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The Globe and Mail editorial of
June
15, 2006 supported the use of nuclear
power for generating electricity
in Ontario rather than coal based on the
assumption that nuclear is
clean and that coal is dirty. Evidence
from the web sites of Energy
Probe and Greenpeace paints a different
picture.
One should ask
the people of Chernobyl how clean
nuclear power is. The last week of April
this year, Greenpeace marked
the 20th
anniversary of the disaster in Ukraine.
Twenty years after the Chernobyl
disaster, people in the entire region
battle with the cruel and
personal legacy
of irradiated and uninhabitable villages.
The region is economically
and
socially depressed. Nuclear technology is
inherently dangerous – it is
basically a nuclear bomb moderated so it
does not go off. And one
cannot gloss
over the problem of nuclear waste. The
study for parliament by Lois
Wilson
showed that there is no safe way of
storing nuclear waste.
Moreover, nuclear power is costly with a
pattern of repeated cost overruns and
forms of public subsidy. Its
recurring
shut downs make it unreliable. It is slow
to shut down and slow to
start up.
Energy Probe advised the Ontario government to keep the latest coal burning electric generation plants because they are far less polluting than earlier coal plants and cheaper than gas. They are reliable, and can be turned on and off to meet surges in demand. Yes, they do produce carbon dioxide which effects global warming. But this is a natural part of the environmental cycles in contrast with highly toxic nuclear waste. The appropriate response to carbon dioxide emissions should be an immediate general and wider one with some form of carbon tax to push the economics of power generation in new directions. Most would favour conservation, windmills and solar energy which do little harm to the environment for the longer term. Solar energy has potential to meet a huge portion of energy needs but it will require big changes to become cost effective. Windmills alone are unreliable because the wind can drop when power is needed. So the Globe is right. We must make unpleasant choices. The Globe is wrong to say that nuclear power is the answer. The evidence suggests the new style coal plants are a safer bet for my grandchild than nuclear. TOP Click:  |
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