NEI Nuclear Notes

Alberta doesn’t care about nuclear energy; it doesn’t care at all. But if someone has a plant they might like to put up… "We're not in the debate on one side or the other that the nuclear energy industry needs to be supported or needs to face a moratorium," said Mel Knight, minister of energy. "We are not proponents of nuclear energy, we're not working with any company to build a nuclear energy (facility), what we are saying is 'we need power' and proponents who want to build in the system in Alberta are welcome to do so. What we're doing here is saying we don't choose fuel source." This elaborate indifference is somewhat poll-driven : The key findings of the report, said Knight, was that 45 per cent of those polled preferred that proposed nuclear developments be considered on a case-by-case basis. Nineteen per cent said the province should encourage nuclear proposals and about 27 per cent said the province should oppose nuclea...

We've noted Ontario's interest in nuclear energy and now Alberta  takes a crack at it (courtesy of The Prairie Post ): The debate about nuclear energy and whether it will have a future in Alberta has officially begun as Bruce Power Alberta begins the planning to build the first nuclear power plant in western Canada and the Alberta government appoints a committee to research whether nuclear energy should be pursued in the province. That sounds like two stories, doesn't it, since Bruce Power is not going to get very far if the government research goes against it. Here's what Bruce Power has in mind: Bruce Power, based in Ontario, purchased the assets of Energy Alberta Corporation and in March filed an application with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to prepare a site for the potential construction of the plant on Lac Cardinal near Peace River. Peace River sounds kind of nice, but Bruce Power! Are all the boys in Canada named Bruce (who are not nam...

Meet Mike Otto at the University of Alberta.

In response to news that Energy Alberta plans to build a twin-CANDU plant, the London Free-Press (Ontario) had this to say: As concerns about global warming rise to fever pitch, a full-flung debate on the role of nuclear energy in reducing CO2 emissions -- and fears about safety -- is essential. You'd think the green movement, which led the charge to reduce CO2 emissions, would welcome such an opportunity. Instead, they've responded to an application to build a $6.2 billion nuclear power plant in northern Alberta with the usual booga-booga rhetoric that unfortunately clings to the development of nuclear energy in Canada. The half-truths and dubious scientific claims by these groups lead one to believe they do their research by watching the Simpsons. Ouch!

From Reuters : Energy Alberta Corp. said on Monday it filed an application with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to build a nuclear power plant in Alberta that aims to be in service within 10 years. The Calgary, Alberta-based company said its application is for two twin-unit ACR-1000 advanced Candu reactors just west of Peace River in northern Alberta. "This is an historic moment for Canada, for Alberta and for the nuclear power industry," Wayne Henuset, Energy Alberta's chief executive, said. "We are proud to be pioneers in bringing the benefits of clean, safe, reliable nuclear power to Alberta." Energy Alberta, which teamed with state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd, said it would first build one twin-unit reactor that could produce 2,200 megawatts of electricity by early 2017. Congrats to the teams at Energy Alberta and AECL on taking the first step in this process.

Details from CBC .

Updates from the Calgary Sun and the Whitecourt Star .

Looks like this is an idea with some staying power: Another multinational oil company is investigating the use of nuclear energy to extract petroleum from Alberta's oil sands. This time, the name involved is Royal Dutch Shell .

Following up on a story from last week , local ruling party officials in Alberta have endorsed the studying the idea of using nuclear energy to help extract oil from the province's oilsands region. Details from the CBC . For more, visit Oil Week .

We've talked about this before, but now the provincial government of Alberta is considering a policy resolution on whether to use nuclear energy in its oilsands region .