People are trying to stop a new nuclear reactor from being built near Toronto blogto.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from blogto.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Under pressure from municipalities and groups concerned about the climate crisis, the operator of Ontario’s electricity system is looking at what phasing out the province’s gas plants could look like.
Ontario intends to rely more on natural gas-fired plants for power over the next decade, a change that is set to erase climate progress made by eliminating coal. Over the past year, this plan has been met with resistance from environmental groups and 27 municipalities including Toronto and Hamilton which have called for gas plants to be phased out.
In response, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) launched an assessment this spring to look into how it would move away from natural gas, and what the risks of such a change might be.
Windmills from the White Pines wind farm in Milford, Ont., on July 19, 2018. The partially built project was previously cancelled by the Ford government. File photo by Cole Burston
The Ford government is seeking to deprioritize renewable energy, repealing measures that made it easier to build new green power projects.
The proposed changes were embedded in Bill 276, which the government introduced earlier this month, saying it would “help businesses rebound” from the economic fallout of COVID-19. In a posting to Ontario’s environmental registry, the province said it’s “no longer appropriate” to prioritize clean energy because “Ontario has built a clean energy supply.”
Canada Infrastructure Bank to finance $1 7- billion power line across Lake Erie theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Nuclear plant at risk of ‘Fukushima-type accident,’ Ontario group says,
National Observer,
By Charles Mandel | News, Energy | April 8th 2021 Citing the potential for a repeat of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance wants an interim moratorium on the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station’s (PNGS) operation.
The aging plant is slated for closure in 2024, and the alliance says a moratorium should be imposed until the operators can prove to the public that it poses no risk to public safety. Ontario Power Generation (OPG) operates the plant, which consists of eight CANDU reactors a type of reactor that uses deuterium oxide, or heavy water, as a moderator and coolant and natural (not enriched) uranium as a fuel. Two of the plant’s reactors have already been permanently shuttered because of their age.