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The Nuclear Model Big Environmental Footprint No one has ever attempted to actually take apart and dispose of an aging reactor (with the exception, perhaps, of the destroyed Chernobyl site), but given the performance history (and dangerously close to Toronto location) of the Pickering Nuclear Station, Ontario may be facing that challenge sooner rather than later. Nuclear power also relies on fuel – uranium – that is every bit as limited as fossil fuels. Uranium mining has big environmental impacts and a long history of air and water pollution. Uranium reserves are dwindling and the quality of ore bodies is dropping, meaning mines have to be bigger and more energy expended to produce the same amount of fuel. Lastly, nuclear is a slow and expensive response to climate change. We cannot wait 10-15 years to reduce emissions from coal-fired electricity — the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario — but that is how long it will take to build a new nuclear plant. |
Nuclear power is a slow and expensive response to climate change, which requires action today — not a decade or more from now. |
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Sign the petition for a Nuclear Cost Responsibility Act for Ontario Every nuclear construction project in Ontario's history has gone massively over budget. And we are all on the hook for these runaway costs, paying a nuclear debt surcharge on every kilowatt of electricity we use. Renewable and natural gas generating projects are strictly prohibited from passing on cost overruns to consumers or taxpayers. It’s time to level the playing field and end nuclear’s free ride.
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www.cleanairalliance.org 416-926-1907 x246 contact@cleanairalliance.org |
The Ontario Clean Air Alliance is a coalition of health and environmental organizations, faith communities, municipalities, utilities, unions, corporations and individuals working for cleaner air through a coal phase-out and a shift to a renewable electricity future.