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NUCLEAR GENOCIDE IN CANADA Part 10 Nuclear Follies - Round 2 In early 2008, the Ontario Government announced that it was accepting bids from companies to build two nuclear reactors in the province. The original deadline for submissions of October 1, 2008 was extended to December 31 at the request of the reactor companies because they were unable to get their bids in on time. When December rolled around, the companies asked for and received another extension to March 2009. It does not bode well for the future when these companies can't even get a paper submission in on time let alone build the reactors on schedule. Has Anything Changed? Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick are all considering the possibility of building new nuclear reactors in the coming years. It appears they have all forgotten the massive debts caused by the first round of reactor construction in Canada in the 1970s and 1980s. The last reactors built in Canada were at Darlington. The four reactors were supposed to cost $4 billion but the final price tag was over $14 billion or three-and-a-half times as much. There has never been a nuclear reactor built in North America on time and within budget. The only province that is actually short of electricity is Ontario. They need the power because the reactors they have are already broke down. If all the reactors were operating as AECL claimed they would, Ontario would not be short of electricity. Areva (France's reactors) started building their new model of reactor in Finland in 2005. It was to be completed in 2009 at a cost of $6 billion. At the start of 2009, it was three years behind schedule and more than 50% over budget. The project has received over 2000 citations from the Finnish nuclear regulators for construction and supervisory deficiencies. Siemens, the massive engineering company, is threatening to pull out of the project and Finland has started legal proceedings against Areva for almost $4 billion for cost overruns and replacement power. Canada has accumulated hundreds of millions of tonnes of radioactive waste since the reactors were first built. None of this toxic material has been disposed of yet. Scientists have never come up with solutions for dealing with radioactive waste. It is continually piling up in our lakes, on land, in our towns, our research facilities, at the reactors and inside the bodies of Canadians. Though no figures are available in Canada, the United Kingdom estimates it will cost $145 billion to clean up the radioactive waste they have at home. Granted, they have some extra costs because of the contamination caused by their reprocessing facility. On the other hand, Canada has about 400 million tonnes of radioactive tailings at uranium mines while the United Kingdom has none. The massive costs for radioactive waste disposal, decommissioning facilities, failed reactor designs, legal actions and increased health care have saddled our children and grandchildren with a massive debt from Round One of reactor construction in Canada. Why are we considering building more reactors when we haven't paid the bills and cleaned up the mess from the first ones? Who Wants Reactors Built? Different organizations have different reasons for wanting to build nuclear reactors in Canada. The Canadian government spent billions of dollars trying to become a global nuclear power since the second World War. Canada's main claim to nuclear fame was to supply the uranium and plutonium to the United States for their nuclear weapons program until the 1970s. Canada had some initial success with CANDU reactors in the 1970's but problems quickly developed. Reactors that were supposed to operate for 40 years were forced to shut down after little more than a decade of operation for re-tubing. A few years after being re-started, Ontario Hydro had to shut down eight of their twenty reactors because of poor performance and safety concerns. Some of the reactors were refurbished starting in 2003 for about the same amount they cost to build in the first place. Some were too damaged to fix and are permanently shut down. Canada has plans to significantly expand the nuclear industry. They want to build more reactors, build a uranium enrichment facility, reprocess spent reactor fuel and become a repository for high-level nuclear waste from other countries. To accomplish these objectives, Canada joined the George Bush-inspired Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) desperately has to sell a reactor in Canada before anyone in the rest of the world will buy one. AECL has only sold one of its reactors in the last twelve years. The world avoided CANDU reactors after eight of them were shut down by 1997. AECL gave itself another 'black eye' in 2005 when they cancelled work on the ACR-700 reactor because it did not function in the manner they intended with their design. This was to be AECL's 'next generation reactor.' The worst blow to AECL's reputation came with the cancellation of the Maple reactors in 2008 which were supposed to cost $140 million. They admitted defeat after spending $600 million and 19 years trying to build a replacement for the 52 year-old NRU reactor which currently produces half the world's medical isotopes. Ironically, South Korea's Hanaro Reactor is based on AECL's Maple reactor and it is working very well. Perhaps AECL should import some expertise from South Korea. Bruce Power wants to build reactors in all the provinces to sell electricity to the United States. Many states south of the border have put moratoriums in place on reactor construction until waste issues are resolved. The United States would get the electricity while Canadians pay cost overruns, deal with all the wastes and assume all the risks in the event of a major accident. The only winner in this deal is Bruce Power's bank account. Cameco is the world's largest supplier of uranium and uranium processing. Obviously, Cameco wants more reactors built to consume their product. Trans Canada Corporation (one of three majority Bruce Power owners) wants to build and operate the electricity transmission lines to the United States electricity grid. The Canadian government needs a nuclear province in the west to fulfill its obligations to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). Cost To Build Reactors According the their 2008 Economic Impact Report, Bruce Power estimates the project to build four reactors in Alberta will cost $12 billion or $3000 per kilowatt. (A 1000 megawatt reactor is equal to one million kilowatts) This figure has no basis in fact as most current estimates are two to three times this amount. Bruce Power is following the same tactics used across North America 30 years ago where the cost of building reactors was purposefully underestimated to make the project seem cost-effective. Once construction was underway, the true costs would be revealed. By this time, the utilities building the reactors had too much invested to back out. Let's examine the costs for other current reactor projects. The current cost of Areva's 'new generation' reactor being built in Finland is $6250 per kilowatt. Moody's Investors Service (Bond Rating Agency) estimates that the cost of a new 1,000-megawatt reactor will cost $7.5 billion or $7500 per kilowatt. Progress Energy Florida estimated that building reactors at a new 3,000-acre site in Levy County near Tampa, Fla., would cost about $7 billion per unit (Westinghouse AP1000) or $7000 per kilowatt. Florida Power & Light estimates the cost of adding new reactors at Turkey Point nuclear plant could range from $6-$12 billion per reactor, according to a March filing with Florida regulators. The company said the cost for building two units ranges from $12.1 billion to $17.8 billion for Westinghouse's AP1000, and $16.5 billion to $24.3 billion for General Electric's ESBWR. The average construction costs from the examples above is $7650 US or $9562 Cdn. per kilowatt. As such, the four 1000 megawatt reactors Bruce Power wants to build will cost about $38.25 billion Cdn. This is about three-and-a-quarter times as high as Bruce Power's estimate of costs. Curiously, this is virtually the same percentage cost overun as AECL had at Darlington. These figures will continue to rise at about 10% per year because of the continued escalation in the cost of labour and materials as all large industrial projects under construction can attest. The cost estimate for reactor construction has more than doubled in the past five years. If we assume a 10% yearly increase in construction costs, the $38 billion price tag for the four reactors proposed for Peace River will rise to more than $55 billion within five years. How much is a Billion Dollars? It is hard for most of us to wrap our heads around large numbers. Let's look at the difference between Bruce Power's estimate to build four reactors and what everybody else is saying its going to cost. Bruce Power's figure of $12 billion is $26 billion less than the $38 billion the industry estimates. In other words, Bruce Power is looking for a $26 billion taxpayer subsidy. If we took one billion dollars, we could spend $2000 on 500,000 homes to increase their energy-efficiency levels. If we spent this money on the most inefficient homes, we would reduce their energy consumption by 30-45%. If the government funded this program instead of nuclear reactors, homeowners would be able to repay the $2000 costs through energy savings alone in less than three years. The government would have its billion dollars back and half a million homes would consume about 35% less energy. This type of program is common for commercial and institutional buildings, including the Canadian government's Federal Building Initiative program. An energy service company does an audit on the buildings and reports on suggested upgrades to water, electrical, heating and waste systems. He informs the building owner what it will cost and the amount the changes will reduce the building's operating cost. If the building owner decides to go ahead, they enter into an Energy Services Contract (ESCO) with the energy services company. The energy services company does the work without the owner of the building incurring any capital costs. The energy service company is repaid through the savings in energy costs. Average length of payback is 2-6 years. The four reactors being proposed will generate 4000 megawatts of electricity at a cost of $38 billion and will not be completed for a minimum of ten years. Installation of 4000 megawatts of wind generated electricity would cost $7 billion and could be installed within 2 years. At the end of their lives, the wind turbines are simply un-bolted from their foundation and the materials recycled. There are no legacy wastes of any kind to deal with. Nuclear reactors have to be refurbished, decommissioned and stored away from people for tens of thousands of years. The cost of an accident at a windmill is minimal. A major accident at a reactor could cost Canadian taxpayers a trillion dollars. There are many more efficient and beneficail ways to spend a billion dollars than building nuclear reactors. Three Reactors to Choose From Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's ACR-1000, Areva's EPR and Westinghouse's AP-1000 are the three reactor models being considered by the Ontario government and by Bruce Power. Only Areva's EPR reactor has actually been fully designed yet. Areva (France) started building the first EPR in Finland in 2005. It is currently three years behind schedule and 50% over budget because of poor welding, flaws in piping and mistakes with concrete pouring. Costs expected to rise further before the project is complete. Many of the problems are being blamed on a work force that is not suitably trained for the work they are doing. Areva started building the second EPR reactor at Flamanville France in December 2007. The French Nuclear Safety Agency (ASN) shut down the project six months after it started (May 21, 2008) after finding cracks in the slab beneath the reactor building and non-conformities in steel re-enforcing for the concrete among many other deficiencies. A quarter of the welds were not up to standards. The entire reactor site was shut down for a month before work was allowed to resume. The Westinghouse AP-1000 is nowhere near ready for construction. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that design approval will not come until 2012. Harvey Wasserman states: "The plans for these reactors have not been finalized by the builders themselves, nor have they been approved by the regulators. There is no operating prototype of a Westinghouse AP-1000 from which to draw actual data about how safely these plants might actually operate, what their environmental impact might be, or what they might cost to build or run." Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's (AECL) ACR-1000 is an even more dubious reactor. It is based on AECL's aborted ACR-700 reactor which the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined did not operate as AECL claimed. The ACR-1000 is still on the drawing board and is years away from licensing. The ACR-1000 is a radical departure from the traditional Candu reactors. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Nuclear proponents continually try to paint nuclear as a green technology because there are no greenhouse gases emitted during the operation of the reactor. This is true but they neglect to mention that the reactors emit large quantities of tritium. Tritum is radioactive water capable of contaminating people, animals, plants and water systems. Tritium is a known carcinogen. Though the reactors do not emit greenhouse gases, every other part of the nuclear fuel cycle does. Diesel is required in mining and hauling ore from Saskatchewan to Blind River, to Port Hope and then on to the reactors. All of the facilities are built of concrete which is a huge emitter of greenhouse gases. Cameco is the largest user of concrete in Saskatchewan; most of it for plugging leaks in their mines. More diesel will be used during decommissioning to haul all the waste around. As stated previously, one uranium enrichment facility requires the electrical output of two 1000 megawatt coal-fired generators. The nuclear proponents then say that even taking all of that into consideration, nuclear releases less greenhouse gases than coal or oil and that they have the studies to prove it. Once again, this is true. But they don't tell you that the study is based on the ore from the richest mines in the world at up to 70% uranium oxides in the ore. If low-grade ore from other mines (.01% uranium oxides in the ore) was used, you would have to process 7000 times as much ore to get the same amount of uranium. This would cause the release of a great deal more greenhouse gases than other energy sources would. Nuclear Reactors in Alberta Alberta became the target for the hopes and dreams of the nuclear industry in 2007 when an Alberta company called Energy Alberta announced they wanted to build two reactors in the province. Wayne Henuset and Hank Swartout formed the company in 2006 and negotiated exclusive marketing rights to use Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's Candu technology. They narrowed their search for a site to build the reactors to Whitecourt and Peace River and said the electricity would be used by the oilsands companies for their extraction process. This made little sense as the oilsands companies are located on the other side of the province from the proposed reactors. The distance between the oilsands projects and the proposed reactors would prevent the use of the excess heat from the reactors. The existing oilsands companies stated they were not interested in using nuclear power as they all have their own gas-fired co-generation units which supply both the electricity and the steam they need for their extraction processes. The companies currently sell the excess electricity they generate back into the Alberta grid. Mr. Henuset then announced that he had found a buyer for 70% of the proposed reactors output, though he would not name the purchaser. In the end, he admitted there never was a buyer. Concerning land to build the reactors, Mr. Henuset is quoted saying: "There are other things that we need to do but we do have land as we speak now. I won't tell you where, but I will tell you I actually purchased it this week." (Whitecourt Star, August 22, 2007) Mr. Henuset later admitted that he had not purchased land. Obviously, Mr. Henuset had a little trouble discerning the difference between fact and fiction. Energy Alberta was purchased by Bruce Power from Ontario in 2008. Deceiving The Public It's a sad commentary on our society when the institutions meant to protect and inform us become puppets of the industries that harm us. Our three levels of government and most of the newspapers serving Alberta have jumped into bed with the nuclear industry. Their efforts are compromising the best interests of Albertans, both now and in the future, to promote an industry that has created massive debt and contamination for Canadians for the past 40 years. Albertans are only hearing what the nuclear industry wants them to hear. The massive resources of the industry, our governments and the media have been marshaled to control the information getting to the public. Individual residents and grass-roots organizations are having to dig into their own pockets to get the other side of the story out. Nuclear Industry Bruce Power, the company wanting to build reactors in Alberta, has publicly stated they have set aside $50 million over the next three years to get their message out. The groups opposed to the reactors have virtually no money to work with to educate the public about the health effects and accumulated public debt caused by the nuclear fuel cycle companies in Canada. Much of the information being put out by Bruce Power in the media and in public meetings is false but there is no mechanism in place to hold them accountable. I brought this to the attention of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA), the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and other officials in the federal government after attending an information session put on by Bruce Power on March 14, 2008 in Fairview. I listed the false statements they made during their presentations and asked that some action be taken to force Bruce Power to tell the public the truth. The only response I received was from Peter Sylvester of the CEAA who stated: "Thank you for your email message of May 7, (2008) requesting further clarification regarding federal responsibilities in relation to public comments made by private sector proponents, such as nuclear fuel cycle companies. While the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency advocates an open and transparent environmental assessment (EA) process, it is not within the federal government's legislative authority to control the public consultation activities of a private sector proponent." Unfortunately, there are no laws in place to force companies in Canada to tell the truth to the public. With the Federal and Provincial governments avoiding their responsibilities, it is up to the media and the public to ensure we are being told the truth by energy companies. I hope we are both up to the challenge. If not, our children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences. Municipal Government The Alberta Association of Municipalities, Districts and Counties (AAMDC) sponsored the Rural Matters Conference July 5-8, 2008 with Patrick Moore as the keynote speaker. Patrick Moore is a former Greenpeace member who now works as a paid lobbyist for the nuclear industry. Several social justice and environmental organizations voiced concerns to AAMDC that no one would be present to give balance to his presentation in support of the nuclear industry. AAMDC responded to our concerns with the following e-mail: "We received your note today. As to the concerns raised please be advised that Dr. Moore has not been booked as a speaker to make a presentation on Nuclear energy. We have booked him to speak on the broader topic of the importance of environmental sustainability." (Gerald Rhodes, Executive Director, AAMDC/Alberta Association of Municipal Districts & Counties) But as we feared, Patrick Moore did give a pro-nuclear presentation. Candace Elliot of the Edmonton Journal reported on his address to the conference: "If Alberta really wants to turn around its extremely high CO2 level, which is seven times higher than Quebec's, it's got to consider either building hydro dams in the north or building nuclear plants in order to stop the continued increase in fossil fuel consumption," said Moore. "It's the only practical means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Alberta's oilsands." (Edmonton Journal, July 8, 2008) Had Patrick Moore deceived the AAMDC about the nature of the talk he would give or was the response we received from Gerald Rhodes at AAMDC a deception? Either way, Patrick Moore fulfilled his obligations as a paid nuclear lobbyist. The delegates to the conference went away after hearing only one side of the story. However, the award for 'municipal manipulation' has to go to Whitecourt Mayor, Trevor Thain. Many people in the community had been clamoring for debates, so the mayor decided to accommodate them. Mayor Thain submitted the names of the debaters to the local radio station in a press release. Unfortunately for Mayor Thain, the reporter at the radio station recognized both individuals as being pro-nuclear. The Mayor was suitably chastised and was forced to find a substitute for one of the pro-nuclear 'debaters'. I imagine the people of Whitecourt will remember this example of the mayor's 'ethical conduct' come the next election. Provincial Government During the provincial election in March 2008, Energy Minister Mel Knight was adamant that the provincial government 'was neither a proponent nor a detractor of nuclear power.' In reality, the Alberta government had already made up its mind and Mel Knight was not telling the truth. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn's comments in the Whitecourt Star leads one to believe that the Alberta government had made up its mind almost a year before the election to support the development of nuclear power in Alberta. Mr. Lunn states: "We need clean forms of energy. We need to invest in technology for the fossil fuels that are going to be around for decades, but also nuclear has a role to play if certain provinces want to move in that direction. If they decide to move forward – and I am hearing very positive information from local governments, and the provincial government – ultimately it is their decision – that we will ensure that there is a comprehensive approval process that is put in place." (July 18, 2007, Chandra Lye) Peace River Mayor Lorne Mann also contradicts Mel Knight's assertion that the Alberta government didn't have it's mind made up. "Mr. Mann said nuclear power was inevitable for Alberta. The impression I get from the feds and the province is that this may well be the first but it certainly won't be the last," he said in regards to Energy Alberta's (EA) plans to build a plant in Northern Alberta. "It's a train coming down the railway tracks and the usual suspects will object but in our due diligence it's very positive for Alberta's economy." (Whitecourt Star Staff, Wednesday August 22, 2007) It appears Mr. Knight visited the Idaho Nuclear Laboratory prior to the election. Three weeks after he was re-elected, Mr. Knight announced a joint venture between the Alberta Research Council and the Idaho facility to research and develop uses for nuclear technology in the oil patch. It's quite apparent that the three levels of government have had discussions concerning the construction of nuclear reactors in Alberta and that the province is supportive. Mel Knight did not tell us the truth during the election so he could avoid all debate on such a divisive issue. The Nuclear Panel Alberta Energy Minister Mel Knight announced the formation of 'An Expert Nuclear Panel' to investigate whether nuclear energy is appropriate for Alberta. The panel was set up to help the province answer questions on environmental, health, safety and waste management issues. On the surface, these goals are laudable, but they cannot be fulfilled because of the people Mel Knight appointed to the panel. There are no environmental experts, medical doctors, nuclear opponents or health experts. The panel is made up of three 'oil and gas men' and a director of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the main proponent of nuclear energy in Canada. As a result, the report from this panel will have no credibly. The panel consists of former federal cabinet minister Harvie Andre, Joseph Doucet (Enbridge Professor of Energy Policy), Harrie Vredenburg (business professor and Suncor Energy Chair at University of Calgary) and John Luxat (McMaster University professor and AECL Director). Harvie Andre was appointed to chair the committee despite having no expertise in environmental, health, safety or radioactive waste related issues. He was appointed in the same capacity by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to chair the panel investigating the construction of new reactors in Ontario. His main qualification is that he's loyal to the federal government's intention to make the nuclear industry grow in Canada. The hypocrisy of this panel was clearly shown when Dr. Helen Caldicott, one of the world's foremost experts on the health consequences of exposure to radiation, offered to meet with the panel on a recent visit to Canada from Australia. Harvie Andre refused her offer because she is a 'biased advocate.' The panel unanimously agreed it won't "entertain requests from proponents or opponents of nuclear power." The panel's bias is evident considering John Luxat is a director of AECL and has been involved in the nuclear industry for more than 30 years. Alberta Energy Minister Mel Knight I will have to defer to Edmonton Sun columnist Neil Waugh for a succinct description of Mel Knight. In his July 2008 column in the paper, Mr. Waugh stated: "Alberta Energy Minister Mel Knight may have won the race to the bottom with Environment Minister Rob Renner as the PCs' worst cabinet minister." Mel Knight was the Minister of Energy when the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board were caught spying on landowners who were opposing the electrical transmission lines being proposed in Alberta. Mel Knight ended up splitting the Board into two separate boards but did nothing to reprimand the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board employees who had broken the law. Just another simple case of covering up corruption in the provincial government. Mel Knight showed his ignorance of nuclear issues on April 24th, 2008, when he made the following comment in the legislature in response to a question about the nuclear panel he had convened: "It might be very interesting for the member opposite to understand that one of the ... major forces working with respect to environmental concerns globally, the Sierra Club, runs ads in Europe in favour of nuclear energy, Mr. Speaker, in favour of nuclear energy." Lindsay Telfer, Director of the Sierra Club Prairie responded: "The Sierra Club Canada, in addition to the Sierra Club US have clear policies which highlight our belief that Nuclear Energy is not clean, it is not green, it is not economical and it is not a solution to climate change. The fact that our Energy Minister Mel Knight is resorting to slander in an attempt to discredit our organization is simply unacceptable. Our positions on nuclear energy are based on sound science, clear evidence and a growing body of literature on the industry's impacts." Ms. Telfer continues: "We expect a public apology in the legislature in addition to a meeting with Minister Knight to clear this claim on the Alberta Record. We believe we can work with the Government of Alberta to develop an energy policy that meets its own stated principle to lead in the post-oil economy, and we believe we can achieve this without resorting to the risks of nuclear energy." Shortly after he announced the 'Expert Nuclear Panel,' Mel Knight was asked by a group of youth from SPOC (Stop Poisoning Our Community) outside his office if he could tell them what the panel was supposed to report on. Mel Knight said they would find out when the report was released in the fall. Mel Knight also refused to release the terms of reference for the panel when the youth asked him to do so. Mel Knight betrayed his lack of nuclear knowledge when he rose in the legislature on March 19, 2009 and said: "Mr. Speaker, I certainly did indicate that there is a nuclear renaissance, and it is global. I didn't talk about a renaissance in Alberta, but I did say that there is a nuclear renaissance, and it's global. It's here; whether we like it or whether we don't is not the issue. There are a number of jurisdictions around the world that are currently increasing their capacity for nuclear energy. Relative to the treatment of spent fuel, recycling of spent fuel is a technology that's well applied in certain places in the world and certainly is way beyond, obviously, what the member opposite understands." There is no nuclear renaissance in the world right now. There has not been a single firm order for a reactor in North America since 1978. The only two reactors under construction in the western world ordered in the past decade are in Finland and France. One is three years late and 50% over budget while the other one was shut down for a month because of work defficiencies. Mel Knight says that: "recycling of spent fuel is a technology that's well applied in certian places in the world." As I've shown in a previous paper, the reprocessing of spent reactor fuel has been a costly and toxic disaster wherever it has been tried. Mel Knight's next comment that day in the legislature was: "There is no nuclear waste in Alberta, not that I'm aware of, in any event." For Mel Knight's information, there's 42,500 cubic metres of radioactive waste stored in Fort McMurray. This material was placed in a mound in the early 1990's. It originated from the 1930s to the 1960s when radioactive uranium ore was shipped from Port Radium through Fort McMurray to Port Hope for refining. There is most definitely other contaminated sites along the transportation route. Considering his ridiculous and false comments on nuclear issues, Mel Knight is not qualified to be Alberta's Energy Minister. He has no grasp whatsoever of the dangers or the costs involved with the expansion of the nuclear industry. Considering Bruce Power's attempt to build nuclear reactors in Alberta, the health and economic well-being of Albertans are at risk because of Mel Knight's complete incompetence regarding nuclear issues. Deceit from the Media The changes in the newspaper business over the past 25 years have been detrimental to Canadian citizens. Our communities have suffered because of the concentration of too many newspapers in too few hands. For instance, the Grande Prairie Herald Tribune is owned by Quebecor, a company based in Montreal which owns hundreds of newspapers across the country. Newspapers owned by people who live far away do not have the best interests of the community at heart. They are concerned about the people who pay for advertising across the chain. Their editorial policies are driven by the corporations they serve and are a part of. The Quebecor chain of newspapers take a pro-nuclear stance in their reporting. As such, small communities across the country are only given information the nuclear industry wants them to get. Does Alberta Need Nuclear Reactors? Alberta's peak electricity demand is just under 10,000 megawatts (mw.) which is currently being met with 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity from all sources in the province. Alberta also has agreements in place to buy electricity from British Columbia and Saskatchewan if needed. In 2007, the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), estimated Alberta will require an additional 5000 mw. of electricity generating capacity within 10 years and 11,800 mw. within 20 years. This forecast will have to be revised as the AESO has since stated that the projected increase in demand for 2007 and 2008 has not materialized. Further, we have entered a severe global recession that has already forced the cancellation of a large number of energy intensive projects. A large percentage of the projected increase in demand will be used for new oilsands projects and other major industrial enterprises. These large projects usually install their own electricity generating facilities on site. Most of them use natural gas co-generating units which produce both electricity and the steam required for oilsands recovery and other industrial processes. Roughly half of the projected increase in demand for the next ten years will be met in this manner. This will leave AESO to approve about 2500 mw of generating capacity to meet demand for the next ten years. AESO reports they have received proposals for 17,823 mw of generating capacity; 10265 mw of which is are for wind power generation. AESO's long-range projection of 3% annual growth may change over the ten-year period because of a number of different factors. In Ontario in the 1970s and 1980s, Ontario Hydro forecast electricity demand growing at 3% per year. They used this forecast to justify the construction of nuclear reactors and other electricity sources. The actual increase in demand in the following 20 years was 1%. There is a 'monument' in Port Hope that is a constant reminder of the Ontario Government's inability to forecast accurately. The Wesleyville 2000 mw oil-fired power station in the west end of Port Hope was more than half built when the announcement came that it would not be put into service. Its 208 metre high smoke stack is visible for miles around. Energy Alberta initially claimed the nuclear reactors they wanted to build would supply energy to the oilsands but the current oilsands companies said they weren't interested in using nuclear power for their operations as they have their own natural gas co-generation units. Further, locating the reactors in Peace River would be of little benefit to the oilsands 600 kilometres away as steam can only be transported about 25 kilometres. The oilsands companies don't want the reactors that close to the oilsands for fear of contaminating these vast deposits with radioactive material. There is no need to build nuclear reactors in Canada. Future demand can be met through renewable energy sources, increased energy-efficiency and conservation. The current round of reactor proposals is simply a commercial venture to sell electricity to the Americans. The only exception would be Ontario which does have a tight supply of electricity because so many of their reactors have been shut down for such a long period of time. If these reactors were operating as AECL said they would, Ontario wouldn't have a problem. Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Canada signed on to George Bush's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). The GNEP stipulates that spent reactor fuel from around the world will be returned to the country that supplied the uranium in the first place. The waste reactor fuel will be reprocessed to be used in a new generation of reactors that haven't been designed yet. This is of great concern to Canadians as we are the largest supplier of uranium in the world. 40% of all the reactor waste in the world will be returned to Canada for reprocessing. This will create a whole new level of radioactive waste we will have to store and dispose of. The industry controlled Nuclear Waste Management Organization in Canada estimated it will cost $25 billion to store Canada's current volume of waste from its 20 operating reactors and no community has agreed to play host to the waste yet. How big will this probem get when we start receiving high-level radioactive waste from 175 reactors (40%) around the world? The Canadian government wants to locate a reactor in a western province to make it easier to sell the public on building a waste processing facility here. There will be less opposition in the west to the vast high-level waste storage facility that will be required to deal with 40% of the world's spent reactor fuel. Further, as much of the returning waste will be coming from Asia, it would be easier to transport the high-level waste from ports in British Columbia than from eastern Canada. When will the Canadian government stop this madness? Where Do We Stand? "I write this mostly for my children. One day they will have questions. One day I might have to explain how we came to this place in time, where we have nuclear bombs, radioactive waste, spent fuel rods, genetic deformities and wastelands. My stories are about uranium. But they are about something more than a radioactive mineral. My stories are about people and about oppression, about fear and corporate colonialism and about hope." (Lorraine Rekmans, This is My Homeland) We sit at a critical time. The decisions we make now will affect all future generations for tens of thousands of years. What right do we have to create problems that our children and grandchildren have no hope of solving? What right do we have to use electricity that puts the health, environmental and economic costs on to our children and grandchildren? Radioactive uranium ore was mined and processed in Canada since 1932. Despite knowing the dangers from the beginning, the Canadian government never told the tens of thousands of men and women who worked in the industry of the harm they faced for 45 years. We have no way of knowing how many needless illnesses and premature deaths were caused by Canada's policy of silence. But we do know from all the miners' health studies that cancer rates were at double the number expected. Canada poisoned an unsuspecting First Nations community in Deline to use them to transport radioactive ore. In 1966, the Atomic Energy Control Board, the Town of Port Hope officials and the RCMP were told of the dangers of the radioactive waste located throughout the town by Dr.Andrews. The three organizations stayed silent for ten years before the public was informed of the dangers. How many excess illnesses and deaths did this cause? Canada sent its soldiers to be exposed to atomic weapons testing with the full knowledge of the dangers they faced. Canada also sent soldiers to clean up the major accidents in the NRX and NRU reactors. No health followup was ever ordered. The cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan's recent health studies were judged to be a concern when they were 30% higher than expected. Yet Health Canada found 'no problem' with brain cancer in children in Port Hope 300% above the expected rate or respiratory cancers in men 460% above the expected rate. Canada's allowable level for tritium (7000 Beq/L) is 70 times higher than in the European Union (100 Beq/L). Canada must set tritium levels this high because the CANDU reactors produce 30 times more tritium than any other reactor in the world. This regulatory level is set to protect the industry, not the health of Canadians. Health studies have shown cancer and leukemia rates around reactors are significantly elevated. The most recent studies have shown these rates drop quickly once the reactors are shut down. There are hundreds of millions of tonnes of radioactive waste currently poisoning people and the environment in Canada. No country in the world had found a solution to dealing with these wastes. Canadian taxpayers are still paying for the massive cost overruns and radioactive waste cleanups from the first round of reactor construction. Do taxpayers want to do this again? The Canadian government is responsible for these atrocities. They were first warned of the dangers of uranium and radiation by their own Department of Mines Ministry in 1932. The Canadian government knowingly poisoned its citizens. There is no other way of saying it: The Canadian government is guilty of nuclear genocide. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Health Canada and Natural Resources Canada are all lying to Canadians about the dangers they face from exposure to radiation. They are doing this to prevent the government from being held accountable for the harm they have caused. Where Do We Go From Here? "In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me, and by that time, there was nobody left to speak up." (Martin Niemoller) Martin Niemoller was a priest who was imprisoned in Germany from 1938-1945 for his outspoken opposition to Hitler. He wrote the statement above upon his release from prison to voice his disgust at the cowardice of his fellow Germans in not speaking up against Hitler. Sadly, we face the same situation in Canada regarding nuclear issues. More people must get involved in the debate. More people must stand up and speak out to protect future generations who aren't here to defend themselves. There's a small group of people across Canada who work tirelessly to research and expose the truth about the dangers we face from the nuclear industry; past, present and future. They sacrifice thousands of hours of their personal time and their own resources to try to protect Canadians. They come from all walks of life and over 80% of them are women. This situation has been talked about at considerable length and it appears that men simply don't have the courage to stand up and speak out while the women will do whatever is required to protect their children. Very few of these people are nuclear experts. You don't have to be an expert to understand what the nuclear experts are saying. You just have to understand the language the experts are speaking in. The biggest problem we face is figuring out which expert is telling the truth. As the tobacco debate demonstrated over the years, you can get an expert or a scientist to say whatever you want if you pay them enough money. The same situation exists within the nuclear debate today. What are you going to say to your children and grandchildren when they ask you how we got into this mess? Will you be able to tell them that you did your part to prevent it? Will you be able to tell them that you stood up and looked out for their best interests? I hope so. Each of us must look in the mirror and see what we can do to help out. Call a local group and find out how you can get involved. Call your Member of Parliament or your MLA and tell them your concerns. Go to a public meeting. Write a letter to the newspaper. At least then you'll be able to look your children in the eyes when they asked what happened. In Closing There was a great deal more information that could have gone into this series of papers, but I ran out of time. I wanted to get this information out before Bruce Power held their four public meetings this week in the Peace River area. Nuclear power involves much more than just the reactors. We have to be aware of the impact of all the parts of the nuclear fuel cycle. Most importantly, we must be aware that it was the Canadian government that caused the mess we find ourselves in. They did not protect us from all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle. We must do all we can to ensure they don't do it to us again. Thank You, Pat McNamara March 22, 2009 Here is a link to an article by Harvey Wasserman about France's nuclear power industry. It gives an insight into the true status of the 'nuclear renaissance.' Here is another link to an article concerning the failure of the French nuclear power industry. Here is a link to another article by Harvey Wasserman End of part 10 |