Dear Editor
Re: 听SaskPower: How small modular reactors fit in the mix - April 2, 2021
Throughout this 1350-word article, SaskPower鈥檚 Darcy Holderness used the terms 鈥渟mall modular reactors鈥� and 鈥淪MRs鈥� more than a dozen time, but not once did he combine the terms into 鈥渟mall modular nuclear reactors鈥� ... which is very unfortunate.
This simple omission is common among many proponents of this latest attempt by the nuclear industry to remain relevant and a money-maker, and does nothing to alert people to Premier Moe and the Sask Party鈥檚 plans to develop untested small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) for this province.
Small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) are constructed in modules in a factory, hauled to remote settlements, dams or extraction sites under a tarp with a semi, assembled with enough fuel to generate between 50-300 MW of energy for some 20 years and produce radioactive waste which, along with the radioactive equipment, will then probably be abandoned where they sit.
All nuclear reactors - big or small - produce radioactive waste which can harm or kill life forms for hundreds of thousands of years and can never be 鈥渄isposed of.鈥澨鼺urther, there is no known location on this planet where this deadly material may be safely and sustainably stored.听It can be buried underground to risk leakage into underground waterways or dumped into an ocean (eg. Fukushima) where it can be ingested by sea life but we can never be 鈥渞id of it鈥� ... ever!
How dare we leave such an horrific mess for our grandchildren鈥檚 grandchildren.
Elaine Hughes
Archerwill
听
