Canada Nuclear Update

Just a week after the Ontario provincial government announced plans for new nuclear build, a national advisory group said the plan didn't go far enough:

Ontario should expand nuclear power by more than 50 per cent over the next four decades as a key part of a made-in-Canada climate change plan, a blue-ribbon national advisory group urged yesterday.

The recommendation would add more than 9,000 megawatts of electricity generation to Ontario's current installed capacity of 14,000 megawatts.

By contrast, the energy blueprint unveiled last week by the McGuinty government froze total nuclear generation in the province at 14,000 megawatts until 2025, with one or two new reactors added solely to replace old units that shut down.

Glen Murray, chairman of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, said more nuclear was necessary to meet a goal of slashing Canada's energy-related greenhouse gas emissions to 40 per cent of current levels by 2050.

This could be done despite a doubling of both Canada's population and economic activity, including massive increases in energy exports, mainly from Alberta's oil sands.

"We see nuclear power as a bridge. Some of our members didn't like the idea of more nuclear fuel waste but if we don't solve the climate change problem, a lot of other issues like that become inconsequential," he told the Toronto Star.

For a copy of the report, click here. Meanwhile, the Toronto Star is also reporting that AREVA has approached Canadian officials about purchasing Atomic Energy Canada, Ltd. (AECL).

UPDATE: AECL is calling the above report "pure speculation".

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics, Ontario, Canada, AREVA, AECL