TORONTO -
Ontario is urging Ottawa to make any "necessary changes" it needs to ensure that the atomic crisis in Japan is considered in plans for a new nuclear power station.
A federal environmental assessment started in 2006 for two new reactors at Darlington nuclear station in Clarington, Ont., about 80 kilometres east of Toronto.
Ontario Energy Minister Brad Duguid sent a letter to the federal government Friday, encouraging them to make any changes they think are necessary to ensure the new station is safe.
"I've asked that the environmental assessment be very thorough, and include consideration of the events unfolding in Japan," Duguid told The Canadian Press. "I think Ontario families can be assured that we have achieved an excellence when it comes to safety in our nuclear units, and we will continue to strive for excellence in the future."
He's also asked Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation -- which run the province's three nuclear plants -- to identify any lessons that can be learned from Japan and make recommendations on how it could be applied to Ontario's nuclear sites.
Japan has been struggling to prevent a meltdown at a nuclear power plant that was crippled by a massive earthquake and devastating tsunami a week ago.
But Duguid insists Ontario's nuclear power plants are safe and operate at the highest of standards.
Several groups, including the New Democrats, are calling for the government to postpone its plans for new reactors, or at least the public hearings that are scheduled to start next week.
But Duguid said he's not putting the brakes on new nukes.
"I don't see anything that would be accomplished by doing that, other than trying to achieve political ends for those that are trying to exploit the events that are going on in Japan right now," he said.
