The Conservative government has tried to go green again by suggesting a boost for nuclear power. Nuclear reactors emit lower amounts of greenhouse gases than a coal-fuelled power station, but they leave behind a product far more dangerous that carbon dioxide. Unless the government has some miraculous plans for making the radioactive waste disappear, it should stay away from nuclear power.
Ontario can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 18 million tons by using electricity generated by Pickering’s six nuclear reactors. But one nuclear plant produces 25-30 tons of toxic waste every year, six plants would produce nearly 200 tons. And if Ontario gets the go ahead, then New Brunswick and Quebec would probably demand their nuclear reactors be allowed to run as well. Where would the government put the increasing pile of cancer-causing garbage which takes 10,000 years to decay to dormancy?
The government might run out of places to store the waste without threatening public health and safety. And there is always the threat that the waste might get into the wrong hands and end up as part of a low-grade but effective nuclear bomb. This is why Iran is struggling to get a nuclear reactor going and Canada should consider the security aspect of jumping in with both feet in a puddle of toxic waste.
In the U.S., nuclear companies operate their reactors with a federal guarantee that they will not be held liable for damage caused by nuclear accidents. People living close to nuclear reactors can’t get their homes insured against a nuclear plant accident. Now that might be a hard one for the Conservatives to fly by the Canadian people after promising accountability.
Nuclear power plant maintenance is constantly digging into the cash reserves. There are other cheaper, more natural options to nuclear power which have shorter planning and construction cycles. Revenues start flowing earlier and drive down the cost of setting up. Competitive markets in the alternative energy sector push technical progress and lower costs. Cheap, easy and safe; what more can the government ask for?
