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The City of Ottawa, Canada’s capital, is a classic example of the disaster that awaits when governments yield to the demands of uninformed environmental activists. In April 2019, a resolution to declare a climate emergency was introduced by Ottawa Councillor Shawn Menard. Activist pressure in support of the resolution was intense, with a protest outside Ottawa City Hall on April 16th calling on councilors to declare the emergency.
Not surprisingly, on April 24th, the motion was passed, having received support from the mayor and all but two city councilors. City staff was then directed to develop a plan in response. The result is the City of Ottawa’s Climate Change Master Plan and the associated Energy Evolution document.
Sensible people would assume that Ottawa would incorporate nuclear power into their future plans, especially since Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are in development across the globe, and the Canadian government strongly supports nuclear. After all, SMRs do not generate any greenhouse gases (the main concern of Ottawa’s plans) when operating. They are known to be extremely safe, and cost-effective, use relatively little land ⏤ most importantly, in contrast to intermittent wind and solar power, will deliver reliable electricity.
Unbelievably, the city plans no nuclear at all. Instead, it wants to reduce its so-called carbon footprint by installing 36 square kilometers of rooftop solar, a 161,485% increase over today’s levels, 710 industrial wind turbines, each taller than the Statue of Liberty, and 122 large shipping containers of lithium batteries for power storage.
In other words, yielding to green activists is leading Canada’s capital to rest its future on technologies that are among the dirtiest and most environmentally damaging energy technologies on the planet. So, rather than “transition Ottawa to a clean, renewable, resilient city,” the stated vision of the Master Plan, the result will leave us bankrupt, hungry, and freezing in the dark for no environmental benefit. Were they to use SMRs for the transition, the results would be nothing but positive.
To help us understand the bright future that awaits jurisdictions that are smart enough to incorporate nuclear power into their plans, Tom is joined today by nuclear physicist Dr. Kelvin Kemm of Pretoria, South Africa.
Dr. Kemm is Chairman of Stratek Global (Pty) Ltd and is a past Chairman of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation. He has been a Plenary Guest Speaker at the World Nuclear Association in London, and at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris. He chaired the opening ceremony of ATOMEXPO in Moscow in 2016, and was a Plenary Guest Speaker at the African Union Economic Summit in Mauritius in 2017. Dr. Kemm has also given both Senate and Congressional briefings in Washington, D.C.
Tune in to today’s show to learn what this amazing technology promises all of humankind!
References relevant to this show:
- “Small Nuclear Reactors Will Power Our Future,” our first interview with Dr. Kemm
- “The Pebble Bed Modular Reactor,” YouTube video interview with Dr. Kemm