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Nuclear topic generates heated discussion at SACPA |
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Written by Richard Amery
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Thursday, November 13 2008, 10:34 PM |
Any discussion about politics, religion and nuclear energy is bound to be explosive as approximately 60 people found out while attending Thursday’s session of the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs.
Featured speaker Adele Boucher Rymhs, secretary of Citizens Against Nuclear Development, outlined her organization’s concerns about the possible construction of a new Bruce Power Alberta nuclear plant, 30 kilometres west of Peace River.
“The answer to that question (should Alberta be kept free of nuclear power) is a definite yes. We must keep Alberta nuclear free,” she said before outlining several issues including locating the plant next to the Grimshaw Gravel Aquifer in close proximity to the MacKenzie River system which eventually goes to the Arctic Ocean.
“Anything we put into the water here will be going around the world,” Boucher Rymhs said, adding 7,500 households would be affected if an accident were to happen with the plant.
“It’s a Canadian issue,” she said.
She said her organization’s concerns are more than a case of Not In My Backyard.
“We would not wish this in anyone’s backyard,” she said, bringing up the spectre of the Chornobyl disaster and saying children under three as well as lactating mammals, including mothers and dairy cows are most susceptible to the effects of radiation. She also listed fears of mutations in plant and wildlife, using examples from southern Ontario.
“The environment is being affected. We don’t want to take that risk,” she said, adding opening one northern Alberta nuclear plant opens doors to more plants being built.
One man stood up and accused Boucher Rymhs of “peddling fear” with worries about problems which might happen. However Boucher Rymhs, a retired teacher/ business woman and former Peace River NDP candidate, stood her ground, stating the organization is aware the University of Alberta has a research reactor, which she said is about the size of a bucket.
“That’s true, we are afraid. It’s a fear of what the nuclear industry does not know,” she emphasized, stressing the Bruce Power Alberta plant is a case of choosing health versus wealth.
“If your business is at the expense of the people, then we need to take a second look at this,” she said.
She said promises have been made to improve nuclear reactor efficiency and safety, but without any action taking place.
“We need to be able to have an open forum so people in my position can express our frustration and anxiety because this is an issue that affects all people,” she said after the meeting, explaining her purpose in speaking at SACPA, while accusing media in her part of the province as being biased. She receives a lot of heat in her hometown for expressing her opinions, but emphasized any jobs created during the creation and operation of the new plant would be temporary. Jobs at the plant would be restricted to people with a nuclear education.
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Last Updated ( Monday, August 10 2009, 2:35 PM )
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