RC113 JulyAugust 2024 - Magazine - Page 12
Bruce Power, in Tiverton, Ont. is currently carrying out a $13-billion refurbishment
program on all eight of its reactor units, with completion of the project estimated
for 2033.
The Government of Ontario is working with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to
build four small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Darlington nuclear site.
Which would then be operational by 2029. So that is far and away the
furthest along of any utility company in the Western world.”
Dykxhoorn is also quick to tie OPG’s e昀昀orts in with what she
describes as “the climate change bucket (with) industrial companies,
ESG targets and public policy decisions driving certain transportation, building and industrial sectors to get cleaner.”
As part of e昀昀orts to decarbonize, Canada has committed to getting
o昀昀 of coal-昀椀red electricity by 2030. And towards meeting that target,
Dykxhoorn says provinces such as Saskatchewan “are planning to
put nuclear on their grid for the 昀椀rst time. They’re actively working
with OPG and following what we’re doing at Darlington and building the 昀椀rst grid scale SMR.” Saskatchewan is one of four provinces
that have agreed to a Strategic Plan for the Deployment of Small
Nuclear Reactors, joined by Ontario, Alberta, and New Brunswick.
To outside observers, Saskatchewan’s entry into the nuclear power
game may come as a surprise considering that as recently as 2022
it was the world’s second largest producer of high-grade uranium
deposits, with sales of nearly $1 billion.
However, there should be little to no surprise that New Brunswick
is involved, with a history of generating nuclear energy at its Point
Lepreau station since 1983. Mike Holland, New Brunswick’s Minister of Natural Resources and Energy Development describes his
province’s foray into SMR development as “not just for generation of
electrons… but for decarbonization of the industrial sector.”
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RENEW CANADA – JULY/AUGUST 2024
Not unlike Ontario, New Brunswick has also produced a longterm energy strategy, with the overarching goal of producing
clean, a昀昀ordable, and reliable energy. And plans call for nuclear
to be part of that mix with the decision to construct four ARC-100
reactors. Advanced small modular reactors, designed to produce
100 MW of energy, which according to the company “can supply
energy to a quarter of a million people in a space smaller than a
city block.”
“For our purpose in New Brunswick for power generation…
we’re creating a deck capable of producing 600 MW,” says Holland. And considering the modularity and small footprint of the
ARC-100’s, he predicts that “there’s no limit to the amount of ARC
units we could see throughout the country and the globe.”
From Holland’s perspective, in addition to playing “a key role in
decarbonizing the industrial sector… with modularity being a key
component (of the ARC-100) … we have the genesis of an export
model for product that can serve (energy) purposes,” virtually
anywhere in the world. And “we have over 600 companies in the
province of New Brunswick that have the ability to feed into that
supply chain,” with the numbers just in his province alone adding
up to “in excess of 10,000 jobs and over a billion dollars worth of
GDP and taxes.”
The promise of SMRs has become a hot topic, however, the
commentary isn’t all positive. In a recent op-ed piece published in
The Globe & Mail entitled “The Folly of Ontario’s Nuclear Power
Play,” York University questions the government’s decision to
refurbish reactors at Bruce and Darlington while considering four
new reactors at Bruce, as well as the four planned SMR reactors at
Darlington, stating that “the total cost of these plans are unknown
at this point, but an overall estimate in excess of $100 billion would
not be unrealistic… and even that 昀椀gure would assume things go
according to plan.”
Speaking with Renew Canada, Win昀椀eld observes that in addition
to major construction costs, he projects there will be much higher
generation costs as well, predicting that “the 20 to 30 cents per KW
hour range of actual delivered electricity (from nuclear energy) …
will be double renewables (e.g. wind and solar).”
Win昀椀eld of course is not alone in pushing back over everything
from cost to environmental concerns that have dogged the nuclear
industry since its inception, with organizations ranging from the
Suzuki Foundation to the Atmospheric Fund lining up in opposition to nuclear.
But when all is said and done, even “green energy sources”
have their challenges, whether it pertains to achieving economies
of scale su昀케cient to meet energy demands, to end of life recycling
challenges the solar industry is grappling with to the NIMBY threat
to wind farms.
Perhaps the solution, not unlike any good investment portfolio… is a balanced one. A mindset Minister Holland certainly
embraces, recognizing there is still work to be done towards decarbonizing the electricity produced in New Brunswick. “We talk
proudly about the fact that 81 per cent of our electricity is generated through non-emitting means. But the toughest part is that last
19 per cent. So where do we go from here?” he asks.
Answering his own question Holland says to “get to non-emitting means completely, nuclear is a component of that (with 600
MW of new nuclear planned). But it’s also important to recognize
the diversity of our energy strategy… because there’s an additional
1,400 MW of renewables we plan to introduce into our system as
well. So, the gap is going to be 昀椀lled with several di昀昀erent means
to meet our climate targets.”
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