Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow is a member of the World Future Council, which has just issued a statement calling for nuclear power to be abandoned. The respected, independent body founded in Hamburg that ‘speaks on behalf of policy solutions that serve the interests of future generations’ expressed its “categorical condemnation of the continuing use and expansion of nuclear power as an energy source for humanity. The catastrophic effects of the meltdown of nuclear reactors or the release of high level nuclear waste from on-site spent fuel storage pools — whether by accident, act of war, terrorism or a natural phenomenon — can never be adequately treated and will leave an unbearable inheritance to future generations.”
They highlight, “Nuclear energy is prone to insolvable infrastructural, economic, social, health, ecological, and security problems. It also requires immense capital expenditures and governmental subsidies; faces rising uranium fuel prices; and creates significant lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy, by contrast, reduces dependence on foreign sources of uranium and decentralizes electricity supply so that an outage would have only limited impact on any society.”
The Council of Canadians shares the same concerns as the World Future Council.
Council of Canadians statement on nuclear power and uranium mining
The Council of Canadians rejects nuclear power because it poses an unacceptable risk to people and the environment. It is neither clean safe peaceful nor economic. We are opposed to the further expansion of nuclear power in our country. Faced with climate change and diminishing energy resources globally we recognize the need for a just transition away from a fossil fuel and nuclear dependent society while ensuring Canadians access to basic energy needs to sustainable publicly funded and publicly delivered energy alternatives that benefit both workers and their communities. We support renewable non-invasive energy sources (such as solar and wind power) energy efficiency and conservation. Nuclear power also requires uranium the mining of which creates toxic tailings poses water contamination and other environmental risks and health hazards. The Council of Canadians calls for a ban on all uranium exploration and mining strengthening of legislation to ensure that any exploration or mining of other materials does not disturb or uncover uranium deposits and fair just transition programs for all communities and workers involved in the uranium mining industry.
Adopted by the Board of Directors October 31, 2008.
The World Future Council statement can be read in full at http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/nuclear-statement2013.html.
