URGENT APPEAL TO ALL CANADIAN GROUPS

Subject: AN URGENT APPEAL TO ALL CANADIAN GROUPS IN ALL

PARTS OF CANADA.

THE CANADIAN COALITION FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSIBILITY

AND LE MOUVEMENT SORTONS LE QUEBEC DU NUCLEAIRE 

IN CONCERT WITH DOZENS OF OTHER GROUPS WILL BE

ISSUING A PRESS RELEASE ON THURSDAY MORNING

CALLING FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO

THE FUTURE OF NUCLEAR POWER IN CANADA, WITH A

CESSATION OF ALL LICENSING ACTIVITY RELATED TO 

NEW BUILD OR REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS, AS WELL AS

OFF-SITE TRANSPORTATION OF NUCLEAR WASTES 

PRODUCED BY NUCLEAR REACTORS IN THE MEANTIME.

PLEASE CONTACT AS MANY GROUPS AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR

NECK OF THE WOODS WHO CAN ENDORSE THIS CALL FOR

A NATIONAL INQUIRY ALONG THE LINES LAID OUT BELOW.

ANY SUGGESTIONS WILL BE GLADLY ACCEPTED AND

INCORPORATED IF POSSIBLE.

GORDON EDWARDS. CCNR-RSN

MICHEL DUGUAY MSQN

============================

The Press Release will incorporate some or all of these ideas:

A DRAFT WILL BE SENT TO ALL OF YOU TOMORROW

AFTERNOON FOR FINAL APPROVAL.

Media Release:

All federal political parties are being challenged to declare 

their support for a far-reaching non-partisan Royal Commission

of Inquiry into the Future of Nuclear Power in Canada, to be 

launched at the earliest possible date.  As part of that inquiry 

process, no new licenses for nuclear power plants in Canada, 

whether new build projects or refurbishment projects , as well 

as off-site transportation  of nuclear wastes produced by nuclear 

reactors, would be granted until the Royal Commission has 

concluded its work.

Groups from across Canada are joining together in this appeal

to ensure that the people of Canada are adequately consulted 

on the future of this inherently dangerous industry.  The basic

question is this: do Canadians wish nuclear power production 

to be expanded or to be phased out?

These groups are unanimous in their view that the Canadian

Nuclear Industry, the Canadian Regulatory Regime and the 

Canadian and Provincial governments have failed to disseminate

objective scientific information about the hazards of nuclear

reactors, the health dangers of radioactive exposures, and the 

potential ecological consequences of major reactor malfunctions.

These groups are also unanimous in their view that political

accountability and transparency has been woefully lacking

in the nuclear field, as governments have routinely abdicated 

responsibility to the Canadian nuclear establishment, of which

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is an integral part.

These groups demand that the risks of nuclear power be

delineated not only from the point of view of the physicists 

and engineers who dominate the Canadian nuclear industry 

and its licensing agency, the CNSC, but also by independent 

bio-medical experts and people trained in the fields of biology 

and ecology, as well as experts drawn from the social sciences.

Most importantly, however, these groups demand the right for

ordinary Canadian citizens to voice their views on nuclear power

and to explore the risks and benefits of alternative energy tech-

nologies.  Before proceeding any further down the nuclear path,

Canadians will finally have a chance to debate the risks and

benefits of nuclear power in relation to its alternatives.