Nuclear

Nuclear energy is not a fossil fuel, but it is by nature a depletable source with significant environmental liability and therefore cannot be considered a renewable energy source.

Nova Scotia has no nuclear energy generating plants. Expense in commissioning a new plant should prohibit this option as a possibility. Nuclear energy is not sustainable. It is inherently depleting and will suffer the same long-term results as fossil fuels in insecurity of supply, price volatility, and in environmental and health costs. The one advantage it offers over the fossil fuels is its reduced global warming potential at the site of generation. This apparent advantage is somewhat deceptive, as there are considerable greenhouse gas emissions associated with extraction of uranium. The advantage gained is not worth the costs and liabilities associated with this option.

Canada’s pre-eminent environmental scientist, David Suzuki sums up the problems with nuclear energy concisely:
Whatever benefits nuclear technology may provide through decreased air pollutants are more than made up for by large and unresolved environmental problems. As of 2000, Canada has 35,000 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste, with nowhere to put it. With a radioactive half-life of 25,000 years, nuclear waste remains dangerous for 250,000 years.

As well, mining uranium for nuclear power is extremely energy-intensive, meaning that nuclear power is in fact a considerable source of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, routine releases and accidental spills of contaminated water from mining operations have poisoned major fisheries and threatened the health of local communities.

There are many safety issues surrounding nuclear power, especially as power plants age.
Nuclear plants routinely emit radioactive material, imposing cancer risks on its workers, their children, and people in surrounding communities. Power plants can also leak other hazardous materials. For example, Pickering reactor #4 had a heavy water leak in April 1996 that released radioactive tritium into Lake Ontario, contaminating drinking water supplies.
from: David Suzuki Foundation, “Energy: Nuclear”, 2007.