30 March 2011

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.

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