At a watershed Pickering City Council meeting last night, Mayor Ryan and Council unanimously supported a resolution calling for the Pickering Nuclear Station to be dismantled as “expeditiously as possible” after it is shut down in 2024, in keeping with the recommendation of the International Atomic Energy Agency that immediate dismantling is “the preferred decommissioning strategy” for nuclear plants.
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) insisted that the plant should be mothballed for 30 years before dismantlement, an option that is in OPG’s financial self-interest but does nothing for the local community. Pickering Councillors, on the other hand, looked at the many benefits of immediate dismantling and came to a different conclusion about what is best for their community.
OPG is 100% owned by the Government of Ontario, so it is important to let the provincial government know that OPG needs to do what is best for the community and not just what is best for its bottom line. Pickering deserves its waterfront back.
And if you live in Pickering, please send a quick thank you to your Mayor and Councillors for providing the strong and visionary leadership that is needed to revitalize Pickering’s waterfront as soon as possible and to create thousands of good new jobs in Pickering.
Thank you!
Angela Bischoff, Director