Nuclear Free

She explained 60 per cent of our generated power comes from nuclear and hydro which “do not produce greenhouse gases.” That nuclear energy is being so effectively promoted as clean and safe that even the

public buys the hype is astonishing, until one realizes that Scott is, in fact, the manager of domestic sales and marketing for Atlantic Nuclear Services Ltd.

The nuclear industry evidently has no qualms about using propaganda on the safety of this form of energy: first a feasibility study for a second reactor at Lepreau conducted by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, and now a marketing manager in the nuclear industry sending a letter of support to the editor under the guise of being a disinterested member of the general public.

Nuclear energy is not good for the environment. Environmental costs including greenhouse gas emissions that are incurred from the mining and processing of uranium, water and air pollution, and a reactor’s enormous ecological footprint make nuclear energy a ticking time bomb.

According to NB Power’s 2006/07 annual report, nuclear and hydro only make up 46 per cent of our total in-province generation, far less than Scott’s 60 per cent claim. However, let’s divorce nuclear from hydro

for a moment (the two can absolutely not be lumped into the same category). Nuclear comprises 27 per cent of our electrical generation, leaving 54 per cent to be produced by coal, pet coke and orimulsion.

Electric heating is not a good environmental choice because it is an inefficient use of power — only 30 per cent of a fuel’s potential energy makes it through the grid to your baseboard heaters. Far better to burn oil or natural gas in a home furnace where efficiencies of up to 90 per cent may be attained.

In addition, today’s wood pellet stoves are vastly more efficient than their predecessors and burn a renewable source of energy. This also has the potential to create a new and productive market for New

Brunswick’s woodlot owners.

Julie Michaud