Tag: CRED-NB Action

CRED-NB and collaborators challenge nuclear industry’s false claims

Representatives from CRED-NB and collaborators across Canada filed a complaint to the federal Competition Bureau under Section 9 of the Competition Act, asking the Bureau to stop the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) and its members from falsely promoting nuclear energy as “clean” and “non-emitting”.

The complaint demonstrates that claims by the Canadian Nuclear Association and its members are false and misleading because of nuclear energy’s constant emission of large quantities of Group 1 carcinogenic liquids and gases, and its production of toxic radioactive byproducts and wastes which long outlive fuel production and energy generation, burdening current and future generations with safety and health risks.

Read the full complaint (46 pages) here:
https://www.ccnr.org/Competition_Bureau_submission_Oct_15_2024.pdf

Ask your local candidate a question about the future of nuclear energy in New Brunswick!

The election is October 21, and candidates are making the rounds now. Here’s a good question to ask when they knock on your door:

If elected, will you support a public enquiry on the continued operation of the Point Lepreau Nuclear Station to generate electricity in New Brunswick?

Background:

The Point Lepreau Nuclear Station has frequent and long periods of many months of down time for repairs and maintenance even after the expensive refurbishment which lasted from 2008 to November 2012.

Lepreau is the largest contributor to NB Power’s 5 billion dollar debt (Lepreau’s share is about 4 billion dollars) and the main reason the utility loses money almost every year. To cover these costs, NB Power is planning to increase our electricity rates by 20% in the next 2 years.

The people of New Brunswick must be given an opportunity to decide how our electricity will be generated. This election, let’s talk to potential candidates about holding a public inquiry to decide if New Brunswick should take the big leap forward with renewable energy or stick with nuclear generated electricity and suffer continued huge costs, many problems, unreliability and more radioactive nuclear waste.

Top 10 Environmental Questions to Ask Your MLA Candidates

It’s election time again! The Conservation Council of New Brunswick (CCNB) has published 10 questions to ask the candidates who come knocking at your door. Pick your favourite questions and read the background info to prepare yourself. If no candidates come by, check out their websites and you can also write or call them directly. Read CCNB’s election questions HERE.

Reduce power costs, keep the lights on, lose the nuclear albatross!

The Point Lepreau nuclear plant has been out of service for more than five months. NB Power says the main generator will be fixed by mid-November but the extent of the damage suggests the outage will continue long past that date.

After mid-November, as electric baseboard heaters are turned up, NB Power will need to generate even more power from the expensive and polluting fossil fuel-fired power plants on the grid. Meanwhile, the utility continues to pay the huge carrying costs of Point Lepreau even while it’s producing nothing.

We need a prudent plan to get out of this mess. Modern renewable energy and storage technology can help us do that.

Read the rest of this article by CRED-NB core member Tom McLean HERE, published in the NB Media Co-op on September 12, 2024.

New nuclear prez in a conflict of interest

CRED-NB, along with 80 groups across Canada, is asking the federal government to withdraw the appointment of the new president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). We signed the letter because it seems clear that the new CNSC prez has very strong ties to the industry he’s now tasked with regulating. The letter and media release are HERE.

Organizers are asking individuals in support of this request to contact your Member of Parliament to register your concern.

The ARC-100 nuclear project is in trouble

Since our coalition formed four years ago, CRED-NB has been vocal in our opposition to the two new nuclear projects planned for the Point Lepreau site on the Bay of Fundy. One of the projects, ARC-100, is currently undergoing a provincial environmental impact assessment. Read our info page about the project HERE.

This week there were several news reports indicating that the ARC project is in trouble. CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell writes about the situation today in the NB Media Co-op, HERE.

CRED-NB’s vision for Canada’s electricity grid and network 

The House of Commons standing committee on natural resources is conducting a study on Canada’s electricity grid and network. CRED-NB submitted a brief for the study that will be considered when the committee drafts its final report to Parliament. Our brief is HERE.

We have three main recommendations:

1) Canada should use the fastest and most affordable pathway to a zero GHG emission power grid in Canada: replacing fossil fuel-fired generation solely with renewable energy sources complemented by energy storage, transmission interties and demand-side management.

2) Canada should minimize the time and resources spent on developing new nuclear reactors, especially risky new experimental reactors, as they are not required to build a zero GHG emission energy grid in Canada.

3) All federal funding for research and development of new nuclear reactors and all grid energy technologies should be moved to government research granting agencies.

CRED-NB is encouraging other groups and individuals to also submit briefs for this study. Our brief could provide a template. The link to the study is HERE.

How does electricity work when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow? Storage!

Energy storage plays a key role in helping wind and solar power dominate the growth in electrical grid capacity. Storage includes batteries or other systems that hold energy until it’s needed. With adequate storage, the New Brunswick electrical grid no longer needs energy sources such as natural gas that emits greenhouse gases (GHGs) or risky and expensive nuclear power.

Read the full article in the NB Media Co-op by CRED-NB’s Tom McLean, HERE.

CRED-NB supports the Peace Caravan with an event May 25 in Fredericton

CRED-NB is pleased to participate in an information-sharing workshop in Fredericton presented by the NS Voice of Women for Peace. This activity is part of their journey to Ottawa to join with peace and social justice groups from across Canada to protest CANSEC, the largest annual weapons trade show in Canada.

At the event, CRED-NB will share information on the links between the civilian nuclear industry, including in Canada and New Brunswick, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The workshop, entitled Demilitarize, Decarbonize, Decolonize, will be held in Fredericton at Conserver House, 180 St. John Street, on Saturday, May 25 from 7 to 8 PM.

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