[cdn-nucl-l] Nuclear power's logical "AND" dilemma

[Tom Adams <TomAdams@nextcity.com>]

Globe and Mail PRINT EDITION
Nuclear-waste woes
By TOM ADAMS, Executive director, Energy Probe
Wednesday, February 6, 2002 – Page A16

Toronto -- Re Back In Power (Feb. 2): If nuclear power's expansion
awaits only
a repository for its waste, an assumption repeatedly expressed in this
article, then we would expect to find that
waste problems caused nuclear power's failure to provide economically
priced electricity while paying back its
original investment.

On the contrary, Canada's nuclear program has failed economically
despite the effective subsidy of ignoring much
of its waste costs. Future federal taxpayers should expect major
nuclear-waste bills arriving in the next couple of
decades. Taxpayers in Ontario and New Brunswick should expect a
particularly steep nuclear-waste bill.

Nuclear expansion died not only because of its waste problems, but also
because of the weight of economic
failure (as demonstrated by Ontario Hydro), reactor safety concerns (as
demonstrated by Chernobyl), and
proliferation concerns (as demonstrated by India and Pakistan). Even if
the waste problem magically disappeared,
the other showstoppers would remain.