Media Release
For release Wednesday, June 21, 2000
 

The Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout (CNP),the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, the Centre díanalyse des politiques énergétiques and Greenpeace Canada are joining with municipal and federal politicians to urge the Montreal Urban Community (MUC) to oppose plutonium imports. The MUC will be voting tonight (June 21st) on a strong resolution unanimously passed by its environment committee which not only opposes the the transportation of plutonium through Quebec, but also calls on Ottawa to abandon the entire plan.

Under the the plutonium fuel import plan, Canada would be committed to running specific reactors for decades into the future, even if they need expensive repairs. Russian authorities have indicated that they envisage the plutonium fuel project as a means of financing the expansion of the countryís nuclear program.

ìThe use of plutonium as reactor fuel benefits only the nuclear power industry. It guarantees that nuclear reactors in Canada and in Russia will operate for at least another twenty five years. Instead, Canada should follow the lead of European countries like Germany and Sweden and phase out nuclear power,î says Kristen Ostling, National Coordinator of the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout.

ìUsing plutonium as reactor fuel does not lessen the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation, but increases that risk. It makes it easier for civilians to have access to plutonium, not only in Canada, but in Russia and throughout the world,î states Marc Chénier with the Montréal-based Centre díanalyse des politiques énergétiques.

Already an all-party parliamentary foreign affairs committee, a report by University of Toronto Professor Franklyn Griffiths, municipalities in Ontario, First Nations communities, police and fire fighter associations along with 170 municipalities in Québec have called on Ottawa to scrap the plan. Ostling adds that ìAlthough the MUC resolution would not have the force of law, it should remind elected representatives at the federal and provincial level that they should be representing the interests of their constituencies.î

ìIf Canada wants to foster world peace it can do so by helping to ensure that all plutonium is taken out of circulation and by calling for a halt to production of new plutonium worldwide,î states Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition of Nuclear Responsibility.

In four out of eight accident scenarios in Atomic Energy of Canada Limitedís (AECL) transportation and emergency response plans in connection with the plutonium fuel plan, the container is destroyed and a plume of plutonium contamination will extend 80 kilometers downwind.

ìGiven the half-life of plutonium, this contamination could be permanent. AECL has played down the risk of a transportation accident. The point is that it that the consequences of plutonium contamination are unacceptable. This is why the US government forbids transportation of plutonium by air and this why Canadians should say no plutonium imports to Canada,î adds Edwards.

A news conference will be held on June 21st in Montréal at 10:30 a.m. at the Musée díarchéologie et díhistoire de Montréal, Pointe-à-Callière, Salle Polyvalente 350 Place Royale.

For further information, contact:

Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, 514-489-5118;
Centre díanalyse des politiques énergétiques, 514-527-2712;
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout, 613-789-3634;
Greenpeace Canada, 416-597-8408.

Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout
cnp@web.net