On Sunday
January 12, 2020
As I awoke
An email account explodes.
Updates flash
Fast and furious
An unspecified nuclear incident
At Pickering Nuclear Generating Station.
As the crow flies
Distance of 20 km
From my apartment
To the reactors.
First thought
WTF....
Mental cobwebs
Slowly clear away
Leaving me
Stunned and anxious.
Two hours later
From first
To last update.
Whatever emergency
Had happened
It was too late
For panicking.
Grimly
Searching news sites
For clues.
Is this Canada's version
Of 3 Mile Island
In the 40+ year old
CANDU reactors?
This March
Marks 41 years
Partial core meltdown
Of the American nuclear site.
(CANDU reactors
Use heavy water [D2O]
And unenriched uranium.
(All US commercial models
Use enriched uranium
And light water {H2O}.)
Unlike 3 Mile Island
Pickering was human error
Transmitting internal message
Externally province-wide
During one of two
Daily tests.
Ontario seeks
Maximized profits
From aging reactors
At lifecycle's end.
What point
Is public safety worth
A few billion dollars
To the health concerns
For its citizens.
As Ontario's Solicitor General
Promises a full investigation
Into Pickering.
Never mind
Premier Ford's government
Has scrapped multiple contracts
Totalling almost $300 million (Cdn)
For wind-power generated electricity
Since June 2018.
As Ontario has
No concrete future plans
Beyond those drawn
On the back of a napkin.
Requiring years
Of research and approvals
Before the political photo op
For the groundbreaking
To whatever replaces
Pickering's reactors.
Therisa © 2020
Author’s note: Some background information links:
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