Greening the Grid – No Nukes

I feel like a child from the 60′s, chanting NO NUKES! Fact is, the nuclear reactors that were built in the 1960′s and 70′s are now coming to their life’s end. These reactors have been patched and retrofitted, held together with bubble gum and duct tape (I hope not!), but soon, must be turned off. Question is, what do you replace them with?

In at least one  location, Ontario Canada, they are seriously looking at replacing the old nukes, with new nukes.

 

 Ontario has a very significant increase in Wind Turbine electrical production in the past couple of years and has even more Wind generation announced for the near future. There is also an increasing number of Biomass electrical generating plants going online in Ontario. Solar too, is making a small dent in the production percentages.  With the recent renewable capacity added to the Ontario grid and support for 2009 projects, Ontario could shut down the province’s worst coal fired generating station, Nanticoke, 3 to 4 years ahead of the 2014 scheduled date.

So why is Ontario even considering more nuclear power plants? It appears that the companies pushing nuclear, have convinced the politicians in the past, that nuclear power was CHEAP. In the past, they would low-ball construction costs to support this lie, then bill the Ontario taxpayer for HUGE overruns in costs. Only the nuclear industry could get away with these ridiculous “blank check”contracts. And they are up to the exact same trick again. Have the public and politicians not learned their lesson? International respected Moody’s Investor Service have stated that the price estimates presented to the Ontario government for the new nukes, is “less than half” of what they believe the cost to be.

Jack Gibbons of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance is calling for a Bill, the NUCLEAR COST RESPONSIBILITY ACT, which would force the nuclear industry to submit honest estimates, by making them responsible for any cost overruns. Makes sense to me, as this is the way the “real world” works. If I request quotes to have a house built and the winning contractor under-bids the work, they can’t come back to me with a bill for twice the cost!

For residents of Ontario, you can support this Bill at:

Nuclear Cost Responsibility Act

Let’s hope this makes sense to the politicians as well. Ontario, spend the $26 billion on renewable energy, not nukes.

Similar Posts:

• Climate Solutions: Nuclear Lies—Green Truths
• Greening the Electrical Grid – part 1
• Ontario Suspends Nuclear Procurement – To Costly

Filed under: Grid