(March 14, 2011) CBC News examines the implications of the nuclear crisis in Japan for Ontario’s nuclear sector. Energy Probe’s director of nuclear research Norm Rubin comments on the tradeoff between cost and safety in nuclear facilities.
“Whenever human beings make tradeoffs on how much money … to expend on safety they always find that there’s a point passed which they say ‘Come on, you’re going too far.’ In hindsight after an accident, those compromises often look crazy. It’s true at Pickering and it’s true at Darlington,” said Rubin.
“The Japanese weren’t expecting a magnitude 9.0 and they are the most experienced earthquake watchers in the world. We are neophytes at this.”
Energy Probe 
I saw Norm on BNN and I believe he made one error, an error that is made constantly regarding the cost of nuclear power plants. The “Debt Retirement Charge” is not a testament to the cost of building nuclear plants as much as it is a testament to the cost of subsidizing excessively low energy charges during the past few decades in order to spur economic development in Ontario. The debt was the result of a political decision to attract industry by keeping energy costs artificially low. I still remember politicians bragging about the “lowest electricity costs in North America”.
Ontario’s current “stranded hydro debt” NO LONGER contains a nuclear component. This was paid off years ago!
In 2004, Dalton McGuinty changed the mandate of the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation; the holder of the stranded debt, from being solely responsible for paying off this debt by the means provided to one of being the financier for both OPG and Hydro One.
The current debt (some 27 BILLION) is NEW debt Dalton rang up to fund the “green energy” dreams of the vested interests Dalton has abdicated governance to!
Their dreams, our NIGHTMARE!
Sean Holt!