{"id":44719,"date":"2020-11-18T11:49:14","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T16:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=44719"},"modified":"2025-07-02T04:10:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T08:10:14","slug":"environmental-groups-three-opposition-parties-first-nations-oppose-todays-launch-of-governments-plan-to-fund-new-nuclear-reactors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/press-release\/44719\/environmental-groups-three-opposition-parties-first-nations-oppose-todays-launch-of-governments-plan-to-fund-new-nuclear-reactors\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental groups, three opposition parties, First Nations oppose today’s launch of government’s plan to fund new nuclear reactors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Anti-nuclear
\u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Santiago Engelhardt<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

OTTAWA, November 18, 2020\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Groups from across Canada called on the\u00a0federal\u00a0government today to halt its plans to\u00a0fund\u00a0experimental new small modular nuclear reactors\u00a0(SMRs) and to take real action against climate change by investing\u00a0more in renewable energy\u00a0and energy efficiency.<\/p>\n\n

Canada\u2019s Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O\u2019Regan is launching today<\/a> at an industry conference the government’s SMR Action Plan, a strategy to fund and support the development of experimental nuclear reactors by private sector companies, the majority based in the US and UK<\/a>.

Dozens of organizations from coast to coast have called the proposed new nuclear reactors a dirty, dangerous distraction <\/a>from tackling climate change. They include Greenpeace Canada, Friends of the Earth Canada, Ralliement contre la pollution radioactive, \u00c9quiterre, the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick, and the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.<\/p>\n\n

The Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, the NDP and the Green Party all oppose the government’s \u201csmall\u201d modular nuclear reactor plan. A Special Chiefs Assembly of the Assembly of First Nations<\/strong> passed a unanimous resolution in December 2018 demanding \u201cthat the Government of Canada cease funding and support of the Small Modular Nuclear Reactors program\u201d (Resolution no. 62<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

On November 13, Monique Pauze from the Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois<\/strong> stated<\/a>: \u201cThe Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois denounces the intention of Ottawa to invest in nuclear energy to the benefit, once again, of the Ontario industrial sector, instead of financing the transition towards clean electricity. The Bloc calls for the abandonment of the anticipated deployment of small modular nuclear reactors. The Federal government is leading Canada towards a wall by betting on nuclear energy that is absolutely not clean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

NDP<\/strong> natural resources critic Richard Cannings<\/strong> said in a statement: \u201cMany Canadians have concerns about impacts of nuclear energy. When it comes to energy generation there are better ways forward. We have options that are cheaper and safer and will be available quicker. I think we should be supporting the development of energy storage solutions to help roll out renewables like solar and wind on a larger scale instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

On November 10, all three Green Party of Canada<\/strong> caucus members issued a statement and  signed a letter<\/a> to Minister O’Regan and Minister Navdeep Bains saying that: \u201cSmall nuclear reactors (SMRs) have no place in any plan to mitigate climate change when cleaner and cheaper alternatives already exist. The federal government must stop funding the nuclear industry and instead redirect investments towards smarter solutions. Nuclear fails on many grounds, including on the economics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Prof. Susan O’Donnell <\/strong>from the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick<\/strong> said: \u201cBuilding new nuclear reactors does not belong in a climate action plan. Leading researchers have shown<\/a> that investing in renewable energy is the best path to net zero and that adding nuclear energy to the mix actually hinders rather than helps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Shawn-Patrick Stensil<\/strong>, Director of Programs at Greenpeace Canada<\/strong>, said: \u201cThe Liberal government is throwing good money after bad<\/a>.  Hypothetical new nuclear power technologies have been promising to be the next big thing for the last forty years, but in spite of massive public subsidies, that prospect has never panned out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The proposed reactors are still on the drawing board and will take a decade or more to develop. If built, their power will cost ten times more<\/a> than wind or solar energy. The most advanced SMR project to date in the US has already doubled its estimated cost<\/a> \u2013 from $3B to over $6B. <\/p>\n\n

The federal government announced its first SMR grant<\/a> of $20 million to Terrestrial Energy on October 15.

The MPs and environmental groups are shocked that the government is funding new nuclear energy development with no parliamentary review, while trying to avoid public scrutiny and debate. They called the consultation process leading up to the SMR Action Plan<\/a> a sham. Individuals and groups could only comment on the plan if they first signed on to a statement of principles supporting SMR technologies.<\/p>\n\n

Nuclear power and uranium mining will always be dirty and dangerous.  Radioactive waste will have to be kept out of the environment for many thousands of years, and there is no known way of doing that.

                                                                               – 30 –<\/p>\n\n

Media contacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Eva Schacherl613-316-9450evaschacherl@gmail.com<\/a><\/td>Susan O\u2019Donnell506-261-1727susanodo.unb@gmail.com<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n


Contacts pour les m\u00e9dias :<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

Ginette Charbonneau      ginettech@hotmail.ca<\/a>514-246-6439                  <\/td>Gilles Provostartscience@videotron.ca<\/a>514- 523-5704<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greenpeace and groups from across Canada called on the federal government today to halt its plans to fund experimental new small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) and to take real action against climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":44720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23,25,30],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-44719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-climate","tag-energysolutions","tag-nuclear","p4-page-type-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44719"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71014,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44719\/revisions\/71014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44719"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=44719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}