CFCR 90.5 FM Making the Links interview series with Don Kossick. This is a 3 part series on the History of Nuclearization of Saskatchewan with noted environmentalist Peter Prebble.
Part 1 focuses on the link between uranium mining and nuclear weapons. How the Beaverlodge mine near Uranium City and the Gunnar mine on the north shore of Lake Athabasca were developed to supply the US atomic weapons industry. The successful campaign to stop a uranium refinery from being built in Warman, Saskatchewan, and the controversial approval of the Cluff Lake uranium mine in northwest Saskatchewan. Gives examples of risky uranium sales in which there was a clear danger Saskatchewan uranium would be used for nuclear weapons purposes and the unsuccessful struggle to have Saskatchewan uranium withheld from the world market until the Non-Proliferation Treaty could be strengthened.
Part 2 focuses on the risks associated with nuclear power. The successful efforts to block nuclear reactor construction in Saskatchewan over the past thirty years. The nuclear accidents in Chernobyl Ukraine and Fukushima Japan. In the event of trouble, shutting down a nuclear power station successfully does not necessarily prevent a serious accident from occurring. There must be an ongoing supply of electricity to the reactor itself, so that uranium fuel bundles can be cooled. A loss of electricity for several days poses extreme danger. The exceptional risks nuclear power stations present in the event of war, as evidenced by events unfolding in Ukraine. The lack of a solution for how to safely dispose of the high level radioactive waste that every nuclear reactor produces.
Part 3 Generate more low emission electricity than a small modular nuclear reactor – at a cheaper price and with no radioactive waste legacy. If a nuclear reactor is built in Saskatchewan, how will we handle its nuclear waste? The long term hazard posed by uranium mill tailings at uranium mine sites in northern Saskatchewan. Steps that could be taken today to try to reduce the chance that Saskatchewan uranium ends up being used in nuclear weapons and much more. Nuclearization History Part 3 Peter Prebble mp3…
