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Greenpeace activists blocked access to the Pickering nuclear station today with a flat bed truck topped by a giant billboard reading "Minister: Don't Nuke Green Energy," as part of a campaign to convince the McGuinty government to replace Pickering nuclear reactors with green energy. "Greenpeace is blocking the Pickering reactor station because Nuclear Energy Minister George Smitherman is blocking green energy in Ontario," said Shawn-Patrick Stensil, a Greenpeace energy campaigner. "The spin around Smitherman's proposed Green Energy Act is cynical greenwashing to hide the fact that his nuclear plans will rob green energy of the funding needed for development."

"The Pickering nuclear power plant is killing fish by the millions. Close to one million fish and 62 million fish eggs and larvae die each year when they're sucked into the water intake channel in Lake Ontario, which the plant uses to cool steam condensers. The fish, which include alewife, northern pike, Chinook salmon and rainbow smelt, are killed when they're trapped on intake screens or suffer cold water shock after leaving warmer water that's discharged into the lake."

Regulator cuts hike request, saying electricity users shouldn't bear brunt of high Pickering reactor costs The province's energy watchdog says Ontario Power Generation is spending far too much to operate its Pickering A and B nuclear stations and that electricity customers shouldn't have to bear the financial brunt. The government-owned utility had asked the Ontario Energy Board to approve a 14 per cent hike to help close a projected $1 billion gap between the sale of power from its nuclear and large hydroelectric facilities and the expected higher cost of operating those facilities until the end of 2009. A big part of the increase, OPG argued, is related to rising labour and other costs required to operate its nuclear assets.

Ontario Power Generation has cleared another hurdle on its way to a possible refurbishment of the four reactors on the 'B' side of the Pickering nuclear station. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal regulator, accepted the conclusions of an environmental assessment conducted by OPG that the refurbishment work won't impact the environment. In its ruling, the CNSC stated the refurbishment "is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects," provided mitigating measures are taken.

OTTAWA - Canada's nuclear safety watchdog warned last month that it was concerned about an "erosion of safety margins" at the Pickering B nuclear station near Toronto. A letter from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission surfaced Tuesday on the eve of a hearing in which Ontario Power Generation will make the case for renewing the station's operating licence until 2014.

Kathy Hogeveen remembers the sugar cubes most. They were there, along with the free coffee, at the visitor's centre at Pickering nuclear station. It was the mid-1970s and Hogeveen and her friends were typical teenyboppers - restless and bored. They used to ride to the plant on their bikes to watch movies about the wonders of safe, clean, low-cost nuclear power. There, in what seemed like their own private theatre, they'd suck on a seemingly endless supply of cubed sweets.

Kathy Hogeveen remembers the sugar cubes most. They were there, along with the free coffee, at the visitor's centre at Pickering nuclear station. It was the mid-1970s and Hogeveen and her friends were typical teenyboppers - restless and bored. They used to ride to the plant on their bikes to watch movies about the wonders of safe, clean, low-cost nuclear power. There, in what seemed like their own private theatre, they'd suck on a seemingly endless supply of cubed sweets.

Ontario should turn its back on old nuclear reactors in Pickering and reconsider its overall strategy to avoid saddling taxpayers with soaring costs, an environmental group said Wednesday. Greenpeace energy analyst Shawn-Patrick Stensil is urging the government to re-evaluate its cost targets, saying current estimates to build nuclear plants are "fantasy" based more on the "hopes and prayers" of the nuclear industry than reality. In report released Wednesday, the group said the cost of building planned reactors has more than doubled in the last three years _ and taxpayers risk being stuck with the bill.

Environmental groups say Ontario's atomic focus detracts from efforts to develop greener electricity The Ontario government's goal of increasing the amount of green power in its 20-year electricity plan can't be met unless it pulls back on its commitment to nuclear, a coalition of influential environmental groups argued yesterday. The energy ministry's response: Current nuclear levels are here to stay. "We're still not moving off maintaining that commitment of 50 per cent nuclear," ministry spokesperson Amy Tang said. But the coalition, a group led by environmental think tank the Pembina Institute, said the same dollar can't be spent twice - some part of the plan has to give. It took aim yesterday at the aging Pickering B and Bruce B nuclear generation stations, which will begin reaching the end of their lives in 2013.

Toronto, May 12 /CNW Telbec/ - A group of radiation-poisoned Torontonians stricken and dying on the sidewalk. Rescue teams with Geiger counters, stretchers and gas masks. This was the scene at several locations in downtown Toronto today where Greenpeace activists staged the aftermath of an accident at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.

TORONTO, April 25 /CNW Telbec/ - It was safe until the explosion. Tomorrow's anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 recalls all the dangers of nuclear power, vividly portrayed in a new website that poses the question: What if a similar accident happened in Toronto? The site, 30km.ca, superimposes the 30 km evacuation zone that was permanently depopulated after the Chernobyl accident onto the Greater Toronto Area. Using the Pickering nuclear station as the epicenter, the website outlines a disaster scenario that would displace 2.5 million people from Yonge Street to Oshawa.

President Barack Obama's first meeting next week with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is a historic opportunity to set a course for the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide, a group of some 100 international leaders said Thursday. Obama and Medvedev, who will meet in London on the eve of a summit on the world economic crisis, should begin by agreeing on dramatic reductions of U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, the Global Zero group said in a letter delivered to the White House. The group includes former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., former U.S. negotiator Richard Burt, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Thomas Pickering and former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

"It will cost between $6 billion and $10 billion to refurbish the Darlington nuclear power station to extend its life by another 30 to 40 years. Energy Minister Brad Duguid released today what he calls the "best possible preliminary cost estimate," one day after Ontario Power Generation confirmed it would refurbish the plant. Duguid says that works out to about 8 cents per kilowatt-hour over the lifespan of the project, and defends the cost as an investment in the future stability of Ontario's electricity system. New Democrat critic Peter Tabuns says $6 billion to $10 billion is a huge price range, especially when nuclear projects always come in over budget. Tabuns wants the government to make sure Ontario taxpayers are not on the hook for cost overruns for Darlington, which is some 70 kilometres east of Toronto. OPG also announced Tuesday it would spend $300 million to keep the Pickering nuclear station going for another 10 years before it is mothballed."

What will keep the lights on in Ontario 10 years from now? That question was left unanswered this week when the province announced it would spend $300 million to keep the Pickering nuclear station open for another decade before mothballing it. There was no announcement on what will replace Pickering's aging Candu reactors and their 3,000 megawatts of power (about 10 per cent of Ontario's electricity capacity) after the station closes in 2020. The provincial government wants to build two next-generation Candu reactors at its Darlington nuclear station. But the price tag on those reactors (a reported $26 billion) caused the government sticker shock, and the procurement process was suspended last June. Environmentalists say not to worry, that a combination of renewable energy installations (wind, solar, etc.) and conservation programs will fill the power gap. But industrial power users are not counting on that. Nor should residential consumers."