|
Debate over nuclear power highlights pros and cons
|
The debate of nuclear energy is one that can be effectively weighed from both the pros and the cons. However, the a decision as to its effectiveness and safety is one that is difficult to make.
|
Susan Thompson
for Spotlight
It was standing room only into the hallway as hundreds of people crammed into the Sawridge Hotel banquet room in Peace River last week to hear Dr. Helen Caldicott and Dr. Duane Bratt debate the pros and cons of nuclear power.
The event was organized by the Peace River Environmental Society (PRES) in response to frequent requests for a fair debate about nuclear power from local citizens. Bruce Power is hoping to build two nuclear reactors northwest of the town of Peace River in the M.D. of Northern Lights, and nuclear power has become a controversial issue in the region and the province.
The debate was moderated by an impartial moderator, and the two speakers were each allowed to make a long statement and then a shorter rebuttal. The speakers also addressed five written questions from the crowd each.
“People were asking for this,” says PRES organizer Brenda Brochu.
Although PRES has organized several other events in the past, Brochu says it seemed the same people were showing up and it was important to try to broaden the debate.
“You can’t keep preaching to the choir,” she says.
The Town of Peace River has also helped organize events for speakers from Bruce Power, but PRES feels those events were also one-sided and it was time to have a fair debate.
Brochu adds that it was clear the packed event attracted a turnout of people who haven’t been to any previous nuclear information sessions or speakers.
Dr. Bratt was nuclear power’s proponent. Dr. Bratt is an Associate Professor at Mount Royal College teaching political science and policy.
He recently wrote “Prairie Atoms: The Opportunities and Challenges of Nuclear Power in Alberta and Saskatchewan” for the Canada West Foundation and is also working on a book about Canada and the global nuclear renaissance.
Dr. Bratt said one of the advantages of nuclear power is its ability to supply base load electricity, since Alberta’s power needs will continue to grow.
Dr. Bratt also believes nuclear power can be part of the solution to climate change, which he does not dispute is a major problem facing the earth.
“If it was all about the cheapest form of electricity, we’d be firing up the coal plants,” he said.
Dr. Bratt said a price on carbon will be a reality in the near future whether we like it or not, and cited an MIT study whose conclusion was, “When you put a price on carbon, nuclear becomes competitive.”
Dr. Bratt said the actual generation of nuclear power doesn’t produce greenhouse gases, but acknowledged the entire lifecycle of a nuclear power plant does produce those gases.
However, he added that renewables such as hydro, wind and solar also produce some greenhouse gases as part of their entire lifecycle.
Dr. Bratt also emphasized the safety of nuclear power plants, pointing out they need to go through extensive environmental assessments before being built and that nuclear engineers and physicists are comfortable living near reactors with their families.
“There have been more deaths due to lunch meat than nuclear power in this country,” he said.
Dr. Bratt said a meltdown would never happen in North America, and the Chernobyl accident was the result of lax standards and poor construction under the Soviet regime.
Dr. Bratt also scoffed at the idea that nuclear power is in any way related to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. While he acknowledged concerns about nuclear weapons being produced from the materials in nuclear power plants in Iran and North Korea, he said our debate involves Alberta, not those far-flung places.
“I’ve said some not nice things about the Alberta government over the years, but I don’t think Ed Stelmach is planning to make nuclear weapons,” he added.
Dr. Helen Caldicott was the debate’s opponent of nuclear power. Dr. Caldicott is an Australian pediatrician who taught pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School. She is the author of several books including If You Love This Plant and Nuclear Power is Not the Answer. She has founded several groups dedicated to educating others on the dangers of nuclear energy.
One of those groups, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.
For her opening speech, Dr. Caldicott first stated she’d never seen any place like the Peace Country and that it’s beautiful.
Like Dr. Bratt, Dr. Caldicott also acknowledged the problem of climate change.
However, she focused mainly on the medical effects of radiation, explaining the damage different radioactive particles do to cells and genetic material in the human body.
Dr. Caldicott said children are 10 to 20 times more vulnerable to radiation.
She pointed out that tritium, a radioactive particle that can only be contained by gold, it released into the environment by Canada’s nuclear reactors.
“It is the only thing that gets through the protective barrier of the skin,” she said, adding it causes health problems such as cancers and fetal deformations.
Dr. Caldicott cited a recent German study showing that children who live close to nuclear reactors tend to have a higher incidence of cancers such as leukemia, although Dr. Bratt said the study has been disproven by others.
Dr. Caldicott also said a nuclear accident or meltdown could happen anywhere. She pointed out that a Swedish nuclear power plant, which was not a Soviet design but a Swedish one, was two minutes from a meltdown two years ago due to a power failure and a subsequent failure of two backup diesel generators.
Caldicott also emphasized that although background radiation does exist everywhere, it is dangerous to keep increasing the levels of background radiation.
“There is no safe dose of radiation. The effects are cumulative,” Caldicott said, pointing out that every exposure to radiation increases the likelihood of getting cancer.
“I’m just telling you the medical truth.”
During the question and answer period, Dr. Caldicott was asked whether a nuclear power plant would affect local farms.
“Yes,” was her blunt answer.
Earlier in her presentation, Dr. Caldicott had shown a slide of Europe to show how far the radiation from Chernobyl reached.
Farmers as far as Scotland were told by the government they couldn’t sell their sheep for at least 100 years after the accident due to radiation. Dr. Caldicott added she tries very hard not to eat anything from Europe due to the radiation there.
“One meltdown can irradiate a continent,” she said.
Dr. Caldicott also said renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydro can supply all the power we need in Alberta and in Canada. For proof, she pointed to a U.S. study she commissioned that compared all possible kinds of power generation.
“This is the blueprint for survival,” Dr. Caldicott stated, saying it shows nuclear power is not needed. However, it will mean changing the way we get our energy immediately.
“You haven’t even started yet,” she said. “It’s like trying to have a baby when you haven’t even conceived.”
Dr. Caldicott said Alberta could become an energy leader and show the rest of the country the way to become an energy leader as well.
During her concluding statement opposing the contruction of nuclear reactors in the Peace region, she said, “You can’t let yourselves be guinea pigs.”
The statement drew enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
The debate was organized so there was no “winner” or “loser,” and the crowd was generally quiet and respectful throughout. Both speakers stayed for a short time after the debate to answer people’s questions personally, and both the proponents and opponents of nuclear power also had extensive literature available on tables for those who attended.
The crowd was also assured their comments and concerns about the controversial issue would be passed along to the Alberta government and that they would make a difference.
The provincial government is expected to make a decision about whether or not to pursue nuclear power this fall.
< Previous
Home
Next >
|
