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M.V. Ramana and Susan O’Donnell

M.V. Ramana is the Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security and professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, and the author of The Power of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy in India. Susan O'Donnell is the primary investigator of the RAVEN project at the University of New Brunswick, a member of the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick, and an adjunct research professor in the Environment and Society program at St. Thomas University.

Big costs sink flagship nuclear project and will sink future small modular reactor projects, too

  • Adverse economics killed the flagship NuScale SMR project. There is no reason to believe the costs of SMR designs proposed in Canada will be
Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | November 23, 2023
Canada’s support is puzzling when considering other official statements about nuclear energy. In 2021, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, seen here, said that nuclear power must compete with renewable energy in the market, write Susan O'Donnell and M.V. Ramana. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Big costs sink flagship nuclear project and will sink future small modular reactor projects, too

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | November 23, 2023
  • Adverse economics killed the flagship NuScale SMR project. There is no reason to believe the costs of SMR designs proposed in Canada will be

Big costs sink flagship nuclear project and will sink future small modular reactor projects, too

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | November 23, 2023
  • Adverse economics killed the flagship NuScale SMR project. There is no reason to believe the costs of SMR designs proposed in Canada will be
Canada’s support is puzzling when considering other official statements about nuclear energy. In 2021, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, seen here, said that nuclear power must compete with renewable energy in the market, write Susan O'Donnell and M.V. Ramana. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Wishful thinking about nuclear energy won’t get us to net zero

  • The climate problem is too serious to engage in unrealistic modelling exercises. Wishful thinking about nuclear energy will only thwart our ability to act
Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | July 3, 2023
Then-minister of natural resources Seamus O'Regan speaks at the Canadian Nuclear Association's annual conference in Ottawa in Feb. 2020. Underlying O'Regan's 2020 statement that there is 'no path to net-zero without nuclear' is wishful thinking about the economics of nuclear energy, write M.V. Ramana and Susan O'Donnell. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Wishful thinking about nuclear energy won’t get us to net zero

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | July 3, 2023
  • The climate problem is too serious to engage in unrealistic modelling exercises. Wishful thinking about nuclear energy will only thwart our ability to act

Wishful thinking about nuclear energy won’t get us to net zero

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | July 3, 2023
  • The climate problem is too serious to engage in unrealistic modelling exercises. Wishful thinking about nuclear energy will only thwart our ability to act
Then-minister of natural resources Seamus O'Regan speaks at the Canadian Nuclear Association's annual conference in Ottawa in Feb. 2020. Underlying O'Regan's 2020 statement that there is 'no path to net-zero without nuclear' is wishful thinking about the economics of nuclear energy, write M.V. Ramana and Susan O'Donnell. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Shouldn’t a new and experimental reactor deserve a federal impact assessment?

  • These risks are all new to Canada. No sodium-cooled reactor has ever been built here.
Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | January 12, 2023
Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault's stance on small modular nuclear reactors favours the nuclear industry, and weakens oversight of an untested and risky technology, write Susan O'Donnell and M.V. Ramana. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Shouldn’t a new and experimental reactor deserve a federal impact assessment?

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | January 12, 2023
  • These risks are all new to Canada. No sodium-cooled reactor has ever been built here.

Shouldn’t a new and experimental reactor deserve a federal impact assessment?

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | January 12, 2023
  • These risks are all new to Canada. No sodium-cooled reactor has ever been built here.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault's stance on small modular nuclear reactors favours the nuclear industry, and weakens oversight of an untested and risky technology, write Susan O'Donnell and M.V. Ramana. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Plutonium is plutonium, period, and separating it increases nuclear proliferation risks 

  • Canada's support for the nuclear industry's plan to extract plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and export the technology will create a new global security
Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | December 1, 2022
Canada's federal Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, pictured recently in a scrum on the Hill. We are against the government's support for the nuclear industry's plan to extract plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and export the technology, write M.V. Ramana and Susan O'Donnell. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Plutonium is plutonium, period, and separating it increases nuclear proliferation risks 

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | December 1, 2022
  • Canada's support for the nuclear industry's plan to extract plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and export the technology will create a new global security

Plutonium is plutonium, period, and separating it increases nuclear proliferation risks 

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | December 1, 2022
  • Canada's support for the nuclear industry's plan to extract plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and export the technology will create a new global security
Canada's federal Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, pictured recently in a scrum on the Hill. We are against the government's support for the nuclear industry's plan to extract plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and export the technology, write M.V. Ramana and Susan O'Donnell. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Will expanding Canada’s plutonium interests support the peaceful use of nuclear energy?

  • Small modular reactors are not going to solve these problems. On the contrary, adding plutonium separation to the Canadian nuclear industry's repertoire will create
Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | November 10, 2022
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, pictured on the Hill, addressed an international conference in Washington, D.C., on nuclear power on Oct. 26. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Will expanding Canada’s plutonium interests support the peaceful use of nuclear energy?

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | November 10, 2022
  • Small modular reactors are not going to solve these problems. On the contrary, adding plutonium separation to the Canadian nuclear industry's repertoire will create

Will expanding Canada’s plutonium interests support the peaceful use of nuclear energy?

Opinion | BY M.V. RAMANA AND SUSAN O’DONNELL | November 10, 2022
  • Small modular reactors are not going to solve these problems. On the contrary, adding plutonium separation to the Canadian nuclear industry's repertoire will create
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, pictured on the Hill, addressed an international conference in Washington, D.C., on nuclear power on Oct. 26. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
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