Re: Canada nuc plants

[Andy Hull <hull@mail.sep.bnl.gov>]

At 08:17 AM 8/14/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>TORONTO (UPI) -- A major Canadian power utility says it
>is temporarily laying up seven nuclear reactors and permanently shutting 
>down another. 	Charles Farlinger, chairman of Ontario Hydro, told reporters
today  
>the decision came after a team of experts conducted an extensive 
>evaluation study of the utility's production facilities. 
>He says the utility will raise the production levels of two fossil  
>generating stations to replace the electricity production from the 
>reactors being shut down. Tuesday, Ontario Hydro's chief executive officer
Allan Kupcis  
>announced his resignation, saying he was taking responsibility for the 
>utility's poor performance record. 
>	Farlinger says the cost of upgrading the nuclear facilities and  
>``replacing uranium with expensive fossil fuels'' could be between $5 
>billion and $8 billion (U.S. $3.6 and $5.7 billion) in 1997-2001. 
>Write-offs of other assets could cost another $2 billion (U.S. $1.4
>billion).  He says the utility will temporarily lay up four nuclear reactors
>at  Pickering, Ontario, and three at Bruce, Ontario, while a heavy water 
>plant at Bruce will be permanently closed. 
>
>
THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH

According to today's bylined account in the New York Times, "The
environmental group Greenpeace Canada said today (8/13) that Hydro's
decision to switch to fossil fuels will increase greenhouse gases and other
emissions by as much as 100 percent. Another concern is that burning coal
and oil would increase the danger of acid rain".

My comment: What do they advocate?  Solar (in Canada)? Windmills? 

In the same account, Farlinger is quoted as saying "The nuclear unit was
operated over all those early years as some soft of special nuclear cult and
that "Senior management didn't dig into what was going on in this special
unit to the extent that we must now say they should have".

My comment: What should we nuclear cultists now do?  Join the super-safety
cult or drink hemlock juice"

Andy Hull
BNL-SEP
Upton,NY 11973
Ph. 516 344-4210
Fax 516-344-3105