Power from this reactor will cost up to almost five times more than power from wind, solar and Quebec water power.
The technology OPG wants to use is completely unproven – it is nothing more than plans on paper and has never been tested in the real world. And it will continue to produce deadly radioactive waste that we have nowhere to store for the long term.
There are already 10 nuclear reactors operating in in the GTA – Canada’s largest urban centre. Few other places in the world have reactors so close to major population centres. Last month New York State shut down the Indian Point nuclear station on the basis that it was too close to New York City. The Darlington Nuclear Station, where OPG wants to locate its new reactor, is equally close to Toronto. The Pickering Nuclear Station is even closer.
We do not need this new reactor and, given its high costs and high risk, it makes little sense to spend billions of dollars building it in the GTA.
OPG has applied to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for a Site Preparation Licence. The CNSC has an unfortunate history of rubber-stamping nuclear projects in Ontario, such as extending the life of the Pickering Nuclear Station despite having no reliable evidence (e.g., scrape samples) about the safety of its pressure tube system.
We need to tell the CNSC to stand up for public safety and say “no” to OPG’s request for a new nuclear reactor in the GTA. There is no economic or safety justification for proceeding with this project. We have many lower cost and safer alternatives that produce zero toxic radioactive waste.
To learn more about why the CNSC must reject OPG’s application please read our new report: An Unreasonable Risk.
What you can do
Please send a message to the President of the CNSC urging her to reject OPG’s request for a Site Preparation Licence for a new GTA nuclear reactor since it represents an unreasonable risk to present and future generations.
Please pass this message on to your friends.
Thank you!