"Ban Plutonium Reprocessing in Canada"

Plutonium reprocessing – extracting plutonium from used nuclear fuel – was informally banned in Canada in the 1970s because of concerns about nuclear weapons proliferation. Now the nuclear lobby is pushing hard to include plutonium reprocessing in Canada’s new radioactive waste management policy. The industry is claiming that plutonium reprocessing is necessary for small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) to fight climate change.

The new nuclear fuel lab at Chalk River in Ontario is planning plutonium reprocessing research, and the SMRs planned for New Brunswick on the Bay of Fundy propose plutonium reprocessing as part of their designs. Plutonium reprocessing is a dirty, dangerous distraction from real climate action, a ridiculously expensive process that creates difficult new radioactive waste problems and nuclear weapons proliferation risks. The Ban Plutonium Reprocessing in Canada webinar, organized by Nuclear Waste Watch with more than a dozen co-sponsors, features three expert speakers.

Register HERE for the Ban Plutonium Reprocessing in Canada webinar, Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7pm Eastern.

Speakers:

Ray Acheson is Director of Reaching Critical Will, the disarmament program of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and a member of the steering group of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.

M.V. Ramana is the Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security and professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, and a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials.

Joshua Frank is an environmental journalist and author of “Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America” (Haymarket Books, October 2022)

Moderator: Theresa McClenaghan, Executive Director of the Canadian Environmental Law Association.

Hosted by Nuclear Waste Watch and co-sponsored by: Beyond Nuclear • Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility • Canadian Environmental Law Association • Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick • Conservation Council of New Brunswick • David Suzuki Foundation • Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Cooperative • International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War – Canada • Northwatch • Ontario Clean Air Alliance • Regroupement des organismes environnementaux en énergie • Science for Peace • Sierra Club Canada Foundation • Voice of Women for Peace.

Nuclear Waste Watch and partners are leading the Ban Plutonium Reprocessing in Canada campaign: reprocessing.ca

Register HERE for the Ban Plutonium Reprocessing in Canada webinar, Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7pm Eastern.

Thank you.

Susan

CRED-NB