Ottawa — Hydro-Québec’s application for an unprecedented five-year licence renewal for the Gentilly-2 nuclear station should be denied, Québec public interest groups say. Concerned that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) may bow to Hydro Québec’s brash request , several groups are registering their opposition at public hearings of the CNSC today in Ottawa. Gentilly-2 has never been given a licence for more than two years in the past.

The groups find it outrageous that CNSC staff has recommended a four-year licence renewal for Gentilly-2 despite having given the plan poor grades for shoddy performance in its radiation protection, quality assurance and environmental programmes.

“Why is the CNSC rewarding Hydro-Québec for shirking its responsibility to protect the public?” asked Patrick Rasmussen of the Mouvement Vert Mauricie. “If you get consistently bad marks and slack off at school, you get put on academic probation. For the sake of public safety, the CNSC should make the Gentilly-2 licence short and probationary.” Rasmussen also noted that Hydro-Québec has failed to establish the decommissioning fund stipulated by its licence. “Gentilly 2 may be permanently closed in 6 years” Rasmussen said. “The CNSC should enforce its own rules and force Hydro Québec to fully fund its decommissioning responsibilities.”

“Nuclear reactors get more dangerous as they get older” noted Dr. Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. “Even Hydro-Québec admits that Gentilly-2 can not be operated safely beyond 2008. Given the geriatric nature of the plant and numerous unresolved compliance issues, Gentilly-2’s license should not exceed six months. For safety’s sake, Gentilly-2 should be kept on a short leash.”

Dr. Edwards pointed out that Gentilly-2, like all CANDUs, has aged badly. Originally expected to operate for 40 years, Gentilly-2 will only make it to age 28 before needing to be closed permanently or rebuilt at a likely cost of a billion dollars or more. And in spite of Québec’s historic rejection of nuclear power — including a moratorium on nuclear power under René Lévesque and Bourrasa’s commitment to disallow any high-level nuclear waste repository on Québec territory — Hydro-Québec is pushing forward with a project to refurbish Gentilly-2 in 2008-2009, in hopes of extending its life for another 20 years. Hydro-Québec’s Board Directors is projected to decide Gentilly 2’s fate in 2003. “Hydro-Québec wants a five-year licence because it wants no interference with its plans to resuscitate this failing technology,” said Dr. Edwards. “The CNSC should not be a party to such a scheme.”

Hydro-Québec will have problems justifying the enormous expenditures needed to keep its expensive and obsolete nuclear plant running. In September 2002, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) of New Brunswick ruled that the reconstruction of Gentilly-2’s twin, Point Lepreau, was too financially risky to be in the public interest and recommended that the reactor not be rebuilt. The PUB cited the strong likelihood that the costs of repairs will vastly exceed the $800 million estimated by the Utility Company. Since then, the cost estimates of restarting the four Pickering A reactors in Ontario has skyrocketed from $ 800 million to more than $ 2.5 billion.

“The CNSC should not assume that Gentilly-2 will continue to operate beyond 2008. The CNSC has a responsibility to ensure, as of now, that Hydro-Québec is prepared to safely close and decommission the plant,” said René Coignaud, Climate Change Campaigner for ENvironnement JEUnnesse. “With Kyoto the world is turning to energy efficiency and alternative energies. Investments should be made in these promising new areas rather than maintaining a dead-end technology like nuclear power. It’s time for Québec to get out of the nuclear business.” Gentilly-2 produces approximately 3% of Hydro-Québec’s electricity.

Québec should set an example for the rest of North America and declare Québec a nuclear-free jurisdiction, says Shawn-Patrick Stensil of Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout. “Germany, Sweden and Belgium are phasing out their nuclear reactors even though they are much more dependant on nuclear energy than Québec is. Switzerland is holding a referendum on the future of its reactors in 2003. There is no reason why Québec couldn’t led the way in Canada and North America by phasing out nuclear energy.”

For further information please contact:

Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout, 613-789-3634 (Ottawa)