Energy Probe

Canada's nuclear industry just turned 50 years old — so why is it still living in Mom and Dad's basement?

Proponents of nuclear power often champion France’s nationally-celebrated plutonium recycling (aka “reprocessing”) program as proof that nuclear power is both clean, and renewable. But the reprocessing program is far from perfect -- in fact, it’s just as problematic as nuclear energy itself.

First off, nobody's made the reprocessing process close to cost-effective -- even when the price of uranium spiked up a year or so ago. And it tends to be one of the more messy, hazardous and polluting parts of the so-called "fuel cycle".

C.D Howe’s recent report “Canada’s Nuclear Crossroads: Steps to a Viable Nuclear Industry” is riddled with skewed statistics and flawed logic. The report is certainly not helpful, and it's also not impressive -- though people who are automatically impressed by "C.D. Howe Institute" (and that's probably a lot of people) will be impressed.

Here's the biggest zinger in the study's first 5 pages: