Haldimand "Nuclear Storm brewing over Nanticoke"
This is a very interesting article from the Spectator. It does raise more than a question or two.
Nuclear storm brewing over Nanticoke
November 01, 2008 Rob Faulkner
The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 1, 2008)
Ontario does not endorse what it calls the "speculative" Bruce Power bid to build a new nuclear plant next to the Nanticoke coal-fired generating station on Lake Erie, which is to be shut down in 2014.
Ministry of Energy spokesperson Sylvia Kovesfalvi said the province is sticking to an energy strategy in which it will only invest in nuclear plants in communities where nuclear plants already exist.
Despite lobbying, Haldimand and Norfolk lost out to Darlington in Durham Region as site of a new nuclear plant announced in June. The counties even wrote Premier Dalton McGuinty for permission to do a federal environmental assessment on a Nanticoke nuclear plant.
So, it was with raised eyebrows that observers heard Bruce Power say it filed a site preparation licence with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission which, if accepted, will start a federal EA process.
"I find it puzzling as well because I understood that the province was deciding on its own sites and calling for requests for proposals," said NDP energy critic and Toronto area MPP Peter Tabuns.
"So the role of Bruce Power in all of this is murky at best," he said, noting that because Ontario owns the power lines, any plant is unable to sell power without approval.
"You don't think of a large corporation just going out and, for the fun of it, announcing that they are going to build a nuclear power plant in southwestern Ontario. These things are extraordinarily expensive," Tabuns added.
But Bruce Power president and CEO Duncan Hawthorne did say yesterday that his company cannot build a new nuclear plant without Ontario's approval. He couched it in terms of a private company weighing its options.
"Ultimately, we understand that if a plant is to be built here, there has to be agreement between ourselves and the province of Ontario," he said, adding that Bruce Power is not in talks with the province now.
He said that, as the EA raises options for plans and funding sources, talks with Ontario will occur.
The EA will take three years, construction five or six years and a plant could start to operate in 2018.
"The provincial government are the people who have to make the decision," Hawthorne said. "This is not an attempt to circumvent the provincial government."
Ontario wants to maintain its 14,000 megawatts of power from nuclear to the year 2025. With existing nuclear plants aging, they must be refurbished or replaced.
Some question the demand for any new nuclear power in Ontario, which has three plants with 16 reactors, many of which are either not operating or being refurbished.
Shawn Patrick Stensil, who works on nuclear issues for Greenpeace Canada, said the "big question" is whether Ontario should spend billions on nuclear plants it may not need. He said predicted energy demand will be affected by declines in the economy and by conservation efforts; he says renewable energy is being under-valued due to the high cost of nuclear facilities.
"It's a huge build," he said of Ontario's nuclear refurbishing plan, which he pegs at a cost of $40 billion. "In front of us, we have an opportunity to replace some of this technology with cheaper, cleaner, more socially acceptable energy choices."
rfaulkner@thespec.com
905-526-2468
Bruce Power runs eight reactors
Bruce Power is a partnership between TransCanada Corporation, BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust (BPC), an investment entity of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Cameco Corporation and two unions: the Power Workers' Union and the Society of Energy Professionals.
The consortium is Canada's only private nuclear generator and the source of 25 per cent of Ontario's electricity. It employs 3,700 people.
It operates eight nuclear reactors on two sites, located on Lake Huron between Kincardine and Port Elgin. The 2,300 acres are big enough to hold the Toronto Zoo, Canada's Wonderland, Exhibition Place, Ontario Place and the African Lion Safari.
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/459481
"You don't think of a large corporation just going out and, for the fun of it, announcing that they are going to build a nuclear power plant in southwestern Ontario. These things are extraordinarily expensive," Tabuns added.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like someone is not telling the truth. It makes no sense to me that Bruce Power would spend millions of dollars on an EA if they don't believe that it will come to be. Do we really believe Dalton McGuinty's Government? From reading your other article about the news release on Friday, the Federal Government is behind Bruce Power and Haldimand/Norfolk Councils. So can Bruce Power go ahead without approval from the Province? Can the Federal Government override the Province? It is the Federal government not the Provincial government that oversees all Nuclear Regulations.
We need a lot of answers on this issue.
Here is an article I had saved from last year. It still looks to me like Haldimand is barking up the wrong tree. But I guess Haldimand can't afford things like new schools without a Nuclear Plant. It is all about the Money!
ReplyDeleteHaldimand and Norfolk want Premier Dalton McGuinty to choose Nanticoke as the site for the province's next nuclear power plant, generating as many as 1,000 new jobs for the area.
TYLER HAMILTON
The Spectator
NANTICOKE (Mar 19, 2008)
Communities around the massive coal-fired power station here are strongly urging the Provincial government to consider the area for a new nuclear power plant.
The Nanticoke Generating Station, the largest coal-burning power plant in North America, is slated to close in 2014 as the province moves to reduce air pollution.
Both Norfolk and Haldimand counties sent letters last month to Premier Dalton McGuinty asking for the go-ahead to start an environmental assessment that would be filed, along with a formal site application, by nuclear operator Bruce Power, according to Haldimand County Mayor Marie Trainer.
"Bruce realizes the benefits of coming here," said Trainer who, according to Haldimand's letter, raised the issue with Energy Minister Gerry Phillips on Jan. 27"We're saying to the province, let them go forward."
Duncan Hawthorne, chief executive of Bruce Power, was unavailable for comment.
The province has yet to respond to either county's request. But Phillips reiterated last week that the next nuclear plant to be built in Ontario will be in a community where nuclear generation already exists. That limits locations to Clarington, home of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, and Tiverton, home of the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station.
"I'm pretty single-mindedly focused on that one plant," said Phillips, at the same time not ruling out Nanticoke as a possible site for a second plant, if needed.
He said the environmental assessments started for the Darlington and Bruce sites were filed a year ago. "We're not going to lose a year for an environmental assessment somewhere else," Phillips said.
Haldimand is still pushing for consideration. Trainer said Bruce Power, which already supplies 20 per cent of Ontario's electricity out of its existing nuclear plant, has promised to build schools that would retrain the local workforce and erect wind turbines that would complement power comingout of the plant.
She said Bruce Power is in negotiations with U.S. Steel, which acquired Stelco Inc. last August, to secure access to Stelco-owned land neighbouring the Nanticoke coal plant. Under its former ownership, the company offered 833 hectares.
Industry experts say Nanticoke is an ideal location for a nuclear plant, arguing that once the Nanticoke coal plant is closed there will be ample capacity on transmission lines, unlike the overcrowded lines around Bruce Power's current site where an "Orange Zone" prohibits the development of new renewable energy projects.
Phillips recognized those restraints. "We do not yet have a solution to some of the transmission issues around Bruce."
Informed sources say Bruce Power may be hedging its bets, quietly acknowledging that Darlington has an edge for the first build over the transmission-constrained Bruce site and that Nanticoke may be a better bet in Round 2.
Hawthorne has recently been promoting the site, telling a gathering last week in Simcoe that, "If there's a shot for Nanticoke, it's going to happen in 2008."
Another benefit of Nanticoke is that it's on Lake Erie, making for easier delivery of construction equipment and access to cooling water required for large thermal plants.
Locating a nuclear plant in Nanticoke could also bring stability to the power grid, which will be knocked out of balance once the coal plant there is closed.
The Ontario Power Authority is grappling with how to fill that hole in generation.
But Trainer said her interest is in the "billions of dollars put into the workforce."
An economic study prepared last fall by Harry Kitchen, a professor of economics at Peterborough's Trent University, concluded that a nuclear plant in Nanticoke would create roughly 1,000 full-time jobs over the next decade and inject as much as $660 million a year intothe local economy. That equates to a 16 per cent increase in economic activity in Haldimand and Norfolk.
The government appears, at least, to be preparing for the possibility of a second new nuclear plant.
Political Games. It is all about the money!
ReplyDeleteDonna please let us know if and when a petition against this Nuclear plant is going around. I would like to put my signature on it. The sooner the better
ReplyDeleteWhooee! Provincial governments come and go. Bruce knows dang well that there will be anew government in Ontariariario before the shovels go in the ground. Even a more pliable minister than Smitherman could be all Bruce needs.
ReplyDeleteBruce also sez it won't go into anything but a willing host community. Our local councils had no business intimating that Norfolk and Haldimand are willing and eager. They've done zero consultation with the residents and have been played like fiddles by Bruce's well-oiled publicity and disinformation campaign.
Not clean. Not safe. Not affordable.
Not clean. Contaminated uranium mine tailings. Carbon-intensive uranium mining methods. Long haul transportation of ore from Sasky to Port Hopeless. Then, there's the spent fuel issue...
Not safe. Leaks in Port Hope and Chalk River are contaminating our precious environment right now. Radioactive nuclear waste must be stored in secure facilities for thousands of years. What government has lasted that long? Who is going to guard this stuff from terrorists of miscreants when our great grandchildren are cursing us in our graves?
Not affordable. Simple loss of opportunity is a huge factor. we could have hundreds of farms, solar farms and small-scale hydroelectric generation in place and delivering power before a new nuclear plant could be half-built. The price of uranium has gone up by 700% since 2001. It will continue to rise as easy-to-find ore is used up. Harder-to-find ore will also impact the dirtiness of the mining operations.
Just say no.
JimBobby
Couple of typos:
ReplyDeleteShould be "terrorists OR miscreants" and "hundreds of WIND farms".
JB
But Bruce Power president and CEO Duncan Hawthorne did say yesterday that his company cannot build a new nuclear plant without Ontario's approval. He couched it in terms of a private company weighing its options.
ReplyDelete"Ultimately, we understand that if a plant is to be built here, there has to be agreement between ourselves and the province of Ontario," he said, adding that Bruce Power is not in talks with the province now.
The above statement is a bunch of BS, something is not right. Why would Bruce Power spend upwards of "30 million" dollars on an EA, when they need the Province.
The Province or Bruce Power is not telling the truth.
Thanks everyone for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI find it very puzzling that the Province does not endorse this venture. It seems that this project cannot proceed with out their approval. So what is really going on here?
I agree with the above poster that it seems to be a waste of around 30million dollars on the part of Bruce Power if right from the get go the Province is not on their side.
So where is the Truth?