Nuclear as nation-building is a bad idea

Opinion

There appears to be an incongruity in Mark Carney’s roll out of “nation building” projects.

No. 2 on the list, which the government will fasttrack, is the construction of an American nuclear reactor by GE Hitachi of Wilmington, N.C. Plans to build it on the site of Ontario’s Darlington reactor have begun and it has been given a nudge by the government in terms of regulatory approvals.

Small modular reactors (SMR) planned for Canada are prototypes yet to have their designs completed and demonstrated and this particular one uses enriched uranium. This complex fuel will have to be imported from New Mexico, where the supply will be subject to the whims of a fickle administration.

Canada does not enrich uranium due to the dangers of proliferation.

This SMR, which is predicted to be complete by 2030, will be one of four that Ontario Premier Doug Ford is betting on to power households in Ontario and attract international investors. In gambling terms, based upon the history of Ontario Hydro, this would be a long shot.

Every reactor built in the province has gone over budget, including Darlington at 4.5 times what was forecasted. Nuclear power has been proven to be the most expensive option for jurisdictions and putting his energy chips on this deal is another one of Ford’s follies.

According to Energy Futures Group, which calculates the costs of energy over the lifetime of the project, nuclear’s exorbitant costs are three to five times the cost of solar. Both solar and wind power now have incredible back-up and storage possibilities for consistent supply.

The Institute for Energy Economics have concluded that SMRs are too expensive, risky and slow to build in the transition from fossil fuels in the next 10 to 15 years. Of the SMRs now operating in China and Russia, cost escalation from the original predictions is 300 to 400 per cent higher. Completing Ontario’s first SMR by the overly optimistic date of 2030 is highly unlikely, based upon other reactor completion schedules.

One of the most detrimental aspects of Ford’s plan to push nuclear to 75 per cent of Ontario’s energy production is that it will reduce low-cost renewables from 35 to 25 per cent. Remarkably, 92.5 per cent of the world’s new power capacity last year was from renewables. Ontario and Canada are still in the dark ages using gas production to supplement its nuclear pipe-dream, 70 per cent of which is imported from the U.S.

So why has Carney hitched his horse to the wobbly cart of the Ontario premier? One reason may be that since the reactor market in Canada cannot sustain the industry, international markets are being sought and a commitment to this SMR by the feds will foster interest at the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) conference this month.

Pressure from Premier Scott Moe in Saskatchewan that resulted in up to $74 million in federal funds for a similar SMR in that province, places Carney under the gun to get the prototype up and running.

A big part of the nudge that this SMR has received has to do with the regulatory body that licensed the building of the reactor well in advance of its final design or proof of viability as this is the first of its kind to be constructed.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission conducted hearings where even its members acknowledged the design and safety systems were incomplete, yet a license to build was granted.

Canada appears to be very naiive when it comes to all things nuclear.

Buying an American reactor, depending on U.S sources to supply the fuel, and relying on American companies to operate and decommission research facilities across the country is just asking for trouble. Nuclear Laboratory Partners of Canada just signed a contract for $1.2 billion annually for up to 20 years to manage these sites including Chalk River and Pinawa. It’s primarily run by BWXT and Amentum, both Virginia based, and its primary subcontractor is Batelle of Ohio. This is the same outfit that will attempt to seal up the remains of the WR1 reactor in this province with grout, while gathering up and shipping out radioactive waste to Ontario.

Canada’s nuclear fuel waste solution involves disposing of radioactive fuel created near Toronto by transporting it by highway to Ignace, Ontario. The SMR plan hurried up by Carney will transmit electricity from reactors near Toronto to Northwest Ontario.

Canada is a huge country and all this to-ing and fro-ing is unnecessary and will result in dependence upon Trump’s apoplectic agenda. This is not elbows up, Carney is taking a face-off with his stick upside down.

Nation building would have been better served by rolling out a transmission line for clean renewable hydro from Manitoba.

» Dave Taylor is a regular contributor to the Winnipeg Free Press on environmental issues. His blog is at manitobanuclea@wordpress.com. This column was previously published in the Free Press.