Contributed by admin on Feb 18, 2011 - 06:33 PM

Northumberlandview.ca

Written by: Ontario's NDP

Queen’s Park – NDP Energy and Environment critic Peter Tabuns today urged the Federal Environmental Assessment Agency to reject a proposal for a new nuclear plant at Darlington.

“Ontarians need relief from rising hydro rates – not another nuclear boondoggle,” said Tabuns, who noted that the average Ontario family of four pays over $500 a year paying debt retirement charges from past nuclear cost overruns.

“The McGuinty government has yet to justify the need for an expensive new nuclear plant,” said Tabuns. “They refuse to even consider more affordable options such as improving energy efficiency, lower cost renewable power, using natural gas for both heat and power, and increasing water power imports from Quebec.”

 The McGuinty government has refused to confirm the cost of a new Darlington nuclear plant, but reports suggest that Atomic Energy of Canada Limited’s 2009 bid, which was rejected by the government, came in at $26-billion, making nuclear power almost twice as costly as wind power or hydro imports from Quebec.