Nuclear-Free Canada

Canada’s nuclear industry is facing repercussions from Japan’s alarming reactor failures, as the federal regulator orders safety reviews and critics demand a halt to any new projects.

One of the first casualties may be Quebec’s only nuclear station, the Gentilly-2 plant, which is slated for a $2-billion refurbishment to extend its life for 40 years. The Parti Québécois has joined with activists in the province to demand the government put a halt to the project.

In Ontario, environmental groups are urging the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to suspend licensing hearings into Ontario Power Generation’s plan to build two reactors at its Darlington site. The review panel began its work on Monday in Courtice, Ont., and the provincial and federal energy ministers have said there is no reason to adjourn
... Read more »

Two environmental groups have launched a legal challenge in a bid to halt proposed shipments of radioactive waste across the Great Lakes.

The Sierra Club and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) are jointly seeking judicial review of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's (CNSC) decision to transport and export the waste.

Bruce Power intends to send 16 steam radioactive generators through the lakes and across the Atlantic Ocean to Sweden for recycling.

Sierra Club executive director John Bennett said he wants a federal court to halt the plan because a proper environmental assessment was never completed.

"They should have brought on a complete environmental assessment, as opposed to ... hearings in which the public weren't really allowed to participate."

Bennett said the decision would set a precedent that could lead to more shipments of nuclear waste.... Read more »

OTTAWA — Environmental groups have launched legal action to block a controversial plan to ship 16 radioactive, school-bus sized steam generators through the Great Lakes to a recycling plant in Sweden.

At a news conference Tuesday, John Bennett of the Sierra Club Canada said his organization joined with the Canadian Environmental Law Association to ask the Federal Court of Canada to conduct a judicial review of the reasons why the country's nuclear watchdog granted export and transfer licences to Bruce Power.

"Major policy changes in the handling of nuclear waste should not be made in an ad hoc fashion," Bennett said.

He said that appropriate transport policies must be in place before Bruce Power, the country's only private nuclear power generator, proceeds with the shipment because it could contaminate waters and because it sets a dangerous precedent.
... Read more »

The Great Lakes ecosystem is home to 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water — the largest reserve of fresh water on Earth. As it cascades from the centre of the North American continent through the St. Lawrence and out to the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Lakes system provides not only drinking water, but fish and often emotional and spiritual sustenance for more than 35 million people.

As Kevin McMahon compellingly illustrates in his award-winning 2009 documentary Waterlife, the Great Lakes today blend beauty with blemish, and are under assault by toxins, sewage, falling water levels and underwhelming governmental protection.

And the situation may have just gotten worse.
... Read more »