Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief spokesman says Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., is a "dysfunctional," $30 billion "sinkhole" that will not get any more funding for a new research reactor.
"The government has put $30 billion into AECL over its history and it's been one of the largest sinkholes of government money probably in the history of the government of Canada," Teneycke said.
Last year, the Tories cancelled two AECL medical isotope reactors at Chalk River, called MAPLES, after they went hundred of millions over budget and still failed to pass inspections.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/649629
Ontario Clean Air Alliance chair Jack Gibbons discusses cleaner and less costly alternatives to nuclear energy ( 3 min. video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N_FyEfH6zk
As Ontario comes close to deciding who it will pay $20 billion to build two new nuclear reactors, the Canadian bidder is already worried that it will face large cost overruns.
The last nuclear plant constructed in Ontario was the Darlington project, which went over-budget by about $15 billion when it was finally opened nearly 20 years ago. Ontario's hydro customers are still playing off that debt.
But to make things riskier, AECL is trying to sell Ontario a new type of reactor that hasn't been tried anywhere in the world.
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090609/ont_nukes_090609/20090611?hub=Toronto
The Yellowcake Trail tracks all aspects of uranium in Canada from the mining and milling, to processing and use, throughout its eighty-year history. The story begins with the history of uranium in Canada, from its initial discovery to the rapid development of mines that placed Canada as the prominent world leader in uranium production. Each mine has a story and each story has a common thread and legacy.
http://www.greenmuze.com/climate/energy/1184-canadas-uranium-mining.html
Ontario and the federal government are heading for a showdown over the fate of Atomic of Energy of Canada Ltd. as the province tries to rein in the cost of its proposed new reactors and the Harper government attempts to sell the Crown corporation to the highest bidder.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario-and-ottawa-at-odds-over-reactor/article1176875/
Many cottagers and full-time residents of Haliburton and, further east, Frontenac, are up in arms over companies trying to take advantage of renewed interest in nuclear power by reviving uranium mines that briefly operated a few decades ago.
Ontario's Mining Act lets prospectors stake claims, without seeking permission, on government Crown land and on private properties where the owners don't control the rights to minerals under the surface.
Claim holders are then free to conduct drilling and other exploration work, which usually entails bulldozing or blasting. It's illegal to attempt to stop them.
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/645838
China is planning a vast increase in its use of wind and solar power over the next decade and believes it can match Europe by 2020, producing a fifth of its energy needs from renewable sources.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/09/china-green-energy-solar-wind
An expert panel in Ontario is recommending that the province adopt the toughest standard in the world for the amount of cancer-causing tritium considered safe in drinking water. Tritium is the main radioactive contaminant found in Ontario water supplies, and, although small amounts are produced through natural processes, most of what is detected comes from leaks at nuclear power plants, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.'s Chalk River research facility and several glow-in-the-dark sign companies.
OTTAWA, June 10, 2009, HarperIndex.ca, with YouTube video:
With Canada's nuclear industry scrambling due to problems with the reactor that supplies medical isotopes — as well as indiscretions by the responsible minister, Lisa Raitt — anti-nuclear advocates came to Parliament Hill to alert Canadians to breaking stories concerning radioactivity and health.
http://www.harperindex.ca/ViewArticle.cfm?Ref=00225
Electricity consumption in the province has fallen since 2006 and another 4 per cent decline is expected this year, according to the system operator. In the first quarter of 2009, wholesale industrial power consumption alone plunged 20 per cent compared to the previous year.
Environmental groups, such as Greenpeace and the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, argue that more frequent occasions of surplus baseload are reason enough to not build new nuclear capacity.
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/649763
by Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility
This compelling new video is packed with authoritative interviews of experts on the myriad problems of nuclear power. Watch it here:
http://www.everythingnuclear.org/
You can read a transcript here: http://www.culturechange.org/go.html?450