Home > Issues > Ontario Demolishes a Coal Plant (but ramps up Nuclear)

Ontario Demolishes a Coal Plant
(but ramps up Nuclear)

Description of video: Controlled implosion of the Lakeview
Generating Station smokestacks outside of Toronto on June 12,
2006 (the remaining parts of the station were demolished a year
later, on June 28, 2007). With a capacity of 2,400 megawatts the
station was once the largest coal-fired station in the world.

While the Ontario government has announced its intention to move away from coal generated electricity, they have opted to invest billions in the construction and refurbishment of nuclear power plants. The track record of nuclear power is clear - not efficient, plagued with cost overruns, not safe, not clean and a continual drain on the public purse (virtually all of Ontario Hydro’s stranded debt of $22 billion can be attributed to nuclear power costs).

In moving away from coal, the Ontario government would do better to spend the billions earmarked for nuclear on renewable energy technologies, conservation and demand-side management. If the investment that has been made to date in nuclear had instead been directed to sustainable technologies, Ontario could have become a world leader in renewable energy, rather than the small player it is today.