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The provincial government is looking into adding nuclear energy to the electrical grid.
The Alberta government announced the creation of the Nuclear Energy Engagement and Advisory Panel during a press conference in Calgary on Monday afternoon.
The panel will be chaired by Chantelle De Jonge, who is the Affordability and Utilities Secretary and MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore. Other members of the panel include Indian Resource Council of Canada president and CEO Stephen Buffalo, Rudiger Tscherning and Harrie Vredenburg from the University of Calgary, Boston Edge Strategies principal Tim Boston and Deron Bilous who is the Senior Vice President of Counsel Public Affairs and a former NDP MLA.
In her introductory statements, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says nuclear energy has been something the provincial government has been considering for quite some time.
“Currently, the majority of our energy production comes from natural gas, a stable power source. As our economy expands, particularly in the energy, agriculture, and technology sectors, we need to consider all types of generation technology to power our province. For years, our government has been eyeing nuclear power as just the thing we need to expand our energy capacity, and we’re not alone in this.
“Governments around the world are giving nuclear energy some long-overdue consideration. Our own government has signed agreements with Saskatchewan and Ontario to cooperate on developing nuclear energy in supply chains. We’re also exploring what’s possible with small modular reactors, cutting-edge technology that can be built faster and for lower startup costs than conventional plants.”
As part of the panel, the Nuclear Energy Development survey is available online and will be open until Sept. 25 in order to collect feedback from Albertans. Industry, municipalities and Indigenous communities are able to share their thoughts through an online request for information which will be open until Oct. 25.
According to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, nuclear power plants have been producing electricity in Canada since the 1960s. There are currently four nuclear power plants in the country located in Ontario and New Brunswick. Quebec had the Gentilly-2 CANDU reactor on the St. Lawrence River that was shut down in 2012 and had all irradiated fuel transferred to dry storage in December 2020.
During the press conference, Minister of Affordability and Utilities Nathan Neudorf indicated that nuclear energy in Alberta is still in the very early phases and that it would be a number of years before a plant of any form opens in the province.
“We’re taking the next year to talk to Albertans. There’s an obligation for the government of Alberta to consult with our First Nations as to how they would feel about this type of project proceeding. We still have an entire legislative and regulatory framework to establish to allow for a new type of generation to happen within the province of Alberta. It takes some time for private proponents to fully build out and then connect to our grid. The whole of it could take several years. There’s a number of individual advocates and stakeholders beginning that journey. Between environmental assessments and other approvals, both federal and yet to be established provincially, it could be over the next five to 10 years before we actually have it operational.”
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