Collaborative Proposal Creation
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Proposal text
Be it resolved that the Green Party of Canada long conflicted between the horror of nuclear weapons and the need to support reliable and clean nuclear power,
• will adopt a view of nuclear power that is consistent with the best scientific knowledge and practices, and
• will advocate for the continued development of nuclear power technologies, extraction technologies, nuclear waste disposal, and alternative nuclear fuels.
Type of Proposal
Public policy that the party would represent
Objective / Benefit
The GPC has a longstanding public position of preferring renewable power generation instead of nuclear power generation. Yet not one policy currently addresses the beneficial effects of nuclear power. All policy references to nuclear are to the prevention and control of nuclear weapons.
The objective of this policy is to establish a new policy that addresses the benefits of the use of nuclear power generation in a changing environment that urgently needs reliable power generation.
- Whereas the policies of the Green Party of Canada are to be based on scientific principles, and
- Whereas we now know how to build nuclear power plants that are far safer than our current operational designs, and
- Whereas nuclear power generation can be demonstrated,
- to be the least polluting of all electricity generation technologies, in terms of CO2 production per MW of capacity,
- to have the smallest footprint in terms of station size, acres per MW of installed capacity,
- to have the lowest volume of waste production in terms of tons per MW,
- to require the least input of scarce resources in terms of tons per MW,
- to have the best safety record of all generation facilities in terms of loss of human life per MW of installed capacity, and
- Whereas we do know what to do with spent nuclear fuel to ensure safety.
This policy will complement and expand the policies of the Green Party of Canada, making them more appropriate in an intellectually honest way.
If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?
This is new policy. All existing policy addresses various aspects of the undesirability of nuclear weapons. It does not in any way reduce the relevance of those policies.
List any supporting evidence for your proposal
1. Jack Devanney, The Two Lies that killed nuclear:
https://jackdevanney.substack.com/p/the-two-lies-that-killed-nuclear
2. Jack Devanney, Why Nuclear Power Has Been a Flop:
3. Cleo Abram, The Big Lie About Nuclear Waste:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzQ3gFRj0Bc
4. Burning Nuclear waste:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u44skO-nMo
5. IEA on Nuclear Power:
https://www.iea.org/energy-system/electricity/nuclear-power
6. Our World in Data, Death Toll from Chernobyl and Fukushima:
https://ourworldindata.org/what-was-the-death-toll-from-chernobyl-and-fukushima
7. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, LNT:
https://nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/resources/health/linear-non-threshold-model/index.cfm
8. Original text of this proposal: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j5bvh4dagagllrhus59h9/GPC-Nuclear.docx?rlkey=8ozj24vcajsvofrtgtpy9pt85&st=uvmsga8g&dl=0
Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?
There are many in the party and outside, who consider Nuclear Power to be so dangerous as to be categorically denied as a solution to our future power needs. This policy reverses that perception of Nuclear Power. It is likely to alienate such people in their support of the party.
There is also likely to be an adverse reaction from the Global Greens, which would need to be carefully managed, though it is to be hoped that this motion will start a greens-wide reassessment of their positions on nuclear power.
Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?
Yes
Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.
English
This proposal is being evaluated
Posted on the Continuous Motion Development Vote tab for member review prior to the all-member vote.
Amendments (3)
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Created at
24/05/2024 -
- 0
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Created at
05/07/2024 -
- 0
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Created at
10/07/2024 -
- 2
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Conversation with Boyd Reimer
Renewable energy apparatus does not involve any radiation that can be carried by wind and water.
On the other hand, if there’s a significant nuclear malfunction, imagine what would happen to the real estate values of all the home owners and business owners within a 50 kilometre radius of Pickering Nuclear Power Plant….which is the entire Greater Toronto Area!
Is a dollar figure for that even fathomable?
In 2009 Harper put the cap at a mere $650 million for which the industry is liable.
Here is a quote from the 2009 Toronto Star article:
“"Under any scenario of a major nuclear accident happening within Canadian nuclear facilities, you can crack through $650 million without breaking a sweat," said B.C. MP Nathan Cullen, the New Democrat for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, who's on the parliamentary committee combing through the bill. The difference between a $650 million event and a multibillion-dollar catastrophe, he said, can be determined by the direction and speed of the wind that carries the radiation.”
See link:
https://www.thestar.com/business/how-much-would-a-nuclear-meltdown-cost/article_f452c249-65c7-556d-ae93-94eef2c9d3bc.html
Renewable energy apparatus does not involve any radiation that can be carried by wind and water.
In terms of differences in liability costs between renewables and nuclear, there’s really no comparison.
About radiation dangers: See excerpt from Mark Jacobson's boo, "No Miracles Needed, : pg 171:
Quote about Fukushima meltdown: "At least on nuclear plant worker died from lung cancer from direct radiation exposure. (footnote 174)"....The radiation release created a dead zone around the reactors that may not be safe to inhabit for decades to centuries. The radiation also poisoned the water and food supplies in and around Tokyo. ....It is estimated that 130 (15 to 1,100) radiation -related deaths and 180 (24 to 1,800) radiation-related illnesses will occur worldwide...."(footnote 167)
See link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MqLEnAGz4ormCn1KZarQB1RqBW2VPlwMf1XDIBgi0Ck/edit
Another quote: "The cost of the cleanup of the Fukishima reactors and the surrounding area is estimated at $460 to $640 billion.(footnote 168)" That's a thousand times more than the $650 million Harper set as a ceiling for the industries share of liability costs in 2009:
This means that taxpayers will be paying a thousand times more than companies like "GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada." "GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Canada", mentioned in the Star article, is a private company, not the government. They will be laughing their way to the bank while taxpayers pay a thousand times more for cleanup than they do. See link to Star article: https://www.thestar.com/business/how-much-would-a-nuclear-meltdown-cost/article_f452c249-65c7-556d-ae93-94eef2c9d3bc.html
I understand that you find the radiation risk terrifying. My sister is afraid of COVID vaccine. Neither fear is grounded according to the majority of scientists. Quoting a Toronto Star story does not change that.
One of the reasons I left the NDP is it was clear they did not understand the climate problem nor how nuclear power works. Cullen is a good guy and he was trying to gin up public fear against a Conservative government, That does not make him an authority on the safety of nuclear power.
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