Tag: National Conversation

New study highlights Indigenous nations’ opposition to nuclear projects

A new study released in New Brunswick this week analyzed statements about nuclear energy and radioactive waste by Indigenous communities in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, the only provinces with nuclear power reactors. The 18 power reactors in Ontario and the one in New Brunswick, as well as the one in Quebec shut down in 2012, have all produced hundreds of tons of radioactive waste.

The study found that overall, Indigenous nations and communities do not support the production of more nuclear waste or the transport and storage of nuclear waste on their homelands. They have made their opposition known through dozens of public statements and more than 100 submissions to the regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

Read the story HERE in the NB Media Co-op.

End Canada’s thermal coal exports!

CRED-NB is a signatory with 35 other groups, led by Ecojustice, to a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau asking for a ban on thermal coal exports. Thermal coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuel contributors to climate change. Coal power generation is the largest single source of global greenhouse gas emissions and one of the first fossil fuels whose use must be phased out.

Ending coal power will also improve the health of millions around the world. Air pollution generated by coal kills more than 800,000 people each year. The extractive origins of thermal coal can also have devastating impacts on lands, waters and local communities, including impacts on Indigenous nations and their inherent rights, including fishing, hunting and gathering.

Read or download the letter HERE.

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

New videos available on nuclear energy featuring NB participants

The videos of the two webinars last week are now available:

1) More Nuclear in Canada’s Energy Future?
Panel: M.V. Ramana (UBC), Susan O’Donnell & Emma Fackenthall (STU), Laura Tanguay (York U), Mark Winfield (York U), chair Janice Harvey (STU)

2) Nuclear is Not the Solution:The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change
Discussion of the new book by M.V. Ramana (UBC) with student research assistants from St. Thomas University Kate Haché, Erin Hurley and Emma Fackenthall

New article: Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) in Canada

The World Information Service on Energy (WISE) in the Netherlands invited CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell and Northwatch coordinator Brennain Lloyd to write an article for the Nuclear Monitor, a publication of WISE and the The Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS) in the U.S.

The article, “Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) in Canada” is an overview of the difference between CANDU and SMR reactors, how SMRs complicate radioactive waste management, who and what is behind the SMR push in Canada, and the future of SMRs in Canada. You can read the article HERE.

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.

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.

Video: Indigenous Leaders Raise Concerns About Nuclear Waste

Indigenous leaders from New Brunswick and Ontario held a media event in Ottawa today to share their concerns about nuclear waste on their homelands. Participants:
Chief Hugh Akagi, Peskotomuhkati Nation in Canada
Chief Ron Tremblay, Wolastoq Grand Council
Mississauga First Nation Councillor Peyton Pitawanakwat
Elizabeth May, Co-Leader of the Green Party of Canada, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands
Facilitator: Kim Reeder, consultant, Passamaquoddy Recognition Group

Watch the video HERE.
Read the media release HERE.

The APTN covered the story, HERE.

CRED-NB at the Not-the-nuclear-lobby in Ottawa

CRED-NB is one of 17 groups involved in a lobby on Parliament Hill with awareness-raising events for the public in Ottawa, starting on April 29. This will be our group’s second time on the Hill and we’re looking forward to it. Here’s the public events schedule: https://stop-smrs.weebly.com/not-nuclear.html

One of the Ottawa events is a webinar open to all: May 1, 8 PM Atlantic, CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell will speak on a panel at the Public Forum: Canada’s Nuclear Future – Renaissance or Relic? Register HERE for an Eventbrite ticket – the zoom link will follow closer to the date.

We the Nuclear Free North petition – sign by May 3

Our friends in Northern Ontario are asking allies across Canada to sign their Parliamentary petition that closes on May 4. Their petition page with the link to sign is HERE.

The petition calls upon the Government of Canada to require the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (of which NB Power is a member) to demonstrate that it has the consent of residents and communities, including First Nations and Treaty Organizations, along the transportation route and in the region of and downstream of the candidate site for the proposed deep geological repository for the burial of all of Canada’s high-level nuclear waste (including the waste generated by the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor in New Brunswick).