Renew Pickering Licence, CNA Urges Nuclear Regulator. President Cites Safety Record, Economic Contributions, Environmental Effects

PICKERING (May 30, 2013) ­­– The Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) urged the country’s nuclear regulator today to approve a licence extension for the Pickering Generating Station.

CNA President Heather Kleb told a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) hearing that Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which operates the Pickering station, has an excellent safety record. “The performance numbers tell the story about safety,” said Kleb. “Station employees have worked nearly two years without a lost-time injury.”

She also pointed to the Pickering station’s significant environmental benefits. As OPG’s 2011 environmental report showed, the Pickering station had displaced about 161 million tonnes of greenhouse gases over ten years.

“The Pickering station has made a significant improvement to human health,” Kleb said, citing a recent NASA study showing that the nuclear energy facilities worldwide have displaced enough fossil-fuel pollution between 1971 and 2009 years to save 1.8 million lives. “Ontario breathes better thanks to nuclear energy,” she said.

Kleb also pointed to the station’s solid economic contribution to the Pickering region and the province. Some 2,500 men and women work at the Pickering station – a significant proportion of the nuclear industry’s 30,000 direct jobs in Canada.

“The Pickering Nuclear Generating Station has been powering our economy for more than 40 years while simultaneously sparing us tonnes of greenhouse gases and air pollutants that cause smog,” Kleb said. “It’s clear to us that this energy facility is a positive force for Ontario and should remain in operation.”

The Canadian Nuclear Association represents 60,000 men and women who mine uranium, generate electricity, and advance medicine through lifesaving diagnostics and therapies.

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For more information:

Malcolm Bernard
Director of Communications
613-237-4262 ext. 110