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U-S Activists
call Bruce Nuclear Site
Terrorist’s Dream Come True & Taxpayers' Nightmare National Columnist calls for closure
of Nuclear Sites
Inverhuron, Ontario -- September 18, 2002 -- Representatives of Canadian and U-S based citizens' groups told reporters gathered in the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery at Parliament Hill on Friday, September 13, that the Bruce Nuclear site was a “Terrorist’s Dream Come True” and that the Western Waste Management Facility at the Bruce site was a taxpayer nightmare in the making. The remarks coincided with appearances by the groups before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Canada’s nuclear regulator. On September 13th, the CNSC held hearings into an application by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to have its Western Waste Management Facility (a nuclear waste storage site at the Bruce nuclear facility on the Lake Huron shoreline) designated as a “nuclear installation” under the Canada's Nuclear Liability Act. Such status would limit the amount of liability and required insurance OPG must hold on the site to $75 million Can. Against a backdrop of financial free fall for British Energy (majority owner of Bruce Power, operators of the Bruce reactors) and governance issues for the CNSC, the appearance of the Americans caught considerable press attention. On Saturday, September 14th, the Toronto Star, Kitchener Waterloo Record, London Free Press (pdf format - front page coverage – London gets its drinking water from Lake Huron) and many other papers carried versions of a report supplied to media across Canada by Canadian Press. Radio and television outlets also carried the story. On Sunday, September 15th, the London Free Press expanded on its previous days coverage. (pdf format) On September 17th, Globe and Mail staff writer Eric Reguly published a half page feature article in the business section of Canada’s national newspaper, addressing many of the same fiscal concerns raised by U-S citizen's groups in Ottawa. Reguly reached the extreme conclusion on the topic in his final paragraph: “The most important lesson from British Energy and the Canadian nuclear experiments is that the taxpayer always loses. In the end, it's not a question of privatizing or not privatizing. Most of these nuclear plants shouldn't have been built in the first place. Shutting them down before the repair bills escalate and clobber the taxpayer is the best solution.” For more information, please contact Normand de la Chevrotiere at (519) 742-0730 or e-mail info@friendsofbruce.ca |