Feature story - May 11, 2008
A group of radiation-poisoned Torontonians stricken and dyingon the sidewalk. Rescue teams with Geiger counters, stretchers and gas masks. This wasthe scene at several locations in downtown Toronto today where Greenpeace activistsstaged the aftermath of an accident at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.
Greenpeace activists enact a disaster scenario of a nuclear disaster affecting Toronto.
The "street theatre" is part of Greenpeace's 30km.ca campaign, which highlights theevacuation radius of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. If a similar accident occurred atPickering - the world's closest nuclear station to a major population centre - roughly 2.5million people would be displaced from Yonge Street to Clarington.
The campaign is aimed at putting pressure on the McGuinty government to shut down thefour Pickering "B" reactors when they reach the end of their operational life in 2014instead of spending billions to rebuild them. The McGuinty government will decidewhether it extend the life of the Pickering station in early 2009.
"Pickering is Canada's oldest and most dangerous nuclear station and is only 30kilometers from downtown Toronto. It should be shut down in 2014, not rebuilt," saidShawn-Patrick Stensil, an energy campaigner with Greenpeace. "Regulatory authoritieswould never allow Pickering to be built today given the risks evidenced by Chernobyl, sothey shouldn't rebuild it either."
Greenpeace is concerned that Pickering is becoming more of a threat to Toronto as itages. At re-licensing hearings in Ajax Wednesday, the group will ask the CanadianNuclear Safety Commission to increase its oversight of the nuclear station over the nextfive years. Recently disclosed safety studies obtained by Greenpeace show that theplant's safety margins have been reduced.
"The Pickering nuclear station is an unnecessary risk when quick-to-deploy, saferenewable energy alternatives exist," said Stensil. "We should prepare for Pickering'sclosure by developing green power to replace it."
Activists will also bring their street theatre to Scarborough Town Centre, Durham RegionalHeadquarters.
Why is Greenpeace concerned by safety of the Pickering Nuclear Station?