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December 4, 2007 In September 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper proudly declared: "Energy is one of the key drivers of the Canadian economy, and it increasingly defines our place in the world. We’re already the number one supplier of oil, natural gas, hydro-electricity and uranium to the United States." According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Almost all of Canada’s energy exports go to the United States, making it the largest foreign source of U.S. energy imports." It continues, "Recognizing the importance of the energy trade between the two countries, both participate in the North American Energy Working Group (NAEWG), which seeks to improve energy integration and cooperation between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico." The goal of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America's Nuclear Energy Working group, which met in Ottawa on June 29, 2006, is to "enhance nuclear collaboration" through "sharing of information and best practices on many issues associated with the application of nuclear technology and the safe production and use of nuclear power." There is little else publicly available about the role of this specific SPP working group, but according to the U.S. Department of Energy, the NAEWG now, "explores policies, regulations and technological innovations with a view to encouraging the most optimal, efficient and sustainable development of hydrocarbons, energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean power, and nuclear energy and their related infrastructure as well as ensuring frameworks are in place for markets to work most effectively." In its document, The North American Energy Picture II, the NAEWG explains that Bush's Energy Policy Act of 2005 included: "Extension of incentives for the construction of nuclear power facilities… in particular by extending the limitation on nuclear plant operator liability of $10 billion until 2025. This extension clarifies the future liability for the construction of new nuclear facilities. In addition, proponents of advanced nuclear power facilities that are put into service by 2021 will receive significant tax credits during their first eight years of operation." Possibly to accommodate this expansion of U.S. nuclear power, the Canadian government has just signed on, without any public debate, to the U.S.-led Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) -- "a technically complex, hugely expensive initiative to foster a new breed of nuclear reactors that would reuse nuclear waste within a closed fuel cycle to prevent the spread of nuclear bomb-making materials," according to a Canadian Press article. Energy Minister Gary Lunn took refuge in the House of Commons last week so that he wouldn't have to speak with journalists about the government's sudden policy decision, which requires that Canada repatriate spent nuclear waste from abroad for recycling, turning Canada into a nuclear waste dump, according to environmentalists. The move is being linked to Lunn's second announcement, in the same press release on November 29, that the government would be reviewing the future of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL). There have been reports that the government is interested in selling the crown corporation, with Areva of France and General Electric both showning an interest in buying. Lunn seems to be egging on the Americans, according to Steve Aplin, an energy consultant who told the Canadian Press that AECL's heavy-water CANDU reactors could be used to burn the waste from America's light-water plants, and that if selling to the U.S. is the objective, Canada has, "got a better bargaining position inside the GNEP than outside of it." All this federal enthusiasm about expanding Canada's nuclear energy program is happening as resistance builds for a ban on uranium miming across the country. Given serious environmental, health and safety concerns, the Council of Canadians is joining with groups to urge all provincial and territorial governments and the Government of Canada to ban all uranium exploration and mining. In Ontario, the Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium has formed to prevent a uranium mine in Frontenac and Lanark region. They note that, "30,000 acres have been currently staked for uranium mining exploration" in this region. "If this mine is developed it will effect the drinking water of hundreds of thousand of people in the Ottawa Valley region." In November 2007, Janice Kennedy wrote in the Ottawa Citizen: "Their concerns are understandable. When released from the rock that encases it, radioactive uranium can contaminate both air and water. The tailings, pulverized rock left over after extraction, possess elevated concentrations of radioisotopes. They release radon gas into the atmosphere and seepage water contains radioactive material and other toxins. From the proposed mine area, that water would end up in the Mississippi River watershed and ultimately in Ottawa, where it could filter into the capital's water supply." The Globe and Mail reported in November 2007 that: "Saskatchewan is the world's No. 1 producer of uranium… Brad Wall, Saskatchewan's recently elected premier and leader of the conservative Saskatchewan Party, said in May that his government would provide incentives to push uranium refining and a possible nuclear power plant in the province, doing the so-called value-added work in Saskatchewan rather than shipping away raw resources." In November 2007, a group of concerned citizens in Saskatchewan wrote an open letter to the leaders of all provincial parties in Saskatchewan stating: "Saskatchewan is now the major front-end uranium supplier of the global nuclear system, and this issue demands public scrutiny." The group asked, "How do you justify diverting scarce capital into a costly uranium refinery, or nuclear power plant, when there is such urgency to create truly sustainable, non-polluting, renewable energy systems to avert catastrophic climate change? Especially when these sustainable alternatives are cheaper, create far more and much safer employment, and can get on-stream quickly enough to make a difference?" Click here to send a letter to the government demanding that they put an end to uranium mining in Eastern Ontario.
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