|
MARCH
6th , 2009 |
| In
this issue: ___________________________ 1) COMMUNITY URANIUM MEETING AT MABERLY HALL - Everyone Welcome. Community Meeting on Sunday March 8, 2-5 pm at Maberly Hall in Maberly Ontario, (just North of #7 Highway). This is an opportunity for a facilitated talk about what's up with the uranium and nuclear industry as it's been playing out at nearby Robertsville. Come share your thoughts and concerns in a friendly environment. Let's reflect and come up with some possible actions to deal with the 'what if's' as we roll towards spring. 2) NO NEW NUKES IN ONTARIO - RENEWABLES NOW! WHAT: A Teach-In to educate and mobilize Ontarians to stop our government's plan to build 2 new nuclear reactors at Darlington and to refurbish Pickering. WHEN: Mar 13-14, 2009 - On the evening of Friday March 13 at 7:00 p.m. there will a screening of the film Battle of Chernobyl. Workshops will be held all day Saturday Mar. 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. WHERE: University of Toronto, location TBA WHO: Citizens who want to build a green energy future for Ontario. WHY: The Ontario government's plans to refurbish old and build new nuclear reactors stands in the way of building the green electricity system we want and need to stop climate change. FEE: $25 - or pay-what-you-can. MORE INFO: E-mail: nuketeachin@yahoo.ca 3) NUCLEAR LIES, GREEN TRUTHS: An evening on climate solutions DATE: Monday,
March 16th This event is co-sponsored by CCAMU, the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium. What's the
quickest way to stop a wind turbine? Build a nuclear reactor. The focus of the evening is on climate change solutions and how nuclear power threatens to put the brakes on green energy in Ontario. Right now, Ontario is at a crossroads in terms of how electricity is going to be supplied to customers like you and me. In the next few weeks the Ontario government will release their Green Energy Act, and decide whether or not to rebuild the Pickering "B" nuclear reactor and potentially launch massive spending on new nuclear stations. Pouring millions into new nukes is not only a bad decision for our economy and environment, it will effectively stop Ontario's renewable energy potential and fundamentally undermine Canada's ability to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Come out for an interesting evening of presentations and discussion on climate solutions and how nuclear power stands in their way. We need your help to tell the McGuinty government to say 'No' to $40 billion in new nuclear projects and 'Yes' to green power. Admission
is free. Check out
A Smarter Energy Plan for Ontario: http://www.renewableisdoable.ca 4)
FRONTENAC VENTURES CORP. ANNOUNCES: a New Alaskite Type
Uranium Discovery, in the East Bancroft Area of Ontario 5)
COALITION RE-ACTIVATES PROVINCE WIDE OPPOSITION TO URANIUM EXPLORATION
IN B.C: The Uranium Free B.C. Coalition (UFBCC) held a successful Spring 2009 meeting in Kelowna on February 21st to strategize on action plans in response to the B.C. Government's Statement of Defence in the current Boss Energy lawsuit, which would allow uranium exploration near Kelowna. "The Government will be allowing uranium exploration only 6 miles south of the Big White Ski Resort and within the South-East Kelowna Irrigation District watersheds," stated Peter Chataway, chair of the UFBCC meeting. "Our valleys are filled with uranium claims," announced Joe Falkoski, member of the Okanagan/Shuswap Land Use and Resource Management Plan Committee. "If the B.C. Government allows Boss Power to explore for uranium near Kelowna, we can kiss our creeks, rivers, and lakes good bye," concluded Falkoski. "Many people in B.C. have forgotten or do not know about the health and environmental hazards associated with uranium exploration because there has been no exploration since 1980, when a moratorium was established by the provincial Government," Chataway stated. "Uranium exploration and mining contaminates the air with deadly radon gas causing lung cancer and it pollutes the water supplies as a heavy metal poison causing kidney damage," continued Chataway. "In addition, uranium gets absorbed into plant life such as grasses, fruits, grapes and vegetables through irrigated water," Chataway concluded. During the meeting, the Coalition decided to challenge the future of uranium exploration southeast of Kelowna by holding a Big White Uranium Awareness Day, on Saturday, March 21, 2009. This event will be held simultaneously at the Big White Ski Resort and at the nearby Blizzard (Boss Energy) uranium deposit. "The Uranium Awareness Day event at the Big White will certainly capture the visual attention and the imagination of the thousands of student skiers and snow boarders during their spring break," said Chataway. > April 26th to 30th, the Committee for a Clean Kettle Valley (CCKV) is sponsoring a River Walk from Rock Creek to the Big White junction on Highway 33," announced conference delegate Erica Tafel of Rock Creek, B.C. "We have to stand up and take possession of the Kettle River," Tafel announced. "As mothers and fathers, we're setting an example of good stewardship and walking to protect this river for our kids." Willy Floyd of West bridge on the Kettle River is assembling a database to file a class-action lawsuit against the Government for loss of property values, should uranium exploration be allowed. "1000 land owners are involved. There are 400 lots in the village of Midway with assessed values of $88 million," stated Floyd, a retired Canadian Air Force test pilot. "We won't lose," he concluded. "Local municipalities and regional districts must act now to stop this threat to our health and to the environmentS They must tell the province we will not have uranium exploration," stated Nadine Podmoroff, former chair of the Castlegar branch of the Uranium Free Kootenay Boundary. "Canadian uranium is almost exclusively used for nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Both are destructive and immoral," she said. "This is about caring for all life," concluded Podmoroff. Over 40 people attended the meeting, consisting of dozens who represented diverse organizations including the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, the Committee for a Clean Kettle Valley, the Council of Canadians, Friends of the Mission Creek, the Kelowna Peace Group as well as various inter-Church committees. 6)
SPINNING ATOMS: LIKE IT OR NOT, OUR FUTURE IS NUCLEAR. YOU DON'T REMEMBER
THE DEBATE? THAT'S THE POWER OF GOOD PR
Ontario's new Green Energy Act could unlock Ontario's green energy potential and set the province on the path to genuine global leadership. To make this vision a reality, the legislation will need a concrete plan with aggressive targets and the right incentives and the political will to break with old patterns. The global shift to green energy recognizes that the old, centralized power systems that helped to build the postwar world are no longer suited to the imperatives and priorities of the 21st century. Worse yet, these old systems can even work against modern green solutions. Article at: http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/591941 8)
US LAWMAKERS WARNED ABOUT URANIUM MINING Australian aborigines, a French physicist and a US actor joined representatives of indigenous peoples from Africa and the United States on Friday to send US lawmakers a stark warning about the dangers of uranium mining. "We want US lawmakers to understand that uranium mining is highly pollutant and that there is currently no scientific answer to the question of radioactive waste containment," said Bruno Chareyron of France's CRIIRAD laboratory, which measures radioactivity in the environment. "We want them to know that the information they are given by the mining companies is not wholly reliable," he said. Article
at: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-lawmakers- 9) CAMECO 2008 PROFIT RISES TO RECORD AS URANIUM SHIPMENTS CLIMB Bloomberg by Stewart Bailey Feb. 14, 2009 Cameco Corp., the world¹s largest uranium producer, said 2008 profit rose 8 percent to a record after it shipped more of the nuclear-reactor fuel to customers. Net income climbed to C$450 million ($365 million), or C$1.28 a diluted share, from C$416 million, or C$1.13 a diluted share, a year earlier, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco said yesterday in a statement distributed by Market Wire. Sales climbed 24 percent in 2008 from the previous year. Article
at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid= 10)
THE NEW THEME ELEMENTS: The Real Dirt on Mining Articles include: A Daughter
of Radon Remembers by Inka Milewski Colombian
Coal and New Brunswick Power: A Case of Environmental Racism Plus much more! 11)
ALTERNATIVES TO NUCLEAR AVAILABLE I am a physics graduate from UdeM and I strongly oppose Point Lepreau's second reactor. Our government wants to purchase the yet untested ACR-1000 nuclear reactor. After having invested big money in designing the ACR-1000, Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. is now desperately trying to sell it but no one wants it! Even nuclear friendly Ontario said no. Letter at: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/572294 The following article is a good example to use when nuclear proponents talk about the advantages of "recycling" ("reprocessing") irradiated nuclear fuel in order to "recover" the unused energy. What they really mean is, dissolving the intensely radioactive spent fuel in hot nitric acid; releasing radioactive gases and vapours in the process; creating millions of gallons of highly radioactive liquid waste and sludge; and chemically separating the plutonium and uranium from the hundreds of other radio-active products; and then fabricating this into new MOX fuel (MixedOxides of Uranium and Plutonium). The resulting waste is much more difficult to manage than the original irradiated fuel bundles, and the new MOX fuel creates enormous security problems because of the possible use for nuclear weapons. The Guardian, by Terry Macallister, February 17, 2009 . £470m
reprocessor has never performed properly One of the great white elephants of Britain's atomic industry looks set forclosure, according to documents published by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority(NDA). The NDA is examining the closure of Sellafield's troubled "mixed oxide" or Mox production plant, which has performed badly since it was opened 10 years ago. Article at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/17/sellafield-plant-closure 12b) GORDON EDWARDS - ON MEDICAL ISOTOPES: Medical isotopes are created by inserting "target rods" into the reactor. When neutrons bombard the target rods, some neutrons are absorbed and create radioactive isotopes which can be used in medicine and/or research and/or industry. Usually these target rods can be removed without shutting down the reactor. In this case the target rod "stuck" and could not be removed, so they shut down the reactor to deal with the problem. While tritium is always being given off into the environment by the reactor as it operates (it is almost impossible to prevent it from escaping) we have learned that during shut-downs and maintenance the emissions of tritium into the environment are usually much greater, as areas that are normally shut and sealed during operation have to be opened up. One controversial feature of the Chalk River NRU reactor operation is related to the production of Molybdenum-99, which is the source used in hospitals for obtaining Technetium-99m. The target rods used for this purpose are made of weapons grade, highly enriched uranium, and thus pose an extraordinary security risk. Canada has promised the USA (from whom the weapons-grade uranium is obtained) to develop alternative ways of producing these isotopes that does not involve weapons-grade materials. So far they have failed to do so. In the hands of bomb makers, a few kilos of highly enriched uranium can be made into a powerful atomic bomb such as the one used at Hiroshima. The technological requirements are well within the means of bomb-making experts. Chalk River is reported to have enough of this material for several such bombs. 12c)
FROM GORDON EDWARDS February 27, 2009 Due to premature aging, thousands of highly radioactive pipes -- pressure tubes, calandria tubes, and feeder pipes -- have to be removed from the intensely radioactive reactor core area and replaced with new ones. The pipes that are removed will have to be stored as radioactive waste for thousands of years, even though no financial or institutional plans are in place for the long-term management of these "refurbishment wastes". Reactors in Ontario that have been refurbished have not performed well, in fact some of them have not even been returned to service but have been written off as a total loss. Some knowledgeable individuals worry that these older plants (like Point Lepreau) are not up to modern nuclear safety standards and would not be allowed to be built today if they were proposed as a brand-new project -- so why refurbish them and keep them running beyond their "normal" life-time? Citizens of Maine are also concerned about the absence of emergency plans which extend to the American side of the border. NUKE PLANT REHAB WORRIES SOME DOWN EAST BDN Staff by Diana Graettinger MACHIAS,
Maine - Worries about delays and "first-of-its-kind" technology
used during the $1.4 billion refurbishment of a nuclear power plant just
30 miles from Maine's border has the Washington County commissioners wondering
if NP Power has an emergency plan that includes Maine emergency personnel.
Article at: http://www.bangornews.com/detail/100335.html 13)
QUESTION ON URANIUM MINING IN THE ONTARIO LEGISLATURE: QUEEN'S PARK, ON: Ms. Cheri DiNovo: To the Minister of Northern Development and Mines: NDP candidate Lyn Edwards has heard from many residents of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock who are worried about uranium exploration in their area. They're concerned about the future effects of open-pit uranium mining, such as tonnes of low-level radioactive tailings, contaminated soil and groundwater, and long-term impacts on the local watershed and the farm and recreational land it supplies. Before exploration heats up and quickly turns to mining, will you commit to commissioning a study to comprehensively examine the health and ecological impacts of uranium exploration and mining? Hon. Michael Gravelle: As the member will know, we are in the process of going through a modernization of the Mining Act, and we've had a number of consultations which have wrapped up. Discussions involved trying to find a real balance between maintaining a positive investment climate for the mining sector and also properly respecting First Nation communities and others. In terms
of the issues related to uranium, they have been part of the discussion
that people have brought up; it's not actually part of the scope of our
discussion. We recognize that as a result of our need for nuclear power
in the province-and radioisotopes-the exploration is not going forward
in that regard. There are many discussions about I must tell you that we are keen to move forward with a positive result, and we're committed to bringing forward our legislation on the Mining Act in this spring session. The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary? Ms. Cheri DiNovo: Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock is an ecological gem and residents are worried about the long-term impacts of uranium exploration and mining, as I said before, on the watershed and natural environment. Studying this impact is a thoughtful and reasonable request from the very people who are most affected. Why won't you today, in this House, commit to commissioning a study to comprehensively examine the health and ecological impacts of uranium exploration and mining? Hon. Michael Gravelle: Again, in terms of the scope of our review of the Mining Act, we brought forward a very clear discussion paper in terms of the issues that were there. We encouraged discussion of all areas, and that became part of it. As the member
would know well, in terms of the future, in any exploration that takes
place, perhaps one in 10,000 would end up producing a mine. The fact is
that as a result of the fact that we do need to maintain the possibilities
in terms of our need for nuclear We welcome a discussion in terms of our Mining Act consultations. We have done that throughout the process. We look forward to moving forward on what we think will be a very positive piece of legislation later this spring. Link to Hansard: http://hansardindex.ontla.on.ca/hansardeissue/39-1/l114.htm 14) LIBERALS' GREEN ENERGY ACT IS TOOTHLESS, TABUNS' GOAL IS TO CREATE JOBS Peter Tabuns wants Ontario to deliver hundreds of thousands of jobs in a renewable energy economy and the Liberals' Green Energy Act isn't going to make that happen! He wants to make sure that real legislation is in place, by working with unions, businesses and communities that get the connection between renewable energy and manufacturing job creation. Below is an excerpt from Peter's remarks in the Ontario Legislature about the Liberals' Green Energy Act. Mr. Peter
Tabuns: "Today, Ontario kind of accepted Denmark's point of nearly
40 years ago. In the 1970s, Denmark decided that one oil crisis was enough.
It had choices to make about its future: Would it invest heavily in nuclear?
Would it develop renewable power? In fact, Denmark in the 1970s made the
right choice, and now 20,000 people work in their wind industry. It's the new energy economy, and we are way past due for actually paying attention to what the rest of the world has been doing. Time is running out. Oil is running out. The climate is moving fast. We need to move fast, too. The fact that this government is finally saying it will link jobs with climate change is welcome. It opens the debate. My goal in this process is to see that what we actually have come out at the end is a Green Energy Act that provides hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ontario, that transforms our economy. My goal is to see that we actually deliver, that we don't get trapped in the timidity that I see in the bill before us. To that end, we'll work with trade unions, businesses, communities and all of those people who see the connections that have to be made if we're actually going to transform our economy and take advantage of what's happening in the rest of the world. When I had my briefing from government staff, there weren't hard targets, there weren't hard numbers-'Wait for the IPSP (Integrated Power System Plan); wait for the OPA (Ontario Power Authority).' So what we have is a bill without targets for renewable energy. I asked whether this was going to affect the investment in nuclear. Right now, as far as they know, no. So I have to ask myself: If this is a bill that's going to transform our economy but leave everything else the way it is, what really is happening here? We need large-scale energy retrofits in the hundreds of thousands, in the millions, in this province. I'm not seeing that in the material before us. We need to be working with industry to transform both the way they consume energy and the way they produce it. Every factory, every smelter, every steel mill and every refinery in this province should be an energy generator. They should be making money by selling into the grid and making sure that people have jobs. There's a statement that there will be domestic content requirements. Quebec already has a 60% domestic content requirement for wind turbines; that's kick-starting their wind energy industry. We need that here. We'll get a chance to speak to this bill later this week, but for a government talking about 21st-century energy, still addicted to 20th-century nuclear power, there are real problems. The approach doesn't make sense. We're not actually taking on where the rest of the world is going. We're sticking with high-spending, risky nuclear alternatives instead of taking on fully what the world has to offer. It's very belated that this government is acknowledging that there is an economic crisis and a climate crisis that can be addressed through the means of renewable power. We in the NDP will fight for a real green energy program, one that puts people to work-puts people to work in Hamilton, puts them to work in Welland and puts them to work across this province. We will fight to ensure that this proposal today doesn't act as a deflection, as a cover, for what is your largest investment, and that is in nuclear power. Face the facts: As long as you go down that road, it is going to be difficult to get over to the right road, the road that will build this province. 15)
VETERANS TO SUE over 1950s Ont. nuclear cleanup A class-action lawsuit for retired military personnel exposed to radiation while cleaning up after an Ontario nuclear reactor accident in the late 1950s will be filed in court Thursday. An estimated 190 members of the military took part in the Chalk River cleanup in the summer of 1958. The accident deposited radioactive material around the nuclear plant, according to a 2007 Defence Department report obtained by the Ottawa Citizen. Article
at: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Technology/Veterans%20 16)
AECL TURNS TO OTTAWA TO COVER 100-MILLION OVERRUN In another damaging setback for the reputation of federally owned AECL Ltd., Ottawa has been forced to cough up $100-million in emergency funding to cover cost overruns incurred in the refurbishing of aging Candu reactors. The financing -- contained in supplemental spending estimates tabled yesterday -- is another black eye for Canada's nuclear flagship company, coming just two weeks before it is due to submit a bid to build new reactors for Ontario. The $100-million payment is in addition to the $351-million allocated in the federal budget two weeks ago to cover continued design work on the Advanced Candu Reactor (ACR) -- which AECL hopes to sell to Ontario -- and maintenance at its troubled Chalk River facility, where recent leaks of radioactive material into spill tanks raised concerns. 17)
ACTIVIST RAP PLANS FOR 3rd FERMI REACTOR Local environmentalists are marshalling against plans by Detroit Edison to build a third nuclear reactor at its Fermi site in Monroe, Mich., just 15kilometres from Amherstburg and 40 kilometres from Windsor. They claim the construction of another "dirty and dangerous" reactor in the Great Lakes basin would threaten Lake Erie's fragile ecosystem, harm its fisheries, generate deadly radioactive waste and carry risks of meltdowns and terrorist attacks. Article
at: http://www.windsorstar.com/Technology/Plan+Fermi+reactor+ 18)
PRIVATIZATION IS A MOOT POINT: Ontario holds AECL's fate This is a very important year for the nuclear industry in Canada. But the crucial issue does not revolve around whether or not to privatize Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., as has recently been suggested. It revolves around the Ontario government's decision on its preferred design for two, and possibly four, new nuclear power reactors. That decision will effectively determine the fate of AECL, and particularly its considerable investment in the Advanced Candu Reactor - the ACR 1000. It could even determine the amount of refurbishment business for Ontario's existing Candu reactors. Article
at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090304. 19)
US USING BRITISH ATOMIC WEAPONS FACTORY FOR ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM The US military has been using Britain's atomic weapons factory to carry out research into its own nuclear warhead program, according to evidence seen by the Guardian. US defense officials said that "very valuable" warhead research has taken place at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire as part of an ongoing and secretive deal between the British and American governments. Article
at: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/09-4 |