 748 2219 etchesjohn at yahoo.ca  -
Stephen Cornwell (416) 587 4948 stephen.d.g.cornwell at gmail.com

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Ten Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-weapons/10-reasons-abolish-nw
.htm

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Climate change poses economic threat

By Wangari Maathai  - The current upheaval caused by the economic recession
pales in comparison to the potential impacts of climate change, which, if
unabated, threatens to bring more disasters, famine, disease, resource
scarcity, human displacement and migrations and economic instability than
ever before.

Too often such conflicts are labelled as inter-ethnic or religious, ignoring
the fact that climate change, environmental degradation and the pursuit of
fossil fuels is the root cause of so much conflict in the world today.

Droughts in Kenya, wildfires in California and melting glaciers in our
mountains are further indications that we are on the tipping point of a
catastrophe scientists have long been predicting. No country or community is
immune from climate change, but the greatest tragedy is that those who are
most affected and who are least able to adapt and mitigate against climate
change, are least responsible. While leaders of the world’s richest
countries bear the greatest responsibility for rising global temperatures,
it is those already living on the edge of poverty who will feel the impacts
most acutely.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinin/article/827726--climate-chang
e-poses-economic-threat

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We really can live without tar sands, but don't tell the oil patch 

The scariest thing for the oil industry right now is not the front page
pictures of dying, oil-covered birds in the Gulf of Mexico, or pictures of
dead, oil covered ducks in the Alberta tar sands. The most frightening
spectre for them is a surging renewable energy industry united with
environmentalists to destroy the myth of oil's necessity. 

Yet that is precisely what happened last week, when Greenpeace and the
European Renewable Energy Council released their 'Energy [R]evolution'
<http://www.energyblueprint.info/>  blueprint for cutting carbon emissions
while achieving economic growth. The simple solution is to replace fossil
fuels with renewable energy and energy efficiency. The study was developed
in conjunction with specialists from the German Aerospace Centre and more
than 30 scientists and engineers from universities, institutes and the
renewable energy industry around the world. It demonstrated that in a world
taking serious action on climate change, there is no need for unconventional
oil from the tar sands. 

http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/oilpatch-06-21-2010

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Canada to Phase In New Emission Rules for Coal Plants

Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced the country will phase
in greenhouse-gas emissions standards for coal-powered energy facilities to
give the industry time to adopt cleaner technologies.

The government will mandate that traditional coal-fired plants either meet
new standards that will be announced next year, or close once they reach the
end of their "economic life," Prentice said today in Ottawa. Thirty-three of
Canada's 51 coal-burning units will reach the end of their economic life by
2025, he said.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/06/22/bloomberg1376-L4
GXQL6LUTXG01-30MJRM6FO58VJKEEFHKND21BAJ.DTL

Canada to phase out older coal-fired power plants

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2320360820100623

Climate Action Network response to federal Gov’t’s announcement for
regulating coal fired power plants

When it comes to regulations, this government has been making a series of
empty promises for over three years, meanwhile coal plants continue to be
built and emissions continue to rise. It appears that these new proposed
regulations are actually a step back from unmet promises made three years
ago. We need a coal free Canada. This means phasing out existing coal
plants, prohibiting the construction of new plants and instead making
meaningful investments in renewable energy and energy conservation.

http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2010/release/index.php?WEBYEP_DI=4
3

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Wind called crucial to replacing coal in Ontario 

One Port Burwell farmer says he’s ‘thrilled’ to be part of the wind turbine
movement 

Despite pockets of resistance across Ontario, wind is here to stay, and
growing, said Robert Hornung, president of Canwea. Wind generates about
12,000 megawatts of power now, another 500 is coming online this year with
1,500 in the near future. Ontario’s standards for turbines, including
setbacks from residential homes, are the most rigorous in North America and
the world.

As for those protesters, turbines have been generating electricity safely
for decades in other countries — it now accounts for about 13% of all
Spain’s power — and Hornung believes opposition is based on
“misinformation.”

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/06/15/14402711.html

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2 in 3 Canadians want G8/G20 summiteers to discuss fossil fuel fix: Poll

Two of three Canadians want the Harper government to show leadership at the
G8 and G20 summits and announce plans to eliminate subsidies for the fossil
fuel industry, according to results of a poll released on Friday.

It also found that 78 per cent of respondents wanted Prime Minister Stephen
Harper's government to use the summits "to signal that Canada wants to be a
leader in the global fight against climate change."

In a separate question, 65 per cent of respondents said they opposed the
Harper government's strategy of waiting for the U.S. and other nations "to
develop their plans for climate change before it implements further measures
to address climate change."

(sorry, no link at time of distro) 

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Fossil fuel subsidies are a sticky problem

The world's addiction to oil and other fossil fuels is enabled by the
subsidies many governments provide to make them so cheap.

Some details have already started to leak out, and the scale of
subsidization worldwide is massive. The IEA came out with its own
announcement that public spending on consumption subsidies – payments made
to make coal, oil and gas more affordable to consumers – was $556-billion
(U.S.) in 2008, a $215-billion increase from 2007.

The IEA estimates that phasing out the subsidies in the next 10 years could
cut global energy demand by 6 per cent, and reduce carbon emissions equal to
30 per cent of the reduction needed to keep global temperatures from rising
by 2 degrees.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/fossil-fuel-subsidie
s-are-a-sticky-problem/article1611006/

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Natural Gas and Sustainable Energy Initiative

The Worldwatch Institute has launched an initiative designed to explore and
communicate the potential of natural gas, renewable energy, and energy
efficiency to work together to build a low-carbon economy. The project
provides a forum to examine potential environmental, social, and political
obstacles that must be addressed if natural gas is to accelerate, rather
than delay, a low-carbon energy transformation. Read the report here:

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6421 

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A New Generation of Natural Gas Drilling Is Endangering Communities From the
Rockies to New York

Filmmaker Josh Fox talks about 'Gasland' and his quest to understand the
risks posed by today's natural gas industry. 

The film's stunning footage shows the consequences of fracking on the
communities where it takes place: the huge pits and pools of used toxic
fracking fluid, left to spill on the ground and evaporate into the
atmosphere; darkened and foul-smelling air and water; sick vegetation,
animals and people; and dramatic gas explosions and fires, including tap
water that bursts into flames.

http://www.alternet.org/water/147298?page=1

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Get all your G8/20 news from:

Toronto Community Mobilization Network:  <http://g20.torontomobilize.org/>
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/ 

Rabble:   <http://rabble.ca/> http://rabble.ca/

G20 Alt Media Centre  <http://2010.mediacoop.ca/> http://2010.mediacoop.ca/

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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 <http://www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca/> 

www.cleanairalliance.org <http://www.cleanairalliance.org/>  

Our Facebook Group

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

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

 <http://www.healthpower.ca/> Health Power

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