Toronto and Calgary-Nuclear power offers no solution to the climate change crisis. That is the conclusion of a major study of the environmental impacts, risks and sustainability of nuclear energy in Canada published today by the Pembina Institute.
Nuclear Power in Canada: An Examination of Risks, Impacts and Sustainability finds that nuclear power, like other non-renewable energy sources, is associated with severe environmental impacts. These impacts include:
- The generation of large amounts of radioactive and hazardous wastes at each stage of the nuclear energy production process. These wastes will require care over thousands of years for safety, health, environmental and security reasons.
- Severe impacts on surface and groundwater water quality through the discharge of radioactive and toxic pollutants. Effluent from uranium mines and mills has been found by Health Canada and Environment Canada to be a "toxic" substance for the purposes of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
- Releases to the air of smog and acid rain causing, radioactive and hazardous pollutants in addition to greenhouse gases.
The report concludes that no other energy source combines the generation of as wide a range of conventional pollutants and waste streams - including heavy metals, smog- and acid-rain-precursors and greenhouse gases - with the generation of large volumes of radioactive wastes that will require care and management over hundreds of thousands of years.
"These environmental challenges, along with security, accident and weapons proliferation risks that are not shared by any other energy source, place nuclear energy in a unique category relative to all other energy supply options" said Dr. Mark Winfield, Director of the Pembina Institute's Environmental Governance Program and lead author of the study.
The study finds that nuclear energy production faces additional challenges as a long-term energy supply, including a limited fuel supply and a dramatic increase in fuel prices. World prices for uranium, the fuel source for nuclear energy, have increased more than sixfold since 2001.
The report concludes that in the context of these impacts and risks, nuclear energy cannot be seen as a viable response to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission problems associated with the reliance on fossil fuels (e.g., coal) for electricity generation.
"In addition to the fact that nuclear power is not itself a GHG emission free energy source, a future path based on nuclear energy would simply replace one problem with a series of different, but equally unacceptable impacts and risks. These encompass everything from facility reliability and waste management to the potential for catastrophic accidents and nuclear weapons proliferation," said Dr. Winfield.
"Energy efficiency and low-impact renewable energy sources offer far safer, cheaper, more reliable and more sustainable options for meeting society's energy needs, and should be the focus of our future energy policies," concluded Dr. Marlo Raynolds, the Pembina Institute's Executive Director.
Nuclear Power in Canada is available on the Pembina Institute's website.
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Click here for background information.
For more information contact:
Mark Winfield, Director, Environmental Governance
Tel: 416-978-3486
Cell: 416-434-8130
Email: markw@pembina.org
Marlo Raynolds, Executive Director
Tel: 403-269-3344 Ext. 113
Cell: 403-607-9427
Porte-parole francophone:
Johanne Whitmore
Tel: 819-483-6288 Ext.33