A report highlights clean air and employment as well as some of the impacts nuclear power has on the Great Lakes area.
The report was created by Bruce Power, the Provincial Building and Construction Council and the Council of the Great Lakes Region.
Bruce Power President and CEO Duncan Hawthorne says nuclear power is a necessary energy source in the battle against climate change.
“Ontario has shown it is possible to close down coal-fired generating facilities, which emit massive amounts of harmful greenhouse gases, while stimulating the economy through nuclear projects,” says Hawthorne. “This report outlines the existing benefits of nuclear energy in the Great Lakes Region and also highlights areas we can improve.”
It says the emmissions free power source annually avoids 250-million metric tonnes of Co2 in the air, which equals the removal 52-million passenger cars.
The report says the 55 nuclear reactors in the Great Lakes region employ over 80,000 skilled workers a year. And those nuclear facilities inject up to $12-billion a year into the economy through direct and indirect spending.
The paper is being released today at the Empire Club in Toronto by Former United States Senator and Governor of Indiana Evan Bayh, the co-chair of Nuclear Matters, an American organization that educates the public on the benefits of nuclear power.
Mark Fisher, [resident and CEO of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, says many of the states and provinces in the region rely on nuclear power to provide reliable and affordable baseload energy to power their homes and businesses, while improving air quality.
“Nuclear is a stable, affordable and clean source of energy which powers about 30 per cent of the Great Lakes Region,” says Fisher. “It injects billions of dollars into the regional economy and has the additional benefit of cleaning the air our families breathe. The Council of the Great Lakes Region is a great supporter of clean energy initiatives, of which nuclear is a major contributor.”
Patrick Dillon, the Business Manager and Secretary Treasurer of the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, said nuclear power is a source of thousands of jobs for its members across Ontario.
“A strong role for clean, affordable, reliable nuclear power will help sustain a highly-trained workforce and a robust, diversified economy, which is important to communities across Ontario,” says Dillon. “Our skilled tradespeople are proud to be part of an industry that injects billions of dollars into Ontario’s economy on an annual basis, while being a major contributor to our province’s clean air initiatives.”