LETTER: Plans for Canada-U.S. nuclear energy pact 'troubling'

BradfordToday and InnisfilToday welcome letters to the editor at [email protected] or via the website. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following is a letter to the editor and an open letter to Premier Doug Ford.

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding your plan to collaborate with former U.S. president Donald Trump to expand nuclear energy in North America.

This is troubling, as it prioritizes costly, high-risk nuclear projects over viable, sustainable, and cost-effective renewable energy solutions.

Renewable energy is safer, has shown to be two to three times less costly than nuclear, and can be built more quickly than high-risk, expensive nuclear projects. Solar and wind are also among the fastest-growing job sectors in North America, with solar creating six times as many jobs as nuclear. Renewable energy jobs offer a rapid, robust economic benefit to communities.

Despite these advantages, you continue to prop up the nuclear industry and appease lobbyists, while disregarding inherent dangers, failed projects, long delays, and the huge public costs of nuclear energy.

Some costs include:

• Taxpayers’ current subsidy of $7.3 billion annually for nuclear energy in Ontario;
• An estimated cost of $25 billion for your plan to build four small modular reactors; and
• The proposed nuclear waste site in northwestern Ontario, currently priced at $26 billion.

Other costs involve transporting nuclear waste and addressing accidents, spills, or meltdowns (e.g., a disaster the size of Fukushima would be in the trillions).

The nuclear waste disposal plan is not widely favoured, especially among Indigenous communities who have been victims of other projects. A massive nuclear waste site would destroy Indigenous territory, clear-cut trees, ruin habitats, ravage wildlife, and cause further environmental costs.

You have an opportunity to secure a safer, cleaner, and more economically sound energy future. By fostering a level playing field and prioritizing renewable energy projects, you can protect public finances, preserve the environment, and create sustainable programs for future generations.

I urge you to reconsider your stance on nuclear energy and adopt a leadership role in advancing renewable energy solutions that are in the best interest of Ontarians.

Awaiting your reply,

Kelly Clune
Orillia