For most of my life I've…

For most of my life I've been horrified by the devastation caused by nuclear weapons; but I believed our government had the intention to protect the public in the event of problems at nuclear reactors. Somehow I believed that Chernobyl had provided a strong example toward caution. We've had over 30 years to learn from that disaster.. Recently there have been foolish attempts to authorize the containment of nuclear wastes near the Great Lakes. In addition, we've witnessed runaway radioactive devastation in and around Fukushima.

Please note, I no longer have confidence that the Ontario government is making wise choices about public safety. Most choices seem to involve cost savings and ignoring the very real possibility that our aging reactors will fail, leak and/or melt down. We're surrounded by this danger. Please remember you're tasked with protecting Ontario residents, our waters, land, wildlife and our future generations. Some expense and consideration now, will help to defend us all against a horrible future.

Please review the list below for my preferences:

Post Fukushima the Ontario government must be ready to protect Ontarians in the event of a worst-case nuclear accident on the Great Lakes.

Ontario should match the best practice set by Switzerland and put in place emergency plans to protect the public in the event of an a level 7 accident on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES).

Switzerland is preparing plans for large-scale evacuations and the need to care for evacuees for long periods of time. Ontario should too.

Ontario should be able to protect drinking water supplies in the event of a nuclear accident at any of the twenty-five reactors that line the Great Lakes.

Ontario’s nuclear emergency response plan should be reviewed regularly and transparently.

Emergency plans need to be adapted to meet the special needs of vulnerable communities, such as the elderly or hospital patients.

Planning for major accidents means Ontario needs to expand emergency planning areas. Ontario should expand its evacuation zones to at least 20 km around each nuclear station to match real-world experience and the best practices set by other countries, such as Switzerland.

Thank you for listening.

[Original Comment ID: 210658]