Pedersen Urges NDP Caucus to Vote Against Nuclear Motion

[Oscar]

Pedersen Urges NDP Caucus to Vote Against Nuclear Motion

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 30, 2009

Yens Pedersen urged the Saskatchewan NDP MLAs to vote against a motion by the Saskatchewan Party government to consider “further value-added development of Saskatchewan’s uranium industry including nuclear power generation.”

Pedersen said the motion is clearly designed to manufacture consent for the government's biased Uranium Development Partnership.

Pedersen noted that the NDP needs to take a clear stand on sustainability and uranium development or risk alienating thousands of people in Saskatchewan.

“This is not some innocuous statement about ‘considering’ options – it is a slanted and one-sided motion and supporting it could cause thousands of Saskatchewan people to 'consider' supporting the Green Party.”

According to Pedersen, the real question should not be how to develop value-added opportunities in the uranium industry, “it’s about finding the best options for power generation and economic development for our citizens that do not leave a legacy of debt, environmental damage and health concerns.”

“When you are using other people's money, you have to look at the track record of the industry, you have to look at the economic costs, the environmental and societal risks, and you have to weigh other options.

When you do that, you see that renewable energy provides better economic development, more stable and long-lasting employment, and cleaner, safer, simpler energy.”

Pedersen stated. “Those who say we can’t do renewable energy must have a hidden agenda or must not be aware that other places in the world are already doing it.”

Pedersen stated that all stages of uranium processing create long-term waste problems for generations.

The nuclear industry has yet to build a permanent waste storage facility anywhere in the world, that is guaranteed to be safe for the thousands of years required.

“We cannot pretend that we don't understand the long-term consequences of uranium development.

We know about the heavy metals, the radioactivity, the water contamination, the health consequences and the economic costs.

All that we can say is that we don't fully understand the long-term consequences because in some cases we have underestimated the costs or health effects.” Pedersen noted.

“If it's such a good idea to have a reactor, or a conversion facility, or a refinery or a reprocessing facility then why don't we build it right here in downtown Saskatoon?

Saskatoon is looking for opportunities to develop its riverbank - if it's so safe, why not right here?

Or maybe we could put it in Wascana Park across from the legislature in Regina.

I thought we might have learned our lesson from the North Battleford water inquiry about what we do with our water supply.

You can't filter out or treat radioactivity out of our drinking water.”

“Who will benefit? This is about making a Faustian bargain to enrich a few people today – the concrete companies, the oil companies, the uranium companies, the very large construction companies.

The jobs are short-lived, and their profits don't stay in Saskatchewan.”

What the people of Saskatchewan would get is the massive price-tag to deal with decommissioning, waste storage and cancer.

“It's a myth to talk about ‘clean-up’ costs in the case of heavy metals and radioactivity – we can't clean it up, we can’t neutralize it - all we can do is hide it or move it.”

“The Sask Party should tell the truth.

This isn’t about value-adding opportunities. It is about producing dirty oil.

Building a reactor would be one of the largest cases of welfare fraud perpetrated on the people of Saskatchewan.”

The in situ extraction of bitumen and conversion of bitumen to oil is extremely energy intensive.

“The costs to Saskatchewan taxpayers to add a nuclear reactor would be a massive public subsidy for out of province shareholders.

No one invests in nuclear power, or any other stage of uranium processing unless there are massive government subsidies.”

Pedersen is running to be the next leader of the Saskatchewan NDP.

The 36 year old from Regina was in Saskatoon campaigning.

He urged those in attendance to visit his website at www.yes2yens.com and to become members of the NDP and support his leadership bid.

The Saskatchewan Party's motion was made by Jeremy Harrison and reads “that the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan supports the consideration of further value-added development of Saskatchewan’s uranium industry including nuclear power generation and recognizes the potential benefits to the growth and prosperity of the people of our province.”

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For more information contact:

Yens Pedersen
Phone: (306) 540-3111
Email: yens@yes2yens.com
Web: www.yes2yens.com