Sierra Club of Canada Media Release
For release Thursday, November 6, 1997
Ottawa -- Environment groups today were outraged by the federal government's
response to questions raised in connection with the leak of a confidential
cabinet document concerning CANDU exports to Turkey. The document a "Record
of Cabinet Decision" from a meeting held on April 24, 1997 indicates
that cabinet:
- Approved up to $1.5 billion in financing, should the sale of two CANDU
6 reactors to Turkey proceed.
- Discussed means by which the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA)
could be circumvented including undertaking a secret "shadow"
assessment.
- Discussed the Sierra Club of Canada legal challenge to the sale of CANDU
reactors to China. The document notes that the Department of Justice advised
the government that "its case is not strong and that the Federal Court
may well rule in favour of the Sierra Club."
During the House of Commons Question Period yesterday, Prime Minister Jean
Chrétien, Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale and other Ministers
defended the government's position on CANDU exports. Prime Minister Chrétien
claimed that all information concerning the export of CANDU reactors to
China was publicly available. Minister of Natural Resources, Ralph Goodale
repeatedly claimed that Atomic Energy of Canada Limited conducts "environmental
analysis" on all of its projects.
Responding to these assertions, Elizabeth May of the Sierra Club of Canada
stated that, "the Prime Minister's statements regarding the availability
of information on CANDU exports are simply untrue. None of the key documents
relating to the sale of CANDU reactors to China are publicly available,
despite protracted legal efforts over the last six months." She also
noted that the claim that AECL conducts environmental analysis is both
inaccurate and irrelevant to the requirements of the CEAA. "AECL has
already contradicted Goodale's claim that they undertake environmental
analysis on their projects. Furthermore, the findings of the Marbek Report
(undertaken prior to the sale of CANDU reactors to China) clearly indicated
that materials that had been gathered from AECL for the purposes of review
were insufficient to fulfil the requirements of a preliminary screening."
As reported in the press in August, the Marbek Report was commissioned
by the government to assess environmental impacts related to the construction
of CANDU reactors in China. The report found that further environmental
studies were required in order to undertake a preliminary screening. In
spite of the report's findings (and the requirements of the CEAA) the government
went ahead with the CANDU sale to China.
May added that, "the commitment of the Chrétien government
to overseas nuclear sales -- at all costs -- is breathtaking. Knowing that
they very well may be breaking the law again, they are still prepared to
risk $1.5 billion to do a deal with Turkey."
Kristen Ostling of the Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout noted that "the
Natural Resources Minister's assertions as well as the Prime Minister's
claims that CANDU reactors are safe and offer a solution to climate change
are simply unfounded. Not only are CANDU reactors plagued with safety and
nuclear waste problems that won't go away, studies have shown that every
dollar invested in renewable energy displaces seven times as much in the
way of CO2 emissions as the same dollar invested in nuclear power."
- 30 -
For more information:
Sierra Club of Canada, (613) 241-4611
Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout, (613) 789-3634,
David Martin, Nuclear Awareness Project, (905) 852-0571