September 11, 2009
The St. Paul’s by-election is on Sept. 17. OCAA managed to distribute our leaflet http://www.ontariosgreenfuture.ca/OntarioOption_0709_v3.pdf to almost every house in the riding! Thank you to all the volunteers that pounded the pavement!
At the all-candidates forum, the liberal candidate Eric Hoskins came out as saying that he supported Ontario moving towards a 100% renewable electricity grid, although he didn’t say by when. The PC candidate Sue Ann Levy came out in full support of nuclear power. Both the Green Party candidate Chris Chopik and the NDP candidate Julian Heller came out fully opposed to nuclear power and in favour of moving towards a 100% renewable electricity grid.
To see their responses to our election survey, go here.
A celebration of elections and indy media – and OCAA volunteers!
Wed. Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m.
at Cinecycle (129 Spadina, south of Richmond east into the alley), Toronto
Free - All welcome
Special invitation to the dozens of volunteers who have distributed leaflets, written letters to the editor, made a phone call to a politician, or spoken with a friend or colleague about the downsides of nuclear power – THANK YOU!
Book launch of Tooker Gomberg's writings - Friction to the Machine
Video screening of Tooker's 2000 mayoral campaign - Playing with Democracy
Launch of the Open Source Tooker Gomberg Memorial Library
For more info: angela@cleanairalliance.org
Sponsored by Ontario Clean Air Alliance, Centre for Social Innovation, and Tooker Gomberg Greenspiration Fund
BERLIN — Some 50,000 anti-nuclear protestors on Saturday demonstrated here against Germany possibly reversing a decision to abandon nuclear power, and instead extend the life of its nuclear power plants.
The marchers, backed by 400 tractors, demanded that Germany stick to its commitment to close all nuclear plants by 2020 and also called for the closure of a radioactive dump at Gorleben in eastern Germany.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jI6xYYGZm2X-JL-2bGPsA8emo-vQ
http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a77331.html
http://de.indymedia.org/2009/09/259907.shtml
interviewed by Charlie Rose
An excellent 40 min. video
Amory Lovins, CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute, discusses alternative fuels, the future of energy and the problems with nuclear energy.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4569577556800822039#
About 40 contract workers at the Bruce Power nuclear station have been fired or temporarily suspended for violating the company's code of conduct regarding Internet use.
Shawn Patrick Stensil, an anti-nuclear campaigner with Greenpeace, said officials at Bruce Power have an obligation to be upfront with the public. Since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, he said, digital security has become a top concern for nuclear plant operators, as has securing the physical premises.
"The lack of transparency isn't comforting at all," he said. "If it's simply a matter that contractors are surfing for porn or Facebooking, they should have the guts to say that."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bruce-power-dismisses-40-contractors/article1283292/
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090910/national/nuclear_plant_firings
There is a clear scientific consensus that we must halve global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050 or suffer changes to the global climate with catastrophic consequences. Avoiding the most severe impacts of climate change requires governments, individuals and businesses world-wide to take immediate action. The nuclear industry, which has been in decline in the US and Europe, has seized upon the climate crisis as a revival opportunity, claiming to offer a carbon-free contribution to our future energy mix, but is it, or it is mere industry spin? A Greenpeace report.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/nuclear-power-undermining-cl
Decision on Canadian storage facility expected within a year
The $24-billion question about nuclear waste storage in Canada is this: in which community will more than two million high-level radioactive bundles be stored for perhaps 10,000 years or more?
This question is posed as experts try to avoid a repeat of a failed attempt at resolving the storage issue 10 years ago in Canada and consider what is happening in Europe and in the U.S., where a nuclear waste storage plan recently died after billions of dollars were wasted. As well, there is now the consideration that the waste may not be buried for thousands of years and left where it is, and that future generations and their plans should be considered.
Don't be surprised, say some, if the facility, targeted for a 2035 opening, ends up on aboriginal land.
With no central location available, high-level waste has been stored at the various reactor sites in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, as well as at AECL's nuclear research facility in Manitoba for more than 40 years.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/08/19/f-nuclear-waste-storage-options.html
A proposed nuclear reactor that would power mining operations in Quebec's remote regions carries more risks than benefits, according to an environmental group.
Simard said he's concerned about nuclear waste and safety at the mining site.
Quebec generates cleaner energy through its hydro facilities, and those options should be exhausted first, Simard suggested.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/09/04/quebec-nuclear-power.html
PORT HOPE - The Peter Street employee parking lot may be full, but operations at Cameco's nuclear fuel fabrication plant is down due to a single defective fuel bundle.
Bob Kelly, Cameco's director of public and government affairs, said production at Zircatec Precision Industries was stopped in mid-August after one of its customers, Bruce Power, in the Municipality of Kincardine, raised concerns over a defective fuel bundle.
A strike at a nuclear fuel-bundle- making facility won't affect Bruce Power's nuclear electricity generation for the foreseeable future, spokesman Steve Cannon said yesterday.
"It's business as usual for us. We carry many months in inventory of fuel," Cannon said, responding to a query about the impact of a strike at Cameco Fuel Manufacturing Inc., which provides the Bruce reactors with fuel.
Bruce Power is using less fuel anyway. Bruce A's Unit 3 was taken down yesterday morning, while Unit 4 was turned off earlier for planned inspections of the vacuum building safety systems.
This maintenance is required by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to be completed every 12 years, Cannon said. It will keep both units out of service until October, he said.
The other two reactors at Bruce A are being refurbished with a projected restart in early 2010, at a cost of close to $3 billion.
The four reactors at Bruce B generating station are still running. Power has been throttled back during periods of low demand and that practice will continue, Cannon said.
10 a.m. Keynote Address Rosalie Bertell Ph.D. G.N.S.H., Founder and Immediate Past President introduced by Founder and Prof. Emerita Ursula Franklin
Other presentations include:
- What about the nuclear renaissance?
- International Perspectives on the Energy Future
Promises to be a dynamic anti-nuclear teach-in! –a
For more info:
Int'l Institute of Concern for Public Health
www.iicph.org
info@IICPH.ORG
An evening of anti-nuke comedy and music
Sat. Sept.26th, 7:30 p.m
Cecil Community Centre, 58 Cecil Street (south of College, just east of Spadina), Toronto
Adults $20 or pay what you can, Students $7 or pay what you can
http://www.seriouslytimetostop.com/nonukesnight.htm
Seriously, Time to Stop is committed to spreading the word about nuclear weapons and finding ways to let governments know what you think about this issue.
DEMAND a LEGISLATED BAN for ONTARIO like the one granted to British Columbia
B.C., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Labrador are protected. Ontario is a free-for-all!
RALLY
SUNDAY SEPT. 27, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
QUEEN’S PARK, TORONTO
SPEAKERS: Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada; Bruce Cox, Executive Director Greenpeace Canada;
Robert Lovelace, Retired Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
Live Music
Organized by Cottagers against Uranium Mining and Exploration, CUME - http://www.fighturanium.com/cume.html
For more info: Cottagers.vs.mining@sympatico.ca
The University of Toronto Environment Resource Network (UTERN) and Bikechain are proud to present EarthCycle, a weeklong festival at the University of Toronto running from September 21st to September 26th. The university’s most ambitious Environment Week to date, EarthCycle will feature 28 events over six days of almost constant activity. From bike races to eco-tours, documentary film screenings and lectures by world renowned thinkers, EarthCycle has something for everyone.
Catch Jack Gibbons, Ontario Clean Air Alliance, and Shawn-Patrick Stencil, Greenpeace, as they discuss Ontario's Energy Future - Nuclear or Renewable?
Wed./ Sept. 23, 3 – 5 p.m., Hart House, East Common Room, U of T – Free.
For a full schedule of Earthcycle events please see http://www.earthcycle.ca