{"id":10986,"date":"2016-05-31T18:04:02","date_gmt":"2016-05-31T22:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/szpin.ca\/?p=10986"},"modified":"2016-11-30T17:38:50","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T22:38:50","slug":"premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2016-05-31_13h42_34\"<\/p>\n

The Wynne government in Ontario is considering spending more than $300 million to patch up Canada\u2019s oldest nuclear generating<\/span>\u00a0station in hopes of keeping it running for another eight years or more. <\/span>It\u2019s kind of like deciding to buy new tires, a new transmission and a new windshield for your 20-year-old Buick LeSabre, except this mechanical dinosaur is a giant nuclear plant located in the heart of our largest urban area.<\/span><\/p>\n

Construction on Pickering began in the 1960s and its first reactors were powered up in 1971 \u2013 the same year Led Zepplin released Stairway to Heaven. Despite 45 years of operation<\/em>, its owner, Ontario Power Generation (OPG), only recently decided to see if the millions of people living around the plant are aware of its plans for what they should do in the event of an emergency at the plant. It quickly found out that a) local residents had no clue what they were supposed to do; and <\/span> b) they weren\u2019t buying OPG\u2019s plan to \u201cshelter in place\u201d (stay put) during a high-level emergency.<\/span><\/p>\n

No other nuclear plant in North America even comes close to having as many people on its doorstep as the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.<\/em> The Indian Point nuclear plant outside New York City is No. 2 and has half as many people living within 30 kilometres. That has not stopped New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from calling for Indian Point to be closed, especially in the wake of revelations that the aging plant is suffering from serious \u201cembrittlement\u201d of key components<\/em>, including bolts that hold critical cooling system components in place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"2016-05-31_18h00_24\"<\/p>\n

Sadly, instead of seeing this kind of principled leadership in Ontario, we are seeing the opposite \u2013 a stealthy effort to keep an old and uneconomic nuclear dinosaur on life support. Pickering is already sucking up $900 million per year in out-of-market subsidies<\/em> for its power. As one of the highest-cost nuclear plants on the continent, keeping Pickering running means higher electricity rates.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not like we need its power: In 2015, Ontario exported more power than Pickering produced \u2013 and lost money doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

So why after promising to close Pickering by 2020 at the latest are the Liberals now working to keep it limping along? It could be like your Buick: You bit the bullet on that costly new transmission and just can\u2019t admit it was a big mistake. Repairs to Pickering\u2019s reactors in the late 1990s went massively over budget and were years late in being completed.<\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is, however, that \u201cfixing\u201d Pickering is like fixing your aging Buick \u2013 it is an ongoing and costly battle. One reactor has recently been offline for months for repairs and breakdowns and \u201cincidents\u201d are regular occurrences at North America\u2019s fourth oldest nuclear station<\/em>. Pickering was the site of the worst loss of coolant accident at a Canadian reactor, during which workers had to siphon heavy water off the floor of the containment building and back into the reactor in 1984.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"2016-05-31_17h59_56\"<\/p>\n

Designed in the 1950s and \u201860s, Pickering is an unusual nuclear facility: It has multiple reactors sharing a single containment building and has no secondary fast shutdown system<\/em>. Separate containment for individual reactors and redundant fast shutdown systems have been standard issue for most nuclear plants for years.<\/span><\/p>\n

The real reason the government wants to keep Pickering going is that our energy planners remain some of the last people on the planet who still believe that nuclear energy is the best way to meet our need for a brightly lit home or a cold drink. Only France outranks us for dependence on nuclear energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a highly irrational belief, particularly when our neighbours to the east, Quebec, have a large and growing surplus of low-cost and safe water power available for export. But tapping into the power Quebec has available right now would mean admitting there are many better options than continuing to operate three aging \u2013 and gigantic \u2013 nuclear plants to meet our electricity needs. And just like with your Buick, some of our leaders just can\u2019t seem to let go.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem is, we are all going to pay the price for their love affair with this outdated technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jack Gibbons
\nChair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance \u00a0Back to HOME Page<\/a><\/em><\/span>\"2016-05-31_18h00_05\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wynne government in Ontario is considering spending more than $300 million to patch up Canada\u2019s oldest nuclear generating\u00a0station in hopes of keeping it running for another eight years or more. It\u2019s kind of like deciding to buy new tires, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rants"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense : The Szpinner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense : The Szpinner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Wynne government in Ontario is considering spending more than $300 million to patch up Canada\u2019s oldest nuclear generating\u00a0station in hopes of keeping it running for another eight years or more. It\u2019s kind of like deciding to buy new tires, … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Szpinner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-31T22:04:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-11-30T22:38:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/\",\"name\":\"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense : The Szpinner\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-31T22:04:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-11-30T22:38:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/\",\"name\":\"BOOKz, COOKz, NOOKz\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense : The Szpinner","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense : The Szpinner","og_description":"The Wynne government in Ontario is considering spending more than $300 million to patch up Canada\u2019s oldest nuclear generating\u00a0station in hopes of keeping it running for another eight years or more. It\u2019s kind of like deciding to buy new tires, … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/","og_site_name":"The Szpinner","article_published_time":"2016-05-31T22:04:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-11-30T22:38:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/","url":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/","name":"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense : The Szpinner","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png","datePublished":"2016-05-31T22:04:02+00:00","dateModified":"2016-11-30T22:38:50+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%63%6f%6e%74%65%6e%74\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2016-05-31_13h42_34-800x571.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/premier-wynne-wedded-to-nuclear-power-at-our-expense\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Premier Wynne wedded to nuclear power at our expense"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/","name":"BOOKz, COOKz, NOOKz","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2025-12-18 20:03:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.szpin.ca\/%77%70%2d%6a%73%6f%6e\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}