With the Ontario government exploring the potential of building the world’s largest nuclear power plant in Wesleyville, Port Hope residents are being invited to attend an upcoming discussion on past, present, and future nuclear issues.
The volunteer group Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee (PHCHCC) is sponsoring an upcoming public meeting on topics related to nuclear power in the Municipality of Port Hope.
The discussion runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 21 in room number 3 of the Port Hope Recreation Centre at 62 McCaul Street in Port Hope.
Residents of Port Hope have been living with a variety of radioactive and other toxic contaminants in their immediate environment since the 1930s, which is why the PHCHCC was formed in 1994 as an incorporated non-profit organization of current and former residents.
The committee’s upcoming meeting is the third in a series of discussions. The session features guest speakers from the Ontario Clean Air Alliance — board chair Jack Gibbons and director Angela Bischoff — to discuss the report “Port Hope’s Electricity Future – Why building the world’s largest nuclear station in Port Hope is the worst way to meet our energy needs.”
The Ontario Clean Air Alliance report is in reaction to the Ontario government’s announcement in January 2025 that it is exploring the potential of building a nuclear power plant in Wesleyville.
“This is an incredibly ineffective — and costly — way to meet our electricity needs,” reads a statement on the Ontario Clean Air Alliance website. “Our new report finds that wind and solar power could provide the same amount of power while saving us $6.2 to $19.3 billion per year in electricity costs.”
The location of the proposed new plant is on the site of an oil-fired power generation station whose construction was abandoned in 1979 and that has since been maintained by Ontario Power Generation (OPG).
Following the Ontario government’s announcement, OPG opened a “nuclear discovery centre” at 115 Toronto Road in Port Hope earlier in the fall that features education exhibits on nuclear power and information on the proposed Wesleyville project.
During the January 21 PHCHCC meeting, attendees can participate in a question-and-answer session following the presentations. PHCHCC chair Faye More will also provide an update on the committee’s activities.
“After the meeting, the (PHCHCC) will continue to do what we have been doing for many years as volunteers, which is to bring forward concerns, requests, and recommendations to those with the power and responsibility to put the welfare of people first,” More earlier told kawarthaNOW.
PHCHCC intends to present information it gathers to various stakeholders, including the prime minister and federal cabinet, the premier of Ontario, leaders of the provincial parties, political representatives at all levels, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and the auditor general of Canada.
In relation to residents of Port Hope living with harmful toxicants for years, there’s a national public inquiry starting with Port Hope into the management of radioactive wastes in Canada.
PHCHCC’s goal is to share concerns relating to health and environmental impacts of the contaminants from two nuclear industries operating in the community, as well as the presence of 1.9 million cubic metres of radioactive and heavy metal wastes in more than 1,300 locations within the town.
Port Hope has the largest volume of historic low-level radioactive wastes in Canada, produced between 1933 and 1988 from uranium and radium refining operations of former Crown corporation Eldorado Nuclear Ltd. In 1988, both Eldorado and another Crown corporation, Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation, were merged and privatized as the Canadian Mining and Energy Corporation (now known as Cameco Corporation).
In 2001, the Government of Canada and the municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington signed a legal agreement known as the Port Hope Area Initiative to clean up the radioactive waste in both communities.
In 2012, the federal government committed spending $1.28 billion on what was originally a 10-year initiative, increasing the amount in 2022 to $2.6 billion to carry the initiative through to completion, including long-term monitoring.
For more information on the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee, visit www.porthopehealthconcerns.com.
