I have found that the Canadians call all thier electric power "hydro". The
term is probably rooted in the early use of the Niagara escarpment for
actual hydo-electric power. But, IMHO it definately puts "Clean Spin" on
thier NOW heavy use of Nuclear power.
To Americans, It seems inherent that Canadian water is pure. Hydro says
"water" = pure.
When in reality Canada runs a goodly risk of contaminating the Great Lakes.
Fact: Canada has a huge nuke plant north of Kincardine Ont. on the Bruce
Penninsula.
Fact: Canada's largest Oil terminal and Refinery is on the St Mary's River
in Sarnia Ont.
Fact: The Canadians have a network of gas wells "under" their side of Lake
Erie - east of Long Point. The wells actually break the surface of Lake
Erie with White and Orange pipes about the size of Canadian Spar Bouys.
Occasionally these gas wells are struck by ships & boats (coming in or out
of the Welland Canal)during storms - and they do leak (I Monitored such a
leak being checked out by the Canadian Coast Guard on Marine VHF July
1-3,1998, while at Sugarloaf Harbor in Port Colbourne.)
To me, all of these are higher risks for water pollution throughout the
Great Lakes Area.
Yet, Canadians keep blasting the USA for Coal use causing acid rain.
I guess its all in the way the wind blows, and who is monitoring the leaks,
spills and resource quality.
OTOH, I wonder how many computerised process controllers were/are used in
Power generation. I had seen an internet report on the Perry Nuclear
Plant(Port Clinton, Ohio,USA) recommending taking a microVAX offline for Y2K
compliance sake. Ironic, I found this list while searching on MicroVAX as
well.
Sincerely
Larry Truthan
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Merchberger [mailto:zmerch_at_30below.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 1999 10:28 PM
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
Subject: Re: [OT] They're restarting Chernobyl?
... Charles E. Fox may have mentioned these words:
> Here in Windsor, Ontario, we have some of the worst air in Canada.
Most of
>it comes from Michigan and Ohio on the westerly winds.
>
(Snip)
Here in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan we have the worst air in the U.P. of
Michigan. It all comes from Sault, Ontario thanks to Algoma Steel,
Abitibi-Price Paper & the northern winds to bring it all across.
Thankfully, we've had hydro-based power (water-spun turbines - great for
alleving those Y2K fears... ;-) since before 1900 - The Canadians finally
built a hydro plant a few years ago, too.
...If most parts of Canada are powered by non-hydro-based means, why do
you call it a "hydro bill?" I always wondered that...
--
Received on Wed Dec 01 1999 - 09:08:40 GMT