A great video, John Oliver on nuclear waste.
With many thanks to Angela and the activists in Ontario:
Sept. 18, 2017
☢ Nuclear Waste: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Late night comedy hour explains why the United States desperately needs to build a metaphorical toilet for all that waste. 18 min. video.
The World
☢ Nuclear power on the global decline Nuclear power is on its way out, as construction of only one new nuclear reactor was undertaken in 2017, reports the World Nuclear Industry Report 2017. In 2016, more than $240 billion [€202 billion] was invested in renewable energies compared to about $10 billion [€8.4 billion] in the nuclear sector.
☢ How the nuclear industry is still poisoning us 13 min. interview with Paul Gunter about why the nuclear industry fails when it comes to your health.
☢ Distant Future Warnings: The challenges of communicating with eternity Radioactive waste and toxic mining byproducts will remain deadly for thousands of years – maybe forever. Generations in the distant future will need to know about the places this stuff is buried, and to stay away. But is it even possible? 54 min. CBC radio documentary. (Nuclear waste section starts at 24 min.)
☢ Banking on Uranium Makes the World Less Safe Clothed in woolly non-proliferation rhetoric, the IAEA’s ‘uranium bank’ is nothing more than a marketing enterprise to support a struggling nuclear industry desperate to remain relevant as more and more plants close and new construction plans are cancelled.
☢ Tsunamis on the Great Lakes? Indeed there are 100/year in the Great Lakes.
☢ Michael Flynn backed for-profit nuclear scheme inside Trump transition The Trump adviser pushed a ‘Marshall Plan’ for Middle East nuclear power after he was hired by its private sponsors.
☢ Nuclear plans ‘should be rethought after fall in offshore windfarm costs’ The UK government is under pressure to reconsider its commitment to a new generation of nuclear power stations after the cost of offshore wind power reached a record low. The Guardian Editorial board agrees.
Ontario
☢ U.S. officials still trying to stop Canada’s plan to bury nuclear waste under Lake Huron The US House passed Rep. Paul Mitchell’s amendment that prohibits American money for the International Joint Commission from being used to attend an annual Canadian water resources conference, demonstrating the U.S. Congress’ opposition to the DGR (nuke waste dump proposed in Kincardine, ON). “A failure at this site would have devastating impacts on Michigan and Canada, who both rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, tourism, and commerce.”
Renewables and Conservation
☼ Offshore wind energy is cheaper than new nuclear power for first time Improved infrastructure and higher voltage cables have in recent years sent prices for wind power tumbling. (And no radioactive waste!)
☼ The Way We Get Electricity Is About to Change Forever Superior batteries are on the way, and they will disrupt power markets within the next decade.
☼ Renewable energy growth now far outpaces nuclear energy worldwide Globally, wind power output grew by 16%, solar by 30%, nuclear by 1.4% in 2016.
Take Action!
☢ Don’t Let #DirtyEnergy TRUMP the Climate – Stop the $100+ Billion Nuclear and Coal Bailout Petition against the Republican plan for a massive coal and nuclear bailout as part of a new policy for “Energy Dominance”.
☢ Our big chance to close Pickering Hydro Quebec is offering Ontario enough low-cost water power (6 cents) to replace the Pickering nuclear station (9 cents). More here. Please send your support for a deal to Premier Wynne and PC Leader Patrick Brown.
Email Premier Wynne at premier@ontario.ca or leave a phone message at 416-325-1941.
Email Patrick Brown at patrick.brownco@pc.ola.org or leave a phone message at 416-325-0445.
☢ Suspend shipments of liquid nuclear waste from Chalk River, ON to the US & do an independent EA – Petition You can learn more about it here & here & here.
☢ Please sign the petition to the Cdn. House of Commons to help us protect the Ottawa River from a giant radioactive megadump. More info here.
☢ Send the Premier a message calling for Hydro One to stay out of the coal business
☢ Tell the Japanese government: don’t dump nuclear waste into the ocean!
☢ Sign our petition to close the old and dangerous Pickering Nuclear Station when its license expires in 2018. And then share it with your friends. Watch my video here.
☢ Can you spare a few hours to leaflet blitz your neighbourhood mailboxes? Help us make the closure of the Pickering nuclear station a public issue. Contact: angela@cleanairalliance.org
☢ Prime Minister Trudeau: Canada must help achieve a global ban on nuclear weapons Send your message here.
☢ Order your free KI (anti-thyroid-cancer) pills here if you live within 50 km of an ON nuclear facility – that includes all of Toronto and beyond. Download your anti-thyroid cancer posters here to post in your office, school, or local cafe.
Events
☢ Canada Day of Action to Support the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty Citizen Signing Ceremonies Wed. Sept. 20 in Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, London, Sidney, Halitax, Victoria, Salt Spring Island, and Nanaimo.
☢ No War 2017: War and the Environment Sept. 22 – 24, Washington DC. Livestreamed and archived.
☢ Green Energy Doors Open Sept. 22 – 24. Annual showcase of individual, community and commercial sustainable energy projects across Ontario.
☢ Getting to Nuclear Zero: Building Common Security for a Post-Mad World Sept. 22 – 23, Ottawa. Nuclear disarmament ultimately requires a shift from the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) to a commitment – in mind, policy and practice – to mutual security, through a sustainable common security regime rooted in global interdependence, the rule of law, and a recognition of the limited utility of military force in responding to political conflict.
☢ Climate Change Workshop: Local Development of Zero Emission Solutions Sun. Sept. 24, 10.30 am – 5 pm, Ecotay Education Center, Tay Valley Township, ON.
☢ Great Lakes Water Walk Sun. Sept. 24, Toronto. Open invitation to all to join an Indigenous-led Water Walk to honor Nibi (Water).
☢ ClimaCon Sept. 27 – 29, Ottawa. Canada’s largest convergence of climate heros. For activists and organizers.
☢ Webinar- Beyond Doom and Gloom: Essentials to Move the Needle for Green Energy Fri, Sept. 29, 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. EDT
☢ Webinar with Paul Hawkin on Climate Solutions Wed. Oct. 4, 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. EDT
☢ 3rd Antinuclear World Social Forum Nov. 2 – 4, 2017, Paris, France