SMR

Lately we’ve been seeing ads from the Canadian and Ontario governments for SMRs - Small Modular Reactors. They claim that SMRs will play a role in achieving our 2050 greenhouse gas emission targets. What they do not say is that these types of reactors are pipe dreams. No SMR design has made it past phase one approval in a process that takes years and many phases. Some theoretical SMR types use radioactive water under pressure or molten sodium! We can’t even keep water treatment plants going in northern communities! We can’t seem to build housing for those in need! We read about hackers getting into government computers all the time! Are you ready to have radioactive water or molten sodium in your community?

So why are governments talking nuclear - again? Well it’s not so much the politicians as it is their big business buddies that see dollar signs in this solution. Several corporations have already received support - read money, from the Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative. Politicians can say “Great - we can achieve our targets with this.” and when the costs start soaring and the deadlines extend they can wring their hands and say “It’s not my fault.”

The Ontario NDPs Green New Deal gets it right. Energy efficiency and conservation are the routes to follow. The Federal NDP’s commitments also look to efficiency and sustainability first. A clean energy economy means jobs for families today and tomorrow using existing and well understood technologies that are ready now.

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