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ontario hydro closures permanent watchdog economist suntribune thursday august 14 1997 p 13 marianne takacs metroland staff the shutdown of four of eight reactors at the pickering nuclear generating station will be permanent predicts a local nuclear watchdog group and thats good news said durham nuclear awareness spokesman dave martin and pickering ward 1 regional councillor maurice brenner who have been calling for the shutdown of the older a side of the power plant for several years the move to shut down the four reactors indefinitely in jan uary as part of a major overhaul of the utilitys facilities was made tuesday and hydro chair man and interim ceo william farlinger said the overhaul will not affect the rates it charges to customers in durham york or anywhere in the province the overhaul comes in the wake of an exhaustive assess ment report on hydros nuclear plants presented to the utilitys board of directors tuesday dr allan kupcis hydros president and chief executive officer resigned as a result of that report citing his responsi bility for the nuclear divisions poor performance martin speculated this is a permanent shutdown the reactors wont be re started this is a bottomline decision they decided the cost of continuing to operate these reactors is simply too much but hydro spokesman brian thompson said the intention is not to shut the reactors down permanently were going to leave them in a state where they can be started up again he said noting mea sures will be taken to keep the reactors in operating condition what you want to make sure is that systems dont degrade coun brenner said the shut down of the a side is some thing ive been working toward now for at least the last 10 years pickering as been a source of not only embarrass ment for the community but a potential safety concern in addition to the shutdown of the four pickering a reactors hydros board of directors has authorized extensive upgrades to the four remaining units at the b portion of the plant three reactors on the a side of the bruce nuclear plant are also to be shutdown and upgrades made to the remaining reactors there its expected the cost of upgrading its nuclear facilities and replacing the power they generate with electricity from its fossil fuel plants will cost hydro 5 billion to 8 billion over the next five years in addition about 2 billion worth of the utilitys assets may have to be written off no date has been set for the restarting of the pickering and bruce reactors being taken off line a hydro press release said only that there return to service will be determined by hydros board based on economic and market conditions the independent integrated performance assessment that led to the overhaul and kupcis resignation was conducted over the past six months by a team of experts brought in by carl andognini the new head of nuclear operations imported by hydro from the us to revital ize its ailing nuclear operations the iipa was brutally honest about hydros nuclear assets said andognini a hydro press release said the assessment team found its pick ering bruce and darlington nuclear stations to be minimal ly acceptable which the utility said is consistent with the rankings of nuclear plants in the united states that would be per mitted to continue operating hydro will replace the elec tricity generated by the shut down of the pickering bruce reactors by operating its exist ing fossil plants at higher levels and bringing its mothballed lennox station back into opera tion caution needed when usins net most peopte use the internet lisa cartwright staff reporter using the internet as a tool for meeting new people requires the same amount of caution and has the same amount of risk as meeting people in the traditional way said one rcmp sergeant its no different then putting an ad in the per sonal section of the newspaper you need to take the same precautions said sergeant craig hannaford of the rcmps commercial crime section supervision is required for children using the net parents should always supervise their child when he is using the net said hannaford and when their child wants to meet someone as a tool minority will abuse it they met off the net the same precautions should be taken if the child was going over to to a friends house for the first time but he stressed not everyone who uses the internet is using it for any other purpose then a learning tool the majority of internet users are using the internet for constructive purposes unfortunate ly in any circumstances a very small percentage will abuse it help from microsoft to help alleviate fears parents can purchase microsoft explorer 30 or 31 the program allows users to access a system that rates sites for violence nudity profanity and sex children cant access the sites without a valid password if the user takes out the password children cant access the sites at all warning signs of possible computer crime problems like any tool the internet has its dangers and its up to parents to see the signs and step in the following is a guide produced by the rcmp about the hidden dangers of computr- ers here are some warning signs computer addition is when a child with draws from friends family and lives on the computer he may lose interest in social activ ities a child may begin to use new and unusual vocabulary heavy with computer terms satan ic phrases or sexual reference or may become suddenly interested in hard rock or satanic-ori- ented posters and music look for related doodling or writing using of words such as hacking phreaking or any words with ph replacing the f a child may have a lack of interest m him self and his appearance he may suffer from lack of sleep other potential danger signs computer and modern running late at night even when unattended a computer files ending in gif jpg bmp tif pcx dl gl eli these are pictures or graphic image files and parents should know what they illustrate image files may be pictures of sexual nature and can be of very high quality moving and even include sound names on communications programs that seem satanic or pornographic rude or vulgar obsession with fantasy adventure games dungeons and dragons trade wars sexca- padeetc i use of computer to scan or run the tele phone or credit card numbers miimly your connection to the regions thriving business industry success monthly is a newsmagazine created to serve york regions rapidly growing business community success monthly caters to the interests and concerns of local business people decision makers and other high achievers all will find something valuable in an editorial lineup that includes sales training motivational issues presentation skills local business profiles and financial advice produced by the publishers of the markham economist sun the era banner and the liberal success monthly provides advertisers with the perfect medium to target the business and professionals market the circulation of 20000 will reach business throughout york region allowing you to get your message out at the most affordable rate and to achieve quality results our experienced advertising representatives will ensure your message effectively conveys your products or services to our readers to further your success be sure to include success monthly in your advertising plan telephone 90s 2942200 fax 905 2941538