The two blows that killed the industry - Once-promising sector never lived up to its promise by Lawrence Solomon. (The National Post, August 1, 2009). No industry in history has held more promise, been more welcomed, received more favours and failed more spectacularly than the commercial nuclear power industry.
Reactor design puts safety of nuclear plants into question by Martin Mittelstaedt (Globe and Mail June 30, 2009) Canadian nuclear safety regulators say they have underestimated the seriousness of a design feature at the country's electricity-producing reactors that would cause them to experience dangerous power pulses during a major accident.
Radiation leaking at double the ‘action level’ - Safety official concerned about tritium released into air from Chalk River By Ian MacLeod (The Ottawa Citizen June 19, 2009). The quantity of radioactive tritium released into the surrounding air and then falling on to land and into the Ottawa River is well within current maximum health limits. But those limits have now been questioned by one federal nuclear safety commissioner, echoing a long-running debate over what constitutes a safe exposure level to the cancer-causing tritium, especially in drinking water.
Powerful Options: A review of Ontario’s options for replacing aging nuclear plants. (May 19, 2009) This new report from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, discusses how hydro-electricity imports from Quebec and the development of the Lower Churchill Falls Project in Labrador can replace Ontario’s aging nuclear. In fact, it finds that Ontario has a number of viable options for replacing nuclear that are available now at a lower cost than building new nuclear reactors.
On February 4, 2009, Dr. Gordon Edwards, of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, was interviewed by Radio Canada International about the two separate leaks from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's reactor at Chalk River. To listen, click here and scroll down the page.
Nuclear Power in Canada: An Examination of Risks, Impacts and Sustainability by The Pembina Institute, 2006
Clearing the Air About Nuclear Power summarizes highlights from the Pembina Institute’s groundbreaking life cycle study of nuclear power (entire report above).
People are asking: Would Nuclear Power be a Good Choice for Saskatchewan? by Saskatchewan Environmental Society, 2006
Uranium Mining: Nuclear Power's Dirty Secret by the Pembina Institute, 2007. Despite industry claims of nuclear power as a “clean” energy source, this fact sheet reveals severe environmental impacts from mining and milling uranium, the basic fuel of nuclear reactors.
Better Never than Late: The Climate Fall-Out of Ontario’s Nuclear Electricity Plan, Greenpeace 2008. This report raises serious questions about the Ontario government's continued reliance on aging nuclear reactors, and critically examines the province's ability to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets without a strategy to quickly implement green energy technologies. Get the report.
Burning in the dark; Nuclear runs all night, can't be ramped up in day by Lawrence Solomon, Financial Post, March 15, 2008. This article argues nuclear power is an inefficient & expensive way to make power for a market of diverse customers with diverse needs.