The Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-02-27, Page 3o
More thanone.wayt�Iooktit
e:
•
(continued from page 2)
feet back on the ground!
Our two week stay in Bar-
bados Was wonderful and un-
forgettable.1Both of us would
like to thank the merchants of
the Town of Goderich for
making this great experience
possible.
'Many thanks to all!
Sincerely,
Brenda and Joni
Thom on.
P.S. - a very special that s to
Shrier for all his help!
Kids and drugs
habit. It is a vicious set up of Community Service Depart -
desperate junkies and hired ments if they require the
toughs supporting a very Disability Pension. Many
lucrative business for those people at Mrs. Haskett's home
who run the racket. Look have Ovate incomles and do
around a drug court any not require this program.
morning. Battered, wizened
faces, pale, thin bodies, dirty'" `' The three departments in
and, stinking. These are the order of their assistance: 1.
bottom of society's barrel. Yet Discharge from the institution;
twelve and thirteen year old 2. Social Services or welfare; 3.
children are dealing with them. Disability Pension.
The first impulse is to blame
the police. If it is illegal, why
can't they clean it up?, The
eating of marijuana is so
P
widespread from here_ to
Stratford they cannot hope to
combat it. The only people with
inside knowledge are either
scared to tell or they don't want
Dear Editor,
There are rumours
marijuana is being peddled in
Huron County public schools. I
have not seen that. I have seen
twelve and thirteen year olds
selling it on the streets,
weekend after weekend. These
are activities parents and
teachers know very little about,.
They hope against .hope the
situation doesn't ' exist. It is
time we became honest with ,
ourselves.
Children are„smoking
marijuana becausthe "big
kids” (brothers and sisters)
are doing it. It is fun, because it
is «something which •is
prohibited. Yet the fun can stop
abruptly when the police arrive
at noon: Marijuana smoking is
a crime, on first offence it can
net the individual six months in
prison and a'$1,000 fine. If•'h'e is
convicted oftrafficking (selling
to a few people) he can get up to
seven years imprisonment.
For a child; this.can mean six
months in a reformatory, a
stain which will always follow
him, 'even when . the court
record is blotted out. A year
lost from school, shame to the
family and friends, the endless
circle of -lawyers, policemen
and judges. All for the sake of
doing what the "big kids" do.
No one -knows what the ef-
fects of marijuana smoking
• are, but it does induce artificial
states of mind which can alter
the brain cells if too much is
smoked. Adults who abuse'
marijuana .should know better,.
they destroy themselves
`'knowing the consequences.
Children do not know how mach.
smoking is tom much. Their,
systems can be ruined by their
own ignorance.
,. The "big kids" would do well
•to think it over, too.
.. Maybe grass doesn't, tear
your stomach lining out or lead
to addictions like-° alcohol. At
least we can buy alcohol from
government stores.' Marijuana
can only be purchased through
pushers who tie into a bigger
,,network which spills the profits
into organized crime. •
These are big networks.
Many of the people they hire
are thugs who take care of
• those who squeal on the
operation. Those' who push
marijuana' are oftentrying to
finance a more )expensive
to break up agood thing.
The only ones who can steer
children away from the
,traumatic experiences are the
parents. Children must be
aware of the very real dangers
they run in using marijuana.
Disciplining can only come
when the problem is recognized
and its existence admitted. Any
parent would rather find out
before the police confront him
or her with the news.
Some people claim , the
federal government cowl°d put
an end.tb the involvement with
organized crime by legalizing
marijuana and making it
available in government stores
to those over 18, the same way The home has also been in -
liquor is sold. This would in- vestigated by the "fire in-
crease government revenue d spector." One suggestion
and permit them to control the concerning the length of the
amount distributed. hoses in the billets proved,
_
bemafter investigation, the hoses to
Th
e
P ganz.ed-..,_ �_...ere'than adequate. '
crime from the , It does
picture.
• The problem with the County
arises in the social services or
welfare department. According
to the news story we are led to
believe Huron County is taking,
on' a financial burden' and
budgeting $30,000, for this
cause.
In fact, the people from
Heather Gardens who apply
will receive welfare ($138.00
monthly) for approximately
eight (8) weeks 'until they
receive their disability pension.
Huron- County pays 20 percent
and the province 80 percent.
For one person over an eight
week period the cost to the
county would be $55.20.
As of February 17 there are
42 residents at Heather Gar-
dens with 23 on welfare only
until their Disability. Pensions
.arrive.
not stop youngsters from fid-
dling with something they know
nothing about but _which can
ruin -their lives.
Kevin Cox
Wrong
impression
Dear Editor,
In response to an article
headed - "Vanastra home
County concern" printed
February 6, 1975, I have 'again
contacted Mrs. Haskett of ,
Heather Gardens ,Incorp:,
Vanastra. Some of the points
discussed by the Huron County.
Council are misleading and
harmful to the operation of
Heather Gardens.
First, Mrs. Haskett was in
.communication with
Tuckersmith Township before
her home was established.,
Placement of these people
is planned as to their place of
origin or residence of their next
of kin. Many have been born
'and raised in Huron County or
have their tclosest family ties in
County ounty in such
municipalities., as Goderich,
Seaforth, Clinton and Hensall.
New • Canadians may -
establish their homes 'in areas
' of,, their perference and may
choose Huron County. •
When a patient is discharged
from hospital they must go
through three Social and
Perhaps more understanding
and assistance' to help these
people in the community would
be a better gesture on the part
of all Huron County. •
Respectfully yours,
(Mrs.)'Karen Lehnen
Readers are cordially •
invited to express_... their
opinions of local, provin=
cial and federal Issues
through the Letterz_io'
the Editor• column`�of The
Goderich Signet=Star: ,
.All - letters must, be'
signed 'to be publishre'd,
although' pen names are
permissible providing it
is understood that upon
request from, another
reader, the letter wr'iter's
true • name will be
revealed.
While there is no limit
to the length of , a letter
which can be offered for
publication, the editor
does reserve _the right to
delete portions of any
copy submitted for in-
clusion in- this,'
newspaper.
. Take an active interest
In your hometown
newspaper. Write a letter
,to the Editor today.
FRESH - STEAKETTE.STYLE
Minute Steaks
BONELESS -•POT& SHORT RIB
Roast Beef
MZ
a,.
GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, TH.URSPAY, .FEBRUARY 27 1974.494E
M
uclear power and its •critics
from a speech by
ROBERT B. TAYLOR
CHAIRMAN, ONTARIO'
HYDRO world's most successful ven-
.. As one of Hydro's more ture into nuclear power
recent ,acquisitions, I am very. generation. During the period
glad to share with you some from June 30, 1973 to June 30,
thoughts of a newcomer about 1974 -- the most recent period
one of the most fascinating for which figures are available
challenges facing the electric _- Pickering Unit 4 achieved a
utility business. •gross capacity factor of 92.6
A little over a year ago, Doug percent, the best performance
Gordon, Hydro's President, 'of any reactor in North
talked to you about 'The America.
Approaching Dark Age. Since I The next best was the Point
haven't read his speech,.I am Beach -2 in. Wisconsin with a
going to assume that it was 90.1- percent factor. The third
directed not to the expected best of all the reactors in
arrival of a new Chairman, but operation in North America
to preparing the way for that was Pickering Unit 1 followed
then unrevealed character to by Pickering Unit 2,
perhaps this country's greatest
scientific achievement.
Based on , any yardstick,
Pickering continues to be the
talk about what is besides a Pickering Unit 3 came ninth ,
challenge, the greatest hope of despite being shut down for
avoiding that Dark Age. Hence maintenance for almost a
my title - Nuclear Power and its month. Qut of a total 'of' 63
Critics. - reactorson the continent, that"
The other day I received a not a bad record, all four in the
letter from a woman in south- top 10.
western Ontario. I shall refer to Bat it has not been just.
her as Mrs. Smith because that Pickering's exceptional per -
isn't her name. Let me read you formance that has persuaded
part of her letter on the subject Ontario Hydro that nuclear
of nuclear power: energy is the most feasible
"All the,20th Century project power source for the
that have had disastrous side- foreseeable future from both an
• effects which no one ever tried. ,environmental arid cost
to allow for, or think about; are viewpoint -- at least until about .LL
evidence to the growing the end of the 20th century
argument that nuclear ppwer, when technological
development must be halted breakthroughs • may enable
now. With long -living nuclear utilities to harness new forces
wastes - •'-we -cannot stop the • for the. production or energy.
trouble -when' disasters begin. While the CANDU reactor's'
We'll still have those lethal tons. performance' both at home and.
' of plutonium with us for' cen- abroad is indeed encouraging,
turies." • there exist a number of, other
In a separate letter sent to • factors which taken together
various overnment officials mark nuclear power as the best
and new apers, the same of the available alternatives.
woman s: "We Want First, we must - make the
scientifically prpven reasons to,, ,assumption -- and I don't really
believe that these proposed
reactors are completely' safe,
and reasons why alternative
Choices have . not been pur-
sued.•.,,
A. crank letter? Something to
be tossed into the waste basket
and forgotten? I don't think so.
Mrs. Smith is -asking questions
that .should be as_ ked and are
being asked by' Many con=
cerned citizens and by en-
vironmental organizations such
as the Sierra Club, Ptti'lution
Probe and the CAN'P!DO group
in Goderich.
Last summer Michael
McCloskey of, San Francisco,
executive director of the Sierra
know how valid it is —,- that
Ontario's need for electricity
will continue to grow. In the
past,rate
the growth rowth has
averaged about seven percent
per year -- that is, we ,double
our consumption every 10
years. ;
• I remain- hopeful that con-
servation measures will slew
down this rate of growth.- It
must kslow eventually. But,' at
the same time, Hydro ,must
take a realistic view. Even if a
small reduction can be effected
by changing our habits, the
slack created would' be more
than filled 1;y- the growth needs.
of an expanding province and'
Club, in an address to the ` by the new demands that
American Nuclear Society, almost certainly will be made
expressed his club's anxiety in on electricity. '
this way: "We are not con- • If Hydro underestimates
vinced that anyone knows how future demand, it will take
safe the emergency ,core '°years to •correct the
cooling system is, and what the miscalculation, f6x° generating.
risk is of a significant accident. facilities require from 10 to 12
We do rsot-think it is responsible years to bring on stream.
to proliferate radioactive
wastes -whose safekeeping
cannot be guaranteed by those
Who benefit from their
production. And we are
profoundly disturbed at the_
revelations of the danger's of
illegal diversions of • fissile
materials. We believe society
should have satisfying answers
for these problems before it
permits more nuclear plants to
b be built:"
Closer to Toronto, a coalition
of concerned citizens in
"Goderich issued a statement
recently that read in ,part:
"The management of spent fuel
is charged to humans, most,of
them . presently unborn, who,
will have to change storage
facilities every so often . for
nearly one million years. This
presumes a social - and
geological stability unknown in
the history of man. •
There can be no doubt that
the anti-nuclear forces;,, sup-
ported by many thousands of
Mrs. Smiths, are forcing major
cutbacks in nuclear energy
expansion in the U.S. at a time
when President Ford is calling
on the nuclear power industry
to help fill the energy gap
created by the oil shortage and
high oil prices.
But I am not here today to measures one of the best of sc�ent�sts as well a figure sources and the gravity of the
particularly sulphur par- quantities of water at about 2i)
ticulates% the burning/of fossil SE1EtiIOUS RISKS
In the light of the many ad -
normal
Fahrenheit above
fuels like coal and oil causes air vantages . of nuclear powgr, it normal lake temperatures. 0
pollution. Another crucial the results of our long-term
limitation to the expanded use might seem • that Hydros g`
P tentative decision to go heavily Iresear'ch indicate that thermal
of fossil -fired thermal plants is
the availability of fuels in the nuclear would be a foregone
future. Ontario depends for the conclusion. Infact, however,
bulk of its coal today on the there are some serious • ks
United States although it will that attach to nucl power
likely use more Western plants. I want to_.impress .upon
Canada coal. you today that. Hydro's in -
While continental reserves tendon to; press ,ahead with
building more CANDU reactors
appear to be substantial at the
moment, what happens if the was taken only after an
exhaustive analysis of the
conservationists both in the
United States and Alberta put a
alternatives and a careful
stop to open -strip mining? assessment of the risks.
There is also the likelihood that Let s look then at what some
a continuous oil shortage will of the critics -- Mrs. Smith for
mean greater use of coal for one - have to say Abut the
space -heating. The certainty is nuclear process.
that coal prices, which in- First, there is the matter of
creased by 55 percent in 1974, reactor safety. Will one of our
will condone to climb. reactors blow up and destroy
Furthermore, ' it seems in-. Toronto? One can't laugh at
creasingly• clear. that -the world this extreme possibility or
in general and North America shrug it off. But what I would
in particular is going to have to
carefully `husband its
remaining resources of oil.
What supplies remain will be
chiefly used -,in transportation
and as lubricants -- purposes
for which oil and its derivatives
are uniquely suited.
Hydro has one oil -fuelled
station at Lennox which,, in-
cidentally, delivered first
power just two weeks ago (it
was committed in December
1968) and has plans for only one
more.. They "will`' "be.:.partly
fuelled by domestic supplies --
using the residual oil that is left
after gasoline and lubricating
oils have been taken off - and
partly' by oil contracted from
Venezuela and other outside
sources.
, 4
RICH IN URANIUM
F.inal'ly, we have uraniuthn
contrast -to its dependence on
outside, sources for almost all
fossil fuels -;, 80 percent of all
Ontario energy fuels is int-
ported
m
ported - Ontario is rich in
uranium. ' Present estimates,
suggest than the province has
about 500 thousand. tons
beneath its surface.At present
"rates, uranium is about 1000
times as costly as„goal, but with
existing nuclear technology it
can generate "approximately
20,000 times as much heat per
ton. In short, it is a more
economic fuel by a factor of 20.
The long-term cost ad-
vantages of uranium -fuelled
nuclear power ,, are readily
summarized'° While it costs
roughly twice as much to build
a nuclear station. as it does a
similar -capacity conventional
generating plant, the operating
charges -- mostly -fuel - are far
less.
It seems hard to believe that :..Including such -fixed charges
many people are ready, at•least as interest, depreciation and,
yet, to make the kind of ., payback, it costs 6.2 mills to
sacrifices that •would be produce one kilowatt-hour at
necessary to achieve • any Pickering. At Nanticoke, a
substantial. cutback in el'ea coal -burning „ plant of similar
triol energy consumption,
vintage, the corresponding
especially if they pause to
figure is 91/2' mills: Fuel is a
consider all the .implications, smaller, -'cyst ingredient in ;a
's not forget, that an nuclear plant than in a .con -
Let's
abundant supply of cheap power station.
energy has done much more Therefore, as the cost of fuels
than allow us the luxury of"the go up, the advantage moves
electric can -opener, increasingly towards the
Three quarters of Hydro's nuclear alternative.
energy is used by industry and The addition to its cost ad -
commerce. It has freed many vantages and tine ready
of us from the necessity of availability of fuel,, uranium is
performing unattractive and a much Cleaner • source ,, f
boring jobs. It has played a energy than are fossiliuels,
major role in the re -cycling of For all of these '{•eason
valuable and eon=renewable long -run economic advantage,
menials. It helps us dispose of fuel availability and concern
wastes. Its provides us with for the environments '-
rapid transit and will in future President Ford in his State -of -
years play an even more im- the -Union message last month
portant role in transportation. set a goal of 200 additional
In short, our plenti�f, 1 supply • nuc"lear units in operation by
of electric power is �i integral 1985 -- that's in addition to the 56
part of our way of life - and I that present}, provide one
doubt if we will give it upeasily
to return to the ``good old Percent of the electric power
discharges are damaging to the
aquatic ecology, • corrective
measures can be taken before
any significant damage i
caused: Under such cir-
cumstances, we would have° to
consider less harmful' means of
cooling, but these would add
significantly to costs.
But the most serious
criticism that can be' made of
nuclear power generation is
that we are creating highly
toxic by-products - plutonium
in particular -- and leaving
their final disposal to be un-
dertaken by future generations.
Plutonium is a very • toxic
radioactive substance with a
half life pf about 24,000 years.
•Its safe management is of •
major concern to everyone in
tell the lady from Southwestern -the world, or should be.
At present the spent fuel
Ontario is this: According to an .
Atomic Energy Commission bundles produbed by Canadian
story in the United States reactors are stored under about
conducted by. Professor Nor- . 20 feet of Water at the reactor
man Rasmussen of • the sites under constant sur -
Massachusetts Institute of veillance. The contained
Technology, at a cost of about plutonium, about 50 grams in a
$3 million, the chances of any,' 20,000 '' gram fuel bundle, is
one of us dying as a result of a safely separated from the
nuclear reactor accident are environment. But as larger
. one in 300 million. Conipare this nuclear plants are built ' and
to the one in 4;000 risk .of being: older ones like Pickering .
killed in a traffic crash. continue to produce additional
Compare_ILl the_nn,e in.25„00.0 ' quantities of spent fuel, what
•
chance of in in a fire,, or the Then`'"' -�
dying •
one in '100,000 chance of being,
killed in an air crash. - SAFE STORAGE
•
And"we in Ontario sho, ld also NECESSARY
bear in mind that the CANDU Considering that by the year
reactor is recognized as being • 1995, we may' have something
safer than the U.S.reactor. It is like two million bundles of
not built around the kind 'of spent fuel on our. hands, it is
large pressure vessel needed in important that we devise ef-
the American light -water fective means of storing these
reactor. A feature of the by-products safely.
Canadian reactor `-is- the
pressure -tube concept in which . The present plant is to wait
fueli � l - c e _withhe v Water for several years until the spent
s p a ed, heavy a er
as a coolant, in long tribes fuel loses some of its -
surrounded by a heavy water radioactivity, which decreases
moderator. rapidly at first, then move it to
an as yet unselected site in
I won't go into further
technical detail except to say Ontario that will meet long -
that in the unlikely event of a term needs for fuel -bundle
serious loss of coolant, . the. storage, as well as aaowing for
reactor core in the CANDU reprocessing when and if it is
model would be cooled by the desirable to. do se. The spent
surrounding moderator with no fuel would arrive at the site in
risk of, serious accident: With bundles and leave the site as
'all the built-in• fail-safe reprocessed bundles -- a'mixed •
mechanisms, the chances of an oxide form which is not readily
accident are so small as to be Usable for' undesirable pur-
almost non-existent. ,,poses and which is clad in a
Even if a jet -liner should'sealed • radioactive -proof
Crash int Pickering -- and sheath. The waste products
Hydro as calculated the from the reprocessing would be
chances of this occurring -- formed into solid blocks for
long term retrievable storage
there would. be no nucle�rm
explosion because the kind of on the same site. In its physical
uranium used by a reactor aspects this is as near perfect a
cannot be exploded unless it is Solution- as we're likely to find
deliberately processed to in an imperfect world.
achieve such a reaction. ,But, I . suppose the ' real
Mrs. Smith, in her letter to question that is bothering Mrs. ,
me refers to the possibility of a Smith and all those others
deranged person taking over a concerned ,with the risks of
station, and as she says, using a nuclear power ca.n_be summed
bomb.threat to extort what he up this way:aShould Ontario
could The fact is that a bomb Hydro or any other 'power
thrown inside the Pickering authority proceed with nuclear
station would not :cause a development on the assumption
nuclear explosion. It could, of that answers will be found for
course, result •inwsome damage all potentially dangerous ef-
to the plant. 'But the' reactor fects or should the answers be
would automatically shutdown found first?
without risk to the publi. ”' My response is that' we have
the shortterm answers. I admit .
Then there is the often^vaiced "there are hazards -- we have no
concern that nuclear power proof -- only the advice of our
plants .discharge potentially best scientists. ' And the
dangerous levels of -radio- • probabilities are ',hat future,
activity:, during " norrnal" nuclear ' scientists, even
perati ni. In'fact,.these routine working within the bounds of
releases are « so small as to present-day technology, will be
expose no person to more than able to answer, the lorjg-term
a fraction of the radioactivity, problem, at least in its physical
we all receive' every day from aspect.
natural sources, m
Ontario Hydro and AECL ON THE OTHER HAND
have glways designed plants to . But let's not forget the other
"limit releases to the minimum 'side of the problem -- the lack of
practicable level and have any acceptable alternative' to
recently established design and., nuclear power. To quote once
operating targets of only one again from the statenient
percent of the limits authorized issued by the 32 scientists last'
by the Atomic Energy Control month: "Nuclear power has its '
Board. The releases from critics, but we believe they lack
days." consuned in. the U.S. The
follt*ing day 32 eminent
THE TRADE-OFFS American scientists. including
11 Nobel ..laureates -- not just Pickerin are less than one perspective both . as to the
But that is not to deny the g P P
physicists but social and life
need for strong conservation -- released a Percent of even this' target feasibility of non-nuclear power
talk .of the U.S. dilemma, im-
portant as it may be to
Canada's own economic
prospects. I ai•n here as
Chairman of Ontario Hydro to
talk' about Ontario's nuclear
future and -to try to deal with
the major concerns of Mrs.
Smith and the many people who
share therm.
ENORMOUS PROGRESS
Anyone who has visited
H'dro's 4 -unit nuclear station
at Pickering will appreciate the
enormous progress made in
Canada's nuclear program
over the' last 30 years. And I
which is to allow prices to fullystrongly worded statement There is also the matter of fuel crisis."
`endorsing increased usage of thermal pollution. At a largeP It would be helpful if Hydro
reflect the true and increasing nuclear power.
cost of,energy.' There must in ' plant such as Bruce, as much could lie back and, wait for
addition be trade-offs -- value Concluding that they, could as two million gallons of cooling emerging technology. to
water a minute will' be needed produce final solutions, wait for
exchanges between energy and see no immediate alternative to
cost, between energy and thethe scientists to remove the heat which is fuzzy fuel supply patterns to
nuclear power,
environment. - said that on any scale the rejected in the converting of -' come into sharper focus. But
The cheapest , and cleanest thermal energy to electricity• In a sincere effort to involve
source of electricity has been benefits of a clean, roes domestic
fuel The cooling water is returned to the public, in its planning the
and inexhaustible domestic the lake in the same condition cor
water power. But•except in .the such as uranium far outweight c t pontic, has published - a
far north, there are almost no g as when it was taken out but at study- called Long term
the possible'risks, higher temperatures. planningof the eleitric power
more •flows of water that can be"" g p
harnessed, and , indeed, 1974 To date; thermal.discharges• system." This long-range
Since Ontario has the from our fossil'fuel and - uclear settingforth. of a varietyof
represented ^a major turning• uranium, 'Hydro proposes, withn
point, g stations have -not caused alternatives to the ear 1993, as
"Ylecause it was Burin�'
that year that Ontario Hydro the consent of the government, ' significant problems. Although been given wide distribution in
4,de t more energy from and the•public, to build a power Hydro has a mealier of years of the province a firm statement
its thermal plants than from system that by 1990 will be 45 operating experience,' ad- of Hydro'sintentiona•but,rather
percent. • nuclear -fuelled, 44 ditional information is still a -conceptual tual plan of the
hydro sources • P
wonder if the development of But despite everything the percent fossil -fuelled with the required to determine .the direction in which•Hydro might
the CANDU reactor may not , remaining ;11 percent derived possible •lbn° -term Malo ,cal'
one day be acknowledged - as industry has bee able to do in from its h dro-electric source g " 'g. continued on page 16)
the way of reducing effluents, y effects of discharging, large ( . •, p g
.�y
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