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Nuclear power unfairly demonized? |
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Written by Gerald Gauthier LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Monday, September 28 2009, 10:29 PM |
Lethbridge Ald. Shaun Ward urged his fellow city councillors Monday to consider nuclear energy as a viable option alongside renewable alternatives in any future energy debates.
Regardless of the outcome of future public discussions about energy options, citizens deserve to make informed decisions about nuclear energy, which has been unfairly demonized, Ward told his colleagues when they met as Community Issues Committee.
“I’m asking that (nuclear energy) not be excluded in the discussion,” he said.
In early June, city council voted to call on the Alberta government to broaden its consultations on nuclear energy at the time by launching a similar process to examine renewable power options. Council’s decision came in response to a request from members of GREENSENCE — Green Sustainable Nonnuclear Chinook Enterprise — a local, anti-nuclear group.
Ward noted European countries are increasingly turning to nuclear-generated power for their energy needs and that some including Italy and Germany are abandoning their former anti-nuke stances because renewable options haven’t proven viable enough. He pointed out that 80 per cent of France’s energy is generated by nuclear plants.
He specifically touted small-scale, air-cooled reactor designs as options best suited to southern Alberta because of their minimal impact on water resources.
“It seems possible to design a small plant to meet the needs of a small community anywhere,” he said.
“I’m asking members of council to keep an open mind,” he said afterward outside council chambers. “It’s, in my mind, a mistake not to consider it.”
He cautioned that opting against nuclear energy could ultimately result in Albertans paying for nuclear-generated power produced in neighbouring provinces or the United States.
“If we don’t do it, someone else is going to do it, and we’ll be buying it from them,” he said.
While acknowledging that the issue of nuclear power plants is outside municipal jurisdiction, Ward recommended that council consider a public consultation similar to one used in Whitecourt while monitoring a similar debate in the Peace River area. Monday’s session was for information only, and council members made no decision on Ward’s recommendations.
Also on hand for Ward’s presentation were a few members of GREENSENCE, including Tom Cain, co-chairman of the organization. Ward’s presentation failed to convince him nuclear energy is worth a look.
“I think it’s maybe premature to look for the middle ground because I think the way it was presented today is somewhat distorted,” Cain said.
The public consultation was flawed, he said, and polling numbers made no mention of the nearly 40 per cent of Whitecourt citizens who were undecided on the nuclear issue.
Cain said he suspects some townspeople in Whitecourt may have been reluctant to publicly oppose nuclear energy for fear of economic reprisals by the large corporate interests advocating it.
Nuclear energy shouldn’t be considered as a future energy option, he said, until the feasibility of renewable energy sources has been fully studied and determined.
“If we have had a green, renewable energy study and we answer some of the questions that are connected to that, then we (could) be in a position to say ‘That solves it, and we don’t need nuclear at all,’” he said.
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