The World

☢ Niagara on Nuclear Waste Route Trucks loaded with liquid nuclear waste could be rolling down highways within days — likely travelling from Chalk River ON through Niagara on their way into the U.S. Weapons-grade nuclear waste shipments from ON to U.S. prompt outcry.

☢ Risk of another Chernobyl or Fukushima type accident plausible, experts say Biggest-ever statistical analysis of historical accidents suggests that nuclear power is an underappreciated extreme risk and that major changes will be needed to prevent future disasters. Pickering is listed as the 14th most costly nuclear accident in the world, in 1983 which cost us all $1 billion.

☢ SNC-Lavalin violated federal Elections Act with contributions to Liberals, Tories SNC-Lavalin made nearly $118,000 in payments to federal parties that violated the Canada Elections Act.

☢ Amid climate concerns, nuclear plants feel the heat of warming water Nuclear power plants need large amounts of water for cooling, and overheating can present a major safety risk. As the lakes and rivers that typically supply cooling water become hotter thanks to climate change — and as droughts dry up some water bodies — nuclear power plants face problems.

☢ Nuclear Teeth Over the course of a dozen years ending in 1970, a group collected nearly 300,000 baby teeth from St. Louis area children in what was known as the “Baby Tooth Survey.” It proved that radioactive materials from nuclear fallout was being absorbed into the bodies of those exposed. This lead to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which banned above ground nuclear weapons tests.

☢ Carr Touts Uranium During India Trip Renewable energy got a mention for the future, but fossil fuels and nuclear power held centre stage in Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr’s trade promotion tour of India. India still hasn’t signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As such, Canada should not be selling India uranium.

☢ Nuclear power is risky and expensive Here's a better idea: renewables, efficiency and storage

Ontario

☢ Why do people in Cornwall pay lower electricity bills than you do? Because it buys lower cost water power from Quebec! The rest of Ontario could too rather than rebuilding Darlington nuclear station and extending Pickering.

☢ Niagara-on-the-Lake Hydro is calling on Wynne to 1) do an independent review to determine if Darlington Re-Build is necessary and 2) negotiate a long-term power deal with Quebec. We agree!

☢ Ganaoque Chamber of Commerce is calling on Wynne to 1) cancel the rebuilding of Darlington and Bruce nuclear stations, 2) invest in conservation, and 3) import water power from Quebec.

☢ Green Party of ON Calls for end to nuclear subsidies and investments in conservation and water power from Quebec instead

Renewables and Conservation

☼ Oxford County, Ontario is committed to 100% renewable energy by 2050

☼ Wind and solar get cheaper and better Wind and solar power have reached a tipping point, as their prices become competitive with conventional electricity sources.

☼ ‘Tide Has Turned’ as Unsubsidized Renewables Undercut Fossils and Nuclear. 

☼ Are net-zero homes the future of Ontario living? There's a lot of talk these days about net-zero homes and ON's plan to eventually make them standard for all new residential construction. But what exactly is a "net-zero" building, and how could it change the economics of owning a home in the province?

Events

☢ Command and Control Screening daily Sept. 23 - Oct. 3 at Hot Docs Cinema, 506 Bloor W., Toronto. Near the end of the Cold War, human error nearly caused a nuclear warhead to explode in Arkansas. The event was kept secret until only recently. Equal parts history lesson, cautionary tale and nerve-rattling thriller, this unsettling production uses all manner of nonfiction devices to elicit both horror and outrage over the precariousness of our deadliest arsenals.

☢ International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons September 26 

☢ Great Lakes Public Forum Oct. 4 – 6, Allstream Centre, Toronto  

☢ What is a Healthy Lake Ontario for You? Wed. Oct. 5, 7 – 9 p.m. Toronto City Hall, Committee Room 1. Let’s talk tritium! Inform the International Joint Commission about what the governments are and aren’t doing to restore and protect the lake, and how to develop a shared vision for what is a healthy Lake Ontario.

☢ Nuclear Neighbour Sun. Oct. 23, 2:15 p.m. AGO Jackman Hall, Toronto. Sweden/Finland/Norway | 2016 | Documentary | 78 min  The extraordinary Hanna Halmeenpää, a Finnish mother and wife, changes her life when the government allows a Japanese company to build a nuclear power plant in her rustic Northern environment. Q&A with filmmaker following the film.

Take Action!

☢ Please send Premier Wynne a message asking her to negotiate a deal with Quebec It's time for Premier Wynne to negotiate a long-term electricity supply contract with Hydro Quebec to really help lower the electricity bills of all of Ontario’s electricity consumers and move ON to a renewable future not reliant on high cost nuclear power.

☢ Urge Canada to Lead on the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons - Petition or write your own letter to PM Trudeau (no postage required) urging him to excercise international leadership for nuclear disarmament. Send to: 80 Wellington St, Ottawa, ON, Canada  K1A 0A2. We need to ban nuclear weapons, in spite of Canada.

☢ 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

☢ Close the old and dangerous Pickering Nuclear Station – Please Sign the Petition to Close Pickering when its license expires in 2018 rather than extend its life 'till 2028 which is OPG's hope.

☢ Please contact Ontario’s new Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault and ask him to invest in conservation rather than re-building the Darlington and Bruce Nuclear Stations.

☢ 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