Ontarians, be proud of nuclear industry

Re OPG must buck trend to deliver megaproject

on time and on budget, Oct. 11. As a retired Ontario Power Generation (OPG) control room operator at the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, I take exception to Brady Yauch’s statement that “Pickering remains one of the worst-performing reactors in North America.”

I hate to confuse the issue with facts. However, if he was to research that statement he would discover that the lifetime capacity factor — the percentage of actual electricity produced compared to what could possibly have been produced at full capacity — for Pickering Units 5-8 is greater than 76 per cent. Not bad at all for 38-year-old reactors. Combine that with a stellar safety record and Ontarians can be very proud of the top-quartile, world-class performance of their nuclear industry.

For Energy Probe to suggest otherwise is a disservice to us all. Steven Clift, Whitby, Ont.