Greenpeace blocks nuclear station to tell Smitherman: Don't Nuke Green Energy

The message was illustrated on a billboard: ‘Minister: Don’t Nuke Green Energy.’

The McGuinty government and Smitherman are pushing the biggest nuclear construction project in the world.

The government’s spin around Smitherman’s proposed Green Energy Act is a cynical greenwashing exercise to cover his fixation on building reactors we don’t need instead of green power.

Greenpeace is blocking the Pickering reactor station because Nuclear Energy Minister George Smitherman is blocking green energy in Ontario,” said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, a Greenpeace energy campaigner. “Unless Smitherman says no to Pickering B, then the proposed Green Energy Act is a cynical greenwash to hide the fact that his nuclear plans will rob green energy of the funding needed for development.

The Action

Greenpeace activists blocked a gate at the Pickering nuclear station. We positioned a large flat bed truck at the gate with about a dozen activists locked to the truck.

The truck carried a huge, colourful billboard with a caricature of Smitherman pouring nuclear waste onto a wind turbine.

The activists also carried flags with messages including: “Smitherman: Minister of Nuclear Waste” and “Going green means shutting down nuclear!”

Smitherman is only considering nuclear options

Four aging reactors at Pickering B must be replaced beginning in 2013. That’s when they reach the end of their useful life.

These reactors produce 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Smitherman must decide this year how to replace the Pickering B reactors.

So far, the McGuinty government has only talked about nuclear options.

It has failed to develop a green option for replacing the reactors.

Renewable energy can replace nuclear

If Smitherman were really committed to green energy, he would replace Pickering with green energy—wind, solar, conservation and local generation.

Look at what Germany has done. Last year, Germany built 1,500 MW of wind power. Overall it has built 31,000 MW of renewable energy and created a viable wind industry that supports more than a quarter of a million jobs.

Reactors are costly and slow to build

New reactors would take seven to 10 years to build. Pickering’s reactors, however, could be replaced by green energy in just a few years.

The McGuinty government’s electricity plan says replacement and new reactors will cost $26 billion. You can’t trust their estimates.

The government’s estimates are based on a cost of $2,972 per kilowatt of nuclear electricity. Moody’s Investment Service says the real cost of building nuclear is likely $7,500 per kilowatt.

On that basis, the McGuinty government’s nuclear project more likely will cost up to $50 billion.

Don’t forget, not one of the reactors in Ontario was built on time or on budget. Projects to refurbish old reactors have also been late and significantly over budget.

Nuclear isn’t green

A government can’t call itself green if it plans to spend tens of billions on nuclear reactors.

To prove it supports green, the McGuinty government must start by replacing the Pickering reactors with renewable power.

The proposed Green Energy Act could be a valuable tool in creating a green energy system in Ontario. But unless Ontario replaces Pickering B with green energy, McGuinty’s proposed Act is a greenwash to cover its plan to ensure nuclear power is maintained at 50 per cent of the electricity system.

Under the current Ontario plan, green energy is capped at about 5,300 MW to ensure space for 14,000 MW of nuclear.

Smitherman is ignoring advice

Last September, Smitherman asked the Ontario Power Authority to review and expand its green energy targets.

In response, Canada’s largest environmental organizations, including Greenpeace, issued a report showing that the only way to expand green energy is to replace ageing reactors, starting with Pickering.

Smitherman’s office has refused to adopt this green advice and back off its nuclear commitments.

McGuinty’s fantasy

The McGuinty government and Nuclear Energy Minister Smitherman have created a fantasy that green energy is their first priority.

To turn this fantasy into reality, the government must get off its nuclear path and get onto the green path.

Read more about the issue

• The Nuclear reactor threats in Ontario
• The McGuinty Government’s fixation with nuclear reactors
• Press release

Watch the slideshow

 

 

Watch the video

 

 

Meet the activists