Tag: CRED-NB Action

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) dismissed the licence application for the “first advanced reactor … with full private funding backing for a commercial project” because the application lacked information on safety and other key issues. Read the story HERE.

CRED-NB’s take on this story above: In contrast to the US nuclear regulator, In Canada we have the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) with a much more accommodating process: pre-licence “Vendor Design Reviews” or VDRs. The VDRs certify that the nuclear proponents applying for a licence understand the CNSC licence process. It’s impossible to “fail” this largely instructional/advisory process, intended to assist in the subsequent licence process.

Passing a pre-licence VDR allows the nuclear proponent (the company with a design for a so-called small modular nuclear reactor) to promote the “success” of its design. The multiple nuclear companies currently in the CNSC’s VDR process are in serious competition for private investors. Advertising their “success” in a VDR gives the impression that the CNSC has approved the design’s technical readiness, which is not the case.

The pre-licence VDR seems to promote the industry in Canada. An expert in the US has said that the pre-licence VDR process makes Canada like a tax haven for start-up SMR companies. Judging by the high number of SMR start-ups in Canada from other countries, this is believable.

The CNSC publishes the executive summary of the VDR reports on its website. The conclusion section of each summary identifies safety and performance aspects of the proposed design needing more information for the next VDR phase. All of the VDR reports we’ve read end with the astonishing phrase: “Notwithstanding the above, these issues are foreseen to be resolvable and will be followed up on in future phases of the VDR.”

How can a regulator state that core issues related to novel nuclear reactor safety and performance “are foreseen to be resolvable”? A logical conundrum!?

This message was sent today to the Canadian Nuclear Association, the lobby for the nuclear industry in Canada:

The top five reasons why the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB) is not buying your small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) fantasies

5. With 120 other groups across Canada, CRED-NB signed a public statement calling SMRs a “dirty, dangerous distraction” from climate action. Nobody believes we can build an SMR that could produce electricity commercially in this country before 2040. It will take that long to turn the SMR drawings into engineered designs that could safely contain the dangerous radioactive gasses nuclear energy emits. If an SMR is actually built, only then will we learn if it works to produce energy. Climate change will not wait to see if miracles can happen. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel said we have until 2030. Let’s not waste the time we have.

4. Your proposal to build a machine in New Brunswick to extract plutonium from spent nuclear fuel is dodgy at best. You call it “recycling,” a ridiculous label for a process that could only re-use less than one percent of the spent nuclear fuel. The scientists that we consulted say your process would produce new and dangerous forms of liquid nuclear waste and be wildly expensive. Nine eminent US non-proliferation experts have raised alarms about your plan, calling for a weapons non-proliferation international review. We also want a review, but you are dismissing our concerns. What are you afraid of?

3. Nuclear power is the most expensive way to produce electricity. New Brunswick Power’s Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station – the only operational nuclear power plant outside Ontario in Canada ­­– is a financial fiasco. The New Brunswick Auditor General reported that the Lepreau nuclear plant is responsible for $3.6 billion of NB Power’s $4.9 billion debt. That’s a nuclear debt load of more than $4,500 on every person, including babies, living in our province. Enough already!

2. We want renewable energy. New research by the Conservation Council of New Brunswick found little social licence for SMRs in our province. Most New Brunswickers want our electricity to come from clean, renewable sources that do not create radioactive waste. Building new nuclear reactors will take billions of public dollars and many decades. We want the subsidies to go instead toward wind and solar energy, energy efficiency, and building the Atlantic Loop to share electricity across the region. We can build, right now, a robust electricity transmission system that will meet our needs. We want sustainable infrastructure connected to renewable energy generation, not nuclear white elephants.

1. We read peer-reviewed research. Our opposition to SMRs is based on science. You – a lobby for the nuclear industry – are responsible for stoking the climate crisis over many decades, since the beginning of commercial nuclear power generation, with your empty promises of electricity too cheap to meter. Now you’re promising to help end the climate crisis! We’re not buying it anymore. We have science on our side, and the science says SMRs are a waste of time and money and the nuclear industry is dying for good reason. Let’s all get real and work together for the next two decades on an orderly wind-down of nuclear power in New Brunswick and across Canada. Let us introduce you to some of the many scientists who have charted a path to net zero without new nuclear. You can put your SMR fantasies to rest – it’s time.

More than 70 groups, including 13 in New Brunswick, sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau asking for a moratorium on new nuclear energy to be included in the mandate letters of the new cabinet, expected to be named next week.

October 4, 2021
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington St. 
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
by email: justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca

A moratorium on federal funding for nuclear expansion: mandate letters to cabinet

Dear Prime Minister:

Congratulations on your recent re-election. As organizations working tirelessly to protect the environment and seek solutions to the critical issue of climate change, we reflect the concerns of millions of Canadians and work as allies with Indigenous nations.

We request your attention to a critical matter of human health, environmental and intergenerational importance. In your action on climate change, we ask your government to refrain from supporting nuclear infrastructure expansion, including so-called small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs); support would delay addressing climate change because speculative SMR technology would be ready too late and pose safety and security risks. We strongly recommend that your office consult the latest expert analysis conducted by independent researchers, available in the 2021 World Nuclear Industry Status Report.

We are aware that your government is dedicating $8 billion to a “Net Zero Accelerator” fund in addition to other funding envelopes which could be available to develop new nuclear reactor prototypes. SMRs should not be eligible for any government funding, and certainly not as part of a climate action plan.

During the previous term, your government undertook no consultation whatsoever with environmental and citizen groups about new nuclear development. Further, funding or plans for new nuclear development were not included in the 2021 election platform of the Liberal Party. Your government does not have a mandate from Canadians to spend public funds on new prototype nuclear reactors, especially considering the danger and risks of the wastes generated and nuclear weapons proliferation. 

The public’s voice cannot be ignored. In 2018, the Assembly of First Nations issued resolution 62/2018 calling for the Government of Canada to cease funding and support of the Small Modular Nuclear Reactors program. This past year, 120 civil society, public interest and Indigenous groups signed a public statement sent to you and all Members of Parliament; this statement expressed their opposition to federal funding for SMRs, explaining why the proposed new nuclear reactors are “dirty, dangerous distractions” from genuine climate action.

As your government deliberates on its priorities, in the mandate letters of the ministers responsible for Health Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Global Affairs Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the regional development agencies; and Transport Canada, we urge you to include a specific direction to:

• Institute a moratorium on funding for new prototype nuclear reactors, for uranium enrichment plants and for used-fuel reprocessing installations, until long term safe monitored containment from the biosphere can be implemented for intermediate and high-level radioactive wastes.
  
• Strengthen the independence, transparency and accountability of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and ensure all SMRs are subject to full impact assessments (now, appallingly, most proposed SMRs are exempt from federal impact assessment).

• Ensure that the government and the nuclear industry engage in free, prior, and informed consent with Indigenous peoples on all nuclear development, including modular nuclear reactors, uranium mines and radioactive waste facilities.
  
• End the expansion of Class 1 nuclear facilities in residential areas; the unsuccessful $1 billion attempt to clean up Port Hope, in Ontario, indicates the financial and health risks associated with locating nuclear facilities in proximity to housing and schools.
  
• Institute a high-level review, including by international experts, of both the nuclear weapons proliferation and environmental implications of the federally funded plutonium-extraction project currently underway at Chalk River, in Ontario, and planned for development on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick.
  
• Ban the import of nuclear waste and nuclear material, i.e., plutonium from dismantled nuclear warheads.
  

In addition, we demand that you make public the expected cost of your government’s plan to develop new nuclear reactor prototypes including the cost of long-term management of their radioactive wastes.

We request your response as soon as possible using the following email address: info@crednb.ca

Sincerely,

Groups undersigned:

Action Climat Outaouais (QC) Réal Lalande, président

Action Environnement Basses-Laurentides (QC) Lucie Massé, porte-parole

Algonquin Eco Watch (ON) Mike Wilton, President

Anishinabek Nation (ON) Mel Hardy, Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief

Artiste pour la paix (QC) Pierre Jasmin, Leader

Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (QC) André Bélisle, président

Bonnechere River Watershed Project (ON) Dr. Kathryn Lindsay, Chair/Program Volunteer

Canadian Environmental Law Association (ON) Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director and Legal Counsel

CARN – Citizens Against Radioactive Neighbourhoods (ON) Jane Scott, founding member

Citizens Resistance At Fermi Two (CRAFT) (Michigan) Jesse Deer In Water, Community Organizer

Citoyens au Courant de Vaudreuil-Soulanges (QC) Katherine Massam, porte-parole

ClimateFast (ON) Lyn Adamson, Co-Chair

Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan (SK) David Geary, researcher

Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes (Michigan) Michael J. Keegan, representative

Coalition for Responsible Energy Development (NB) Ann McAllister, David Kersey, Lise Auffray, members

Concerned Citizens of Manitoba (MB) Anne Lindsey, representative

Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area (ON) Ole Hendrickson, PhD, Researcher

Conservation Council of New Brunswick (NB) Louise Comeau, PhD, Director of the climate change and energy program

Council of Canadians (ON) Mark Calzavara, National Water Campaigner

Council of Canadians – Fredericton Chapter (NB) Gail Wylie, representative

Council of Canadians – Kitchener-Waterloo (ON) Marilyn Hay, Chair

Council of Canadians – Ottawa Chapter (ON) Eva Schacherl, Volunteer

Council of Canadians – Saint John Chapter (NB) Leticia Adair, Contact

Eau Secours (QC) Rébecca Pétrin, directrice générale

Église Unie Westmount Park (QC) Rév. Neil Whitehouse, président du Conseil d’administration

EOS Eco-Energy (NB) Amanda Marlin, Executive Director

Équiterre (QC) Émile Boisseau-Bouvier, Analyste, politiques climatiques et transition écologique

Extinction Rebellion New Brunswick (NB) Doug Swain, PhD, Organiser

Friends of the Earth Canada (ON) Beatrice Olivastri, CEO

GMob (GroupMobiliation) (QC) Michel Jetté, co-fondateur

Green Coalition/Coalition Verte (QC) Gareth Richardson, President

Greenspace Alliance of Canada’s Capital (ON) J. P. Unger, Director

Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Cooperative (SK) Michael Poellet, President

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Canada (BC) Jonathan Down, President 

MiningWatch Canada (ON) Jamie Kneen, Co-manager

Mouvement Vert Mauricie (QC) Patrick Rasmussen, président

National Council of Women of Canada (ON) Patricia Leson, President

NB, not Nuclear – Le NB, non le nucléaire (NB) Erik LeBrun, Founder/Administrator 

New Brunswick Anti Shale Gas Alliance (NB) Roy Ries, Coordinator and Jim Emberger, Spokesperson

Northwatch (ON) Brennain Lloyd, Project Coordinator

Old Fort William Cottagers’ Association (QC) Johanna Echlin, M.Ed, Spokesperson

Ontario Clean Air Alliance (ON) Angela Bischoff, Director

PEI (Epekwitk) Fridays for Future Climate Action Group (PE) Tony Reddin, co-coordinator

Peterborough Pollinators (ON) Jo Hayward-Haines, co -founder

Pontiac Environment Protection (QC) Deborah Powell, President

Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee (ON) Faye More, Chair

Prairie Institute for Human Ecology (SK) Lynn Wesley Oliphant, Coordinator

Prevent Cancer Now (ON) Meg Sears, PhD, Chair

Project Ploughshares Saskatoon (SK) Linda Murphy, secretary/treasurer

QuAppelle Valley Environmental Association (SK) Randall Lebell, Communications

Ralliement contre la pollution radioactive (QC) Ginette Charbonneau et Gilles Provost, porte-paroles

RAVEN project at the University of New Brunswick ( NB) Susan O’Donnell, PhD, Leader

Regroupement des citoyens de Saraguay (QC) Sylvia Oljemark, présidente

Regroupement écocitoyen de Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac (QC) Sylvie Rose Clermont, présidente

Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec (QC) Philippe Duhamel, coordonnateur général

Religieuses de Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur (NB) Ida Nolan, Murielle Duguay, Thérèse Belliveau, Membres de la Communauté

Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes (QC) Chantal Levert, coordonnatrice générale

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (California) Jane Swanson, President

Saskatoon Peace Coalition (SK) Michael Murphy, Chairperson

Sierra Club Canada Foundation (ON) Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Programs Director

Sierra Club Québec (QC) Isabelle Sawyer, co-présidente

Solar Island Electric Inc. (PE) Darcie Lanthier, President

St. Stephen Environmental Group (NB) Chris Corey, Director 

STOP THE HOGS (SK) Elaine Hughes, Administration

Sustainable Development Association & Indigene Community (QC) Douglas Jack, President

Sustainable Energy Group (NB) Sam Arnold, Co-ordinator

Unifor Québec (QC) Raymond Thibert, président Comité de santé, sécurité et environnement d’Unifor

United Church of Canada (NB) Kent Gibbons, Minister

VANA (Veterans Against Nuclear Arms) Saskatoon (SK) Colin Clay, Member

WaterCareAllies (First United Church, Westboro) (ON) Judith Miller, Coordinator

Women’s Healthy Environments Network (ON) Cassie Barker, Executive Director

The Bloc Québécois (BQ) could block the Liberal Party’s chance of forming a majority government in Canada. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives are pushing new nuclear development (so-called small modular nuclear reactors).

Over the past year, the BQ has issued three media releases opposing the new nuclear reactors. Now their platform has underlined the party’s commitment to stopping these dirty, dangerous distractions from climate action. Bravo!

Check out this website or read the statement signed by more than 100 public interest, Indigenous and civil society groups, including CRED-NB, explaining why we are opposing new nuclear development, HERE.

Both the provincial and federal government are handing millions in public funds to a UK company to extract plutonium at Point Lepreau in New Brunswick. Read the update on this story, published in July by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, HERE.

Here’s some facts Trudeau and Higgs are not sharing:

• One of the projects will extract plutonium at Point Lepreau that can be used to make nuclear weapons, say US nuclear experts.
• The waste from the new reactors will be MORE radioactive per kilo than the existing waste at Point Lepreau. It will be stored next to the Bay of Fundy.
• Building the new reactor sites will create hundreds of tons of radioactive concrete, radioactive steel and other radioactive materials that cannot be recycled. NB taxpayers will be responsible for the disposal costs.

See more information about nuclear energy on this website.

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