Re the proposed PNERP Master…

Re the proposed PNERP Master Plan Update

The evidence that I have seen suggests strongly that the proposed update does not offer the level of protection that Canadian citizens--and particularly residents of southern Ontario--would expect. In the Fukushima disaster, "hot spots" occurred well beyond what had been estimated as the danger zone for radiation. Toronto is vulnerable not only to accidents at the two nuclear plants on the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario, but also to fallout from nuclear plants on the American south shore.

No system built and maintained by human beings is immune to failure, regardless of the amount of care taken.That is a lesson that I thought we had learned permanently from the Titanic. Japan was not adequately prepared for the Fukushima disaster. In response to what happened there, Switzerland has now decided to prepare for an INES 7 event. Is Canada a less developed country than Switzerland, and should its citizens expect less care or protection than Switzerland's?

The result of underestimating the potential effect of a nuclear accident in or near southern Ontario would be economic as well as social collapse--imagine the effect of the business area of downtown Toronto becoming unsafe, perhaps for months. The Ontario government must use the historical and scientific information available to plan for an INES 7 event here.

[Original Comment ID: 210675]