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Former U.S. senator and governor of Indiana Evan Bayh was in Oakville today, talking about nuclear energy and why Canada should use it. Bayh visited the new Laker Energy Products plant, where they’re expanding to service both domestic and international nuclear markets.

Earlier, he was speaking to politicians of all stripes at an event hosted by the Empire Club of Canada, which invited the former senator to Toronto because of his expert knowledge on the nuclear industry. Bayh is part of the Great Lakes States Commission that’s studying how using nuclear power would be beneficial to the environment.

Club president Gordon McIvor also hoped Bayh could alleviate the fears associated with using nuclear power. “We want to look at different energy forms for the future of Ontario, and I think there’s an increasing appetite to look at alternatives to fossil fuels; to try and respect the longer-term goals, not only of the international community but of Canada as well.”

“We have all agreed that by the end of this century we probably will be using no fossil fuels, or very, very few; so what’s going to replace those? As far as nuclear is concerned, it’s partly an educational process.”

The club heard about how nuclear energy does have its environmental challenges, and that dealing with nuclear waste takes serious planning.