Informative Program Offers Perspective on Nuclear

Piqued public interest in nuclear energy and AECL’s CANDU^® technology is keeping AECL‘s team of speakers on the move.

In the past year, the company’s Speakers’ Program has experienced a 50 per cent boost in demand for educational presentations by AECL’s team of orators who have addressed elementary and post-secondary students, Girl Guides and even nutritionists across the country.

The primary goal of the Community Speakers’ Program is to reach out to people in local communities, take the time to answer their questions and provide them with factual information about nuclear energy and CANDU technology.

Irene Swedak, of Ontario-based Connecting All Natural Nutritionists (CANN), a networking group for holistic nutritionists, said that clients of member practitioners expect them to be well informed about a plethora of issues affecting one’s health, but often, through the media, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction.

CANN is interested in companies, like AECL, that can educate their group beyond their area of expertise, in areas that the public is curious, nervous or skeptical about, Irene said.

“Due to our reliance on electricity as a society in general and our consumption, which is increasing as the population grows, many of us are concerned about the future of power in general: Where will it come from? Who will supply it? How much will it cost? Is it safe? What about waste?” Irene said. “Nuclear power is one of the areas the public is curious and nervous about, thus it was enlightening, and relieving, to have AECL answer these questions for us in a clear, concise manner. The information provided by AECL has widened our knowledge base.”

Recent polling conducted by Ipsos-Reid on attitudes toward nuclear energy show a shift in opinion in quantifiable terms. National research shows support for nuclear is at an all-time high, and in Ontario specifically, support has increased a full 15 per cent in the last two years to 63 percent. In addition, 86 per cent of Ontarians have indicated that they prefer Canadian-made CANDU technology to foreign competitors for future nuclear developments.

For more information about the Community Speakers’ Program, or to book a speaker for your community organization or child’s school, please contact Sonja Galton at speakers@aecl.ca or call us at (905) 823-9040, ext. 6191.