Original post via Kincardine Times.

To the Editor:

I think it’s time for the people of Bruce County – and South Bruce in particular – to ask themselves a difficult question.  Are we for or against nuclear power?

Of course, many of us, and our friends and neighbours have made a prosperous living in the nuclear industry, and our region has prospered as a result.  But there are many detractors who say nuclear power is just too risky, and many large organizations, like Greenpeace, have waged decades-long opposition to nuclear power, and have collected and distributed massive amounts of donation dollars in doing so from well-meaning folk who think they’re doing their part to save the environment.

The local opposition to the proposed Deep Geological Repository claims not to be opposed to nuclear power.  Much of their past literature has stated or suggested they have no quarrel with nuclear power, as long as it just keeps its spent fuel where it is, safely stored at all the reactor sites in the country.  However, they contradict this message by aligning themselves with prominent anti-nuclear groups such as NorthWatch and Beyond Nuclear.

These organizations will do anything and everything to oppose the nuclear industry.  They exist to oppose the nuclear industry, and their funding comes from ideologues who oppose the nuclear industry.  Their opposition to the South Bruce DGR has little to do with environmental safety, and nothing to do with South Bruce.  In fact, ‘Beyond Nuclear’ leader Kevin Kamps recently admitted in a public webinar that Ontario’s spent nuclear fuel would be safer in a DGR than in its current above-ground storage location.

Anti-nuclear groups need to oppose any and all DGRs for one simple reason.  They have long argued that the nuclear industry is bad because it has no long-term solution to its nuclear waste.  Enter the DGR, a bona fide safe, internationally-supported long-term solution to nuclear waste.  If the DGR goes ahead, there goes their argument, their credibility, and no doubt a lot of their funding.

Whether or not you love the nuclear power industry, I ask my fellow citizens to consider the massive amount of emissions-free electricity that has powered our homes and businesses, the life-saving nuclear isotopes it produces, and its contribution to our thriving local economy.  Do we want to align ourselves with external anti-nuclear groups, or are we open to the possibility that South Bruce could be part of the solution, by hosting the safe, long-term storage of Canada’s nuclear waste?

Sincerely,

Tony Zettel
RR5 Mildmay