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JULY
1st , 2008 |
| IN THIS ISSUE: 1) THE SUSTAINABLITY PROJECT RAFFLE: AND THE WINNERS ARE ... 3) GREENPEACE REPORT ON NUCLEAR REACTOR HAZARDS 4) LETTER TO TORONTO CITY COUNCIL 5) ARTICLE: NUCLEAR POWER SPENDING CONCERNS EXPERTS 6) ARTICLE: DID A PLUTONIUM GENERATOR END UP IN THE GANGES? 7) ARTICLE: CAMECO PUMOS WATER FROM MINE 8) ARTICLE: OTTAWA NUCLEAR VISION ASSAILED 9) ARTICLE: MY TURN: TRUE FACE OF THE NUCLEAR ENDEAVOR 1) THE SUSTAINABLITY PROJECT RAFFLE: AND THE WINNERS ARE ... All proceeds to go to the "Citizens' Inquiry on the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle". Thank you to potter/sculptor Chandler Swain, of Blakeney, Ontario, for creating and donating these beautiful porcelain pieces. And the winners are? 1st Prize:
"Spirit of the Mississippi", Clay Sculpture. Value $300. 2nd Prize:
"Spirit of the Ottawa", Clay Sculpture. Value $250. 3rd Prize:
"Spirit of the Gatineau", Clay Sculpture. Value $200. 4th Prize:
Porcelain Teapot. Value $50. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket to support the "Citizens' Inquiry into the Impacts of the Uranium Cycle!" Kwey dear friends, On Sunday July 6 at the Maberly Hall, Ardoch AFN will be having its Heads of Family meeting from 2:30 to 5. We are inviting you to join us at 5. We will meet, discuss next steps in our resistance to exploration, and share food and conversation. This will be a potluck event where AAFN will provide coffee, tea, lemonade and ice tea. Chi miigwetch for all your work and efforts. Mireille Lapointe 3) GREENPEACE REPORT ON NUCLEAR REACTOR HAZARDS Dear friends, 4) LETTER TO TORONTO CITY COUNCIL Attn: All
members of Toronto City Council Dear Councillor, I want to bring to your attention an important news article (below) from the Kingston Whig Standard. It discusses Ontario's energy future. Providing hydro-electric power is the jurisdiction of the province (through OPG), but the province's decisions profoundly affect Toronto residents in three ways: 1) The planned $46 billion for nuclear energy (instead of renewable energy) will place Toronto within a 30 km zone of the newly planned reactor at Darlington. While the odds of a nuclear disaster are low, the consequences are catastrophic. When Ontario has enough potential wind power to supply all our energy needs (according Dr. Keith Stewart and other experts), should nuclear be considered the first option? 2) The second consideration is our water supply: nuclear reactors emit tritium, a dangerous radioactive substance. While OPG claims the amount is minimal and safe, some medical officials have doubts. I recently attended a hearing on this matter where several speakers expressed concern regarding the release of tritium into watersheds connected to Toronto's water supply. More importantly, OPG is planning to dump the nuclear waste from the reactors in a shaft on an island in Lake Huron, which could contaminate the entire Great Lakes watershed for millions of years. There is no known technology for safely dumping nuclear waste, so the plan is highly irresponsible. In fact, if you consider what nuclear waste has done and can do to living tissues in animal life (including human life) OPG's plan is nothing less than criminal. Future generations have as much right to health and safety as we do, yet the health and well-being 26,000 generations are adversely affected for the sake of the energy desires of 3 or 4 generations. Clearly, the City of Toronto has a vested interest in opposing it. 3) Third, the cost to Toronto taxpayers will be enormous. Ontario residents are still paying for the cost overruns from the first Darlington reactor. Why should Toronto residents essentially subsidize 400 jobs at the Darlington site with billions of dollars over the next 20 years for energy we could as easily get from wind power? An expenditure of much less than the $46 billion slated for nuclear spent instead on renewable energy would supply all of Ontario's energy needs in a much safer, healthier, more cost effective and more ethically sound manner. The only reason nuclear is being promoted by the province is political corruption and shameless lobbying by industry insiders in a 'revolving door' system, coupled with an astounding lack of imagination by a few bureaucrats at OPG. Please see the Renewable is Doable site (http://www.renewableisdoable.com/) to see the scientific study that verifies the real possibility of 100% renewable energy in Ontario. Perhaps it is time for Toronto to examine the ways in which OPG's nuclear plans negatively impact Toronto residents. I am sure that Dr. Gordon Edward, in Ottawa, who is perhaps Canada's foremost expert on these issues, will be glad to explain them further if you invite him to give a powerpoint presentation to City council. Please refer to his website at http://www.ccnr.org/ Sincerely, Paul York 5) ARTICLE: NUCLEAR POWER SPENDING CONCERNS EXPERTS By Jenifer Pritchett Kingston Whig-Standard June 27, 2008 "Some experts at an international wind energy conference in Kingston this week are questioning Ontario's commitment to "green" power when the province plans to spend billions on nuclear power." To read the rest of this article go to, 6) ARTICLE: DID A PLUTONIUM GENERATOR END UP IN THE GANGES? "Making A Billion Hindus Glow in the Dark" June 30, 2008 By Peter Lee "For the U.S. intelligence establishment, the Cold War was a time of certainties: Communism had to be stopped; no cost was too great, no technological obstacle was insurmountable. And, in the case of gaining information on China's missile program, no mountain was too high." To read the rest of this article go to, 7) ARTICLE: CAMECO PUMOS WATER FROM MINE Compiled
from Calgary Herald News Services "Cameco Corp. expects to begin pumping water out of its flooded Cigar Lake uranium mine this week, a process the company says will take place over several months this year." To read the rest of this article go to, 8) ARTICLE: OTTAWA NUCLEAR VISION ASSAILED Uranium company says reluctance to build reactors hampers green efforts By Andy Hoffman The Globe and Mail Mining Reporter July 1, 2008 "The head of the world's largest uranium miner says the federal government must do more to encourage the construction of new nuclear power plants or Canada will fall behind other nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions." To read the rest of this article go to, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080701. 9) ARTICLE: MY TURN: TRUE FACE OF THE NUCLEAR ENDEAVOR By Frank Smecker Burlington Free Press June 28,
2008 To read the rest of this article go to, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID= |