Invitation and Notice: June 15 Uranium public consultation in Saskatoon On Monday evening, June 15 you have a chance to make your voice heard on the uranium and nuclear issue. The Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) public consultation for Saskatoon is scheduled for 7:00 at the Travelodge Hotel, which is located at 106 Circle Drive West. Please come out on Monday and be part of history as we work to stop our province from heading down the nuclear path. We create our future. Let’s create a healthy future for our kids, and the generations that come after them. If you haven’t heard of the Uranium Development Partnership (the UDP) yet, here are a few details: • The Saskatchewan government formed the UDP to lay out a plan for expanding the uranium mining industry and the nuclear power industry in Saskatchewan • The UDP is made up of supporters of nuclear power and uranium mining such as: • Duncan Hawthorne - CEO of Bruce Power (nuclear power company) • Armand Laferrere - CEO of Areva (uranium mining company) • Jerry Grandey - CEO of Cameco (uranium mining company) • Neil Collins – former SaskPower employee and board member, now representative for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2067, who have signed a deal with Bruce Power to provide workers for any nuclear power plants built in Saskatchewan in return for promoting the Bruce Power plan. • Patrick Moore – paid lobbyist for the nuclear industry who uses his former involvement with Greenpeace to paint himself as an environmental activist The UDP has recommended that the Saskatchewan government take the following actions by providing investment dollars and regulatory changes: 1. Build a nuclear reactor in Saskatchewan 2. Support Saskatchewan as the location for a nuclear waste storage site (if a “willing community” is found) 3. Expand uranium mining 4. Expand uranium exploration 5. Consider developing a centre for nuclear research at a Saskatchewan university (UofS) 6. Explore the possibility of enriching uranium in Saskatchewan (a process that is currently only done in countries that possess nuclear weapons because it creates the fuel used in making nuclear weapons) From the consultations in other Saskatchewan communities to date, it is becoming apparent that people have great concerns about the recommendations and the UDP process. Here are some common concerns: 1. The UDP didn’t ask whether we should develop the uranium and nuclear industries, they only asked how to best develop them 2. The UDP did not explore alternative means of meeting our electricity demand including: wind and solar, biomass, cogeneration, and energy conservation 3. The UDP is made up of individuals that stand to gain from the development of uranium mining, enrichment, and nuclear energy generation 4. The UDP did not pay enough attention to the health impacts of uranium mining, uranium enrichment and nuclear power plants 5. There is no known way to safely store the radioactive waste that mining, enrichment and power production create, and this waste remains radioactive for 100s of years (for low level wastes) and millions of years (for high level wastes) 6. Nuclear power plants are often very expensive to build and put the countries or provinces that build them into deep debt. 7. If we build nuclear we write off the opportunity to develop a renewable energy electricity system. ( Information on all these points is available on the website at www.cleangreensask.ca ) Some people have stated that they feel the development of nuclear in Saskatchewan is a “done deal” and that the consultations are set up just as a way for people to blow off steam about uranium mining, enrichment and nuclear. If enough of us state our thoughts on this issue we can show the government that we do not support the recommendations. Instead we can ask the government to conduct an alternative study to explore the ways that renewables and energy conservation can meet our electricity needs. We can also ask the government to phase out uranium mining, and find replacement jobs for the 3000 workers in that industry. Lastly, we can tell the government that we do not want to be the nuclear waste dump for Canada or the world. Please come out on Monday and be part of history as we work to stop our province from heading down the nuclear path. We create our future. Let’s create a healthy future for our kids, and the generations that come after them. For more information on the UDP process, and to read the UDP report please visit: www.saskuranium.ca Please send this along to friends and colleagues, and if you have some time, please phone people who do not use the internet to let them know about Monday night.