Premier Kathleen Wynne : Close the Pickering Nuclear Station

Premier Kathleen Wynne : Close the Pickering Nuclear Station

Started
July 16, 2013
Petition to
Kathleen Wynne (Premier of Ontario) and 1 other
Petition Closed
This petition had 2,370 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Ontario Clean Air Alliance

The aging Pickering reactors are reaching the end of their design life in 2014 and should be shut down. 

But instead of closing these increasingly dangerous reactors, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has asked the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for permission to run these reactors for at least another 5 years.  They received this regulatory permission on Aug. 9, but ultimately it's a provincial government decision whether or not to keep these reactors running beyond their design life.

Hydro-Quebec closed its only reactor Gentilly-2 last year because it admitted it would be too dangerous to operate beyond its design life. Ontario should follow suit.

Beyond being increasingly dangerous, the Pickering reactors are among the highest cost reactors in North America. Pickering is also the closest nuclear station in the world to a major population centre and sits on the shore of Lake Ontario from which 9 million people get their drinking water.

And while OPG says Pickering is safe, it has asked the Harper government to prevent it from paying full compensation to victims in the event of an accident.

Pickering’s long-lived radioactive waste and plant decommissioning will burden future generations with enormous costs.

The good news is that Ontario’s demand for electricity is falling (down 10% since 2005 and predicted to continue to fall in the coming decade).

We simply do not need the power from these aging Pickering reactors. Incredibly, phasing out these high-cost reactors would reduce our electricity bills by $850 million per year or 5%.

We have much lower costing, safer and cleaner options to keep our lights on (e.g., energy efficiency investments, hydro-electric imports from Quebec, and made-in-Ontario renewables)

Premier Wynne – We strongly support your Conservation First vision for Ontario. Please take the next step to a sustainable future and save Ontario residents close to a billion dollars per year by ordering the shut-down of the Pickering nuclear station in 2014.

 

Endorsed by:

Bruce Peninsula Environment Group - Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment - Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility - Canadian Environmental Law Association - Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice - Citizens Resistance at Fermi 2 - Coalition Against Nukes - Coalition for a Nuclear Free Great Lakes - Community Renewable Energy Waterloo (CREW-WR) - Council of Canadians - Council of Canadians, Guelph Chapter - Council of Canadians, Inverness Chapter - Council of Canadians, Northumberland Chapter - Council of Canadians, Peterborough/Kawartha Chapter - Council of Canadians, Toronto Chapter - Don't Waste Michigan - Durham Environment Watch - Durham Nuclear Awareness - Ecology Ottawa - Greenspiration - Green Party of Ontario - Hiroshima Day Coalition - International Institute for Concern for Public Health (IICPH) - Northwatch - Nukewatch - Occupy the NRC - Ontario Clean Air Alliance - Physicians for Global Survival - Radiation Truth - Safe and Green Energy (SAGE) - Toledo Coalition for Safe Energy - Toronto Environmental Alliance - TREC Renewable Energy Co-operative -TREC SolarShare Co-operative (No.1) Inc. - Veterans Against Nuclear Arms - Voice of Women for Peace - Women’s Healthy Environments Network.

p.s. Watch Channel 12 Chex Durham TV's new story on this issue here

Petition Closed

This petition had 2,370 supporters

Share this petition

Share this petition in person or use the QR code for your own material.Download QR Code

Decision Makers