In the early 1970s, Energy Probe saw nuclear power as a relatively clean and economic alternative to coal, then a highly polluting form of electrical generation. Energy Probe became anti-nuclear in 1974, after producing a report – the first of its kind — showing nuclear power to be uneconomic. More recently, we produced a report in 2006 that demonstrated that nuclear energy was responsible for 12% of the Canadian Federal Government’s debt.
Since Energy Probe adopted its anti-nuclear position in the 1970s, hundreds of nuclear plants that were on Canada’s drawing boards have been cancelled and no new nuclear plants have been completed. Energy Probe has also been successful in stopping the export of Canada’s Candu nuclear reactors, most of which have been sought by states with nuclear weapons aspirations – the Candu design lends itself to surreptitious diversion of spent fuel suitable for reprocessing into weapons grade material.
For more on Energy Probe’s history with nuclear power issues, please refer to Our Accomplishments.
Energy Probe 