Buy Clean Hydro

Toronto Sun
April 18, 2009
Jack Gibbons
 

Buy Clean Hydro

According to Don MacKinnon of the Power Workers' Union, new CANDU nuclear reactors are the best option to keep our lights on ("CANDUs good for jobs, energy," Letters, April 16). Let's look at the facts. First, every nuclear project in Ontario's history has been late and over budget. We're all stuck paying for these colossal cost overruns on every hydro bill. Second, in 1998, Ontario Power Generation had to shut down seven of its CANDU nuclear reactors for safety reasons. These reactors were all shut down for over five years. Three of them are still shut down. Third, as a result of our dependency on CANDU nuclear reactors it took Ontario more than eight days to fully recover from the August 2003 black-out. New York State returned their power system to normal in less than two days. Fortunately, there is a substantially lower cost and much more reliable option to meet our future base-load electricity needs -- clean, renewable hydro-electricity imports from Quebec.

Jack Gibbons
Chair, Ontario Clean Air Alliance
Toronto