BULLETINS - Nuclear Reactor Info Task Force

[Oscar]

Experts Warn Against Handing Impact Assessment of Nuclear Projects Over to Captured Regulator

BULLETIN No. 28 - June 11, 2026 - Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force

NOTE: FOR BULLETINS No. 1-27, see: [ viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6307&start=15 ]

QUOTE: "Fast-tracking nuclear projects will put safety, health and environmental stewardship at risk, with possible catastrophic consequences. Handing responsibility for assessment of nuclear projects to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is putting the fox in charge of the henhouse."

Academics, environmental lawyers and civil society organizations are raising the alarm about proposals in the federal discussion paper, “Getting Major Projects Built in Canada.” An initial 30 day comment period ending June 7th was recently extended to July 22 after the government received "feedback from thousands of stakeholders, Indigenous groups, and members of the public".

The Canadian Environmental Law Association says the proposals in the discussion paper are “unjustified, regressive, and contrary to the public interest,” would reduce “public participation, transparency, and accountability,” and “would constitute the most significant rollback of federal environmental laws in recent decades.”

Particularly problematic is the proposal to hand assessment of nuclear projects over to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). Experts say nuclear projects require meaningful public participation and careful evaluation, based on evidence tested rigorously by independent experts.

The CNSC is led by industry insiders, has never turned down a license application, reports to a Minister who promotes nuclear power, and withholds information. Academic studies observe that the CNSC has features of a “captured regulator”. Public trust in the CNSC has declined over many years.

Even nuclear projects currently being reviewed by the Impact Assessment Agency--new reactor builds at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station; Peace River, Alberta; and Wesleyville, Ontario; and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s plan to transport, process, bury, and abandon high-level nuclear waste in northwestern Ontario--would be turned over to the CNSC.

Indigenous people and members of the public have invested tens of thousands of hours engaging in review processes for these projects in good faith. To hand them over to the CNSC now would erode public trust in governance structures, and create risks of accidents with catastrophic consequences.

Public interest organizations have collaborated to create a web page and backgrounders that provide more detailed information: Assessing-Nuclear-Risk.ca .

[ https://stats.sender.net/browser_previe ... lvq-1PIZTE ]

Visit smrs-info.ca to learn more . . .
The Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force is a network of groups in Canada concerned and active on the nuclear file. Together we have many decades of experience providing information to Canadians about nuclear issues, including the proposed small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). We are providing this bulletin free of charge to encourage more informed awareness of nuclear energy and its potential implications for communities across the country.

[Oscar]

BULLETIN NO. 29 - July 2026

NUCLEAR REACTOR INFORMATION TASK FORCE BULLETIN

QUOTE: "The federal government's recent announcement about a massive expansion of nuclear power will benefit no one but the nuclear and fossil fuel industries, and taxpayers will pay not only in billions of dollars but in risks to their health and safety."

Bulletin Number 29 - July 2026 - Radioactive Taxpayer Cash Cow 2026

"Critics from civil society organizations and academia are calling out the Nuclear Energy Strategy for Canada [ https://natural-resources.canada.ca/ene ... egy-canada ] released on Jun. 22 by the federal government as a cash cow for the nuclear industry. This hubris-driven attempt to grab world “energy superpower” status based on past-century technology will be accomplished without public input. The document reads like a wish list of nuclear developments, including the goal of 10 new large reactor projects in Canada by 2040.

This strategy is a gross economic mistake, dangerous for human health and security, and a diversion from urgently needed action on safer, faster and cheaper renewable energy. This benefits only the fossil fuel sector (during reactor construction) and the nuclear industry to the tune of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars - because nuclear power is by far the most expensive of all electricity sources and is unnecessary to reach net zero. [ https://www.cleanairalliance.org/a-pict ... newsletter ]

The document also promises to “streamline” the regulation of nuclear projects by removing independent oversight and speeding up approvals. This presents huge public risks when dealing with inherently dangerous technology like nuclear power.

The government is promoting the export of home-grown CANDU reactors, potentially facilitating the proliferation of nuclear weapons, as happened when Canada gifted reactor technology to India, sparking an arms race in South Asia.

The pressing issue of nuclear waste is sandwiched into the section of the strategy on massive expansion of uranium production, with false reassurances that the problem has been solved by handing management of nuclear waste over to the nuclear industry. A proposed deep geological repository [ http://www.knownuclearwaste.ca/geologic ... ories.html ] for high-level waste proposed for northwestern Ontario is assumed, despite major questions and opposition, including legal challenges. Two days after the Nuclear Strategy was released the federal government announced [ https://www.canada.ca/en/one-canadian-e ... a-act.html ] that the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s proposed DGR was a “Project of National Interest”, meaning that its approval would be guaranteed without an appropriate health, safety and environmental assessment."

Visit smrs-info.ca to learn more

The Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force is a network of groups in Canada concerned and active on the nuclear file. Together we have many decades of experience providing information to Canadians about nuclear issues, including the proposed small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). We are providing this bulletin free of charge to encourage more informed awareness of nuclear energy and its potential implications for communities across the country.

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Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
Le groupe de travail sur l'éducation relative aux PRM

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