Nuclear power? We'll consider it, say Albertans
Applications to build nuclear power plants should be considered individually in the same way as any other energy option, residents of the Canadian province of Alberta have told their government.
Applications to build nuclear power plants should be considered individually in the same way as any other energy option, residents of the Canadian province of Alberta have told their government.
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Forty-five percent of those polled preferred that the province should consider nuclear power plants on a case-by-case basis, while a further 19% said that the province should encourage nuclear power proposals. Only 27% said the province should oppose any proposals for nuclear power, with about 8% saying they didn't know. Health, environment and safety aspects of nuclear plants, including the handling and storage of nuclear waste, should be the focus of any government review of nuclear power plant proposals, the survey found.
"Albertans have told us that we shouldn't be closed to new generation technologies that could provide clean, low-emission power,” the province's energy minister, Mel Knight, said, noting that potential future power plant applicants would need to fully address the concerns identified through the survey. Knight promised that the province would maintain its existing policy of considering private sector power plant applications on a case-by-case basis.
"Albertans have told |
The announcement that the government of Alberta would give the same consideration to nuclear as any other power option was greeted warmly by Bruce Power, which is proposing to build up to 4000 MWe of nuclear capacity at the Whitemud site in north-west Alberta. "It's encouraging to see the door remains open for us to demonstrate we can bring value to the province and help Alberta meet its future energy needs without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions," said Bruce Power president and CEO Duncan Hawthorne. However, he noted that in the light of the changing market conditions over the past 18 months the company would need to take another look at the commercial case before making any decision to proceed further with the project.
The vast majority of Alberta's current electricity generation capacity is fossil fuelled, with a 12% share for renewables, hydro and wind and a small contribution from biomass. The north of the province is rich in oil in sandy deposits but its extraction requires a large baseload capacity. This has led to commercial interest in building a nuclear power plant, which could provide the necessary power - the capacity needed for oil sand extraction is forecast to grow from the 2003 figure of 700 MWe to 1400 MWe by 2012 and as high as 3200 MWe by 2030.