Green Party calls Sask. uranium report a 'sham,' saying the public needs more info

Comment: Remember, the local yokel uranium co is really a French-Canadian uranium company, which is the problem below for Canadian citizens; their government are influenced by Lobbyist too, their study can compare with the illegal Uranium Study by our state!

April, 17, 2009 - 07:35 pm Graham, Jennifer - (THE CANADIAN PRESS)REGINA - The Saskatchewan government is being accused of rushing headlong into what the Green Party calls "a nuclear boondoggle" through flawed public consultations on whether a nuclear power plant should be built in the province.

The Green Party charged Friday that the provincial government hasn't put out enough information about where a plant could be built, what it would cost and whether the province even needs one.

And the information that is out there is biased, said federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, pointing to a report from a government-appointed panel.

This is a sham," said May.

"This is not the report on which a government should base decisions. This is the equivalent of a report from lobbyists telling governments how they want them to spend their money," she told reporters at the Saskatchewan legislature.

"This isn't the fox is guarding the chicken coops. This is the fox report recommending how the chicken coop can best be consumed by the foxes."

The 12-member Uranium Development Partnership, which was asked to study the nuclear cycle from mining through to disposal, recently recommended Saskatchewan include nuclear power in its energy mix.

But May argued that the group was dominated by people who would profit from any project.

The panel included presidents of Bruce Power, Areva and Cameco - two companies that mine uranium.

Their report followed a feasibility study released last November by Bruce Power, which identified a region from Prince Albert west to Lloydminster as a good spot to build a nuclear power plant. That study suggested a plant could be in operation by 2018 and contribute 1,000 megawatts of electricity to the province by 2020.

"Certainly the need for it is well-outlined in the UDP report," said Saskatchewan Enterprise and Innovation Minister Lyle Stewart.

"Without factoring in virtually any growth, we're going to need an additional 1,000 megawatts of baseload power by the time a nuclear power plant could be built. Whether it's nuclear or other sources, that remains to be seen."

The minister has said that any final approval for a plant would be years away and brushed aside suggestions that the province is moving too fast.

"It's very sensitive and we don't want to push hard at all on this thing. We want people to be on board with this, anything that gets done, and hopefully be leading the process," said Stewart.

Saskatchewan residents will get their chance to speak out on the nuclear issue at public forums which are to be held in May and June.

Stewart said the 120-page report from the uranium development partnership "is solid fact" for the public to read, despite arguments from the Green Party that people won't have all the information on the issue.

May said she was also disappointed that the report "never even bothered to look at alternatives."

"The mandate of the group was already a foregone conclusion to recommend nuclear. There's no pretense here that this is an analysis of what Saskatchewan residents need for energy security," said May.

"Obviously, Saskatchewan has uranium but as far as I know it's also got the sun and the wind and lots of other options that can be developed for the benefit of the whole province."

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