Taking the Peace: Alberta's Nuclear Ambitions
by C. L. Cook
On the day the World's largest-ever diamond is unveiled; the day Greece burned, and the Canadian wheat crop crapped, Alberta announced its intent to join the atomic club, and go nuclear.

 

 

 

 

Reuters is reporting, a deal has been struck to supply a "mystery power buyer" with 70% of the nuclear power plant's output.

Energy Alberta, a privately held business, is behind the nuclear plant's production, and admitted to the deal, but claimed confidentiality agreements would not allow they name the client, or country of origin.

 

Company president, Wayne Henuset says the deal is "solid," and he expects to break ground in 2012; this depending on the company being granted permission to build.

The prime site for the proposed plant is reported to now be along the Peace River, adjacent Lac Cardinal, not the original site for the project initially touted to support electricity to the booming tar sands projects further north. Energy Alberta says they applied Monday to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for the permit necessary to relocate the proposed site.

Though a government agency, the CNSC describes itself as "independent." Structured as a corporation, its "president and CEO," government employee, Linda J. Keen says of Energy Alberta's proposed multi-reactor project;

"We wish to assure Canadians that any new nuclear power plant built in our country will meet the highest standards for health, safety, security and environmental protection."

If President Keen sounds sold, or more like a partner than a regulator, it may have something to do with how the Energy Alberta deal is structured. Another "government-owned" agency, Atomic Energy of Canada (Ltd.) (AEC) has a financing and manufacture deal with Energy Alberta. Under the terms, AEC will build a second reactor that would in turn be owned and operated by Energy Alberta.  

Nuclear energy is controversial in Alberta, as it is almost everywhere proposed, and polls reveal Albertans are less than warm to the idea. And that was before it was proposed for the Peace, the historic river that snakes throughout the province, feeding the wheat fields and northern townships, and passing through at least eight provincial parks before joining the Slave River.

The CNSC reassures there are to be "meaningful opportunities" for public participation, saying;

"There are meaningful opportunities for public participation through the environmental assessment (EA) and the licensing processes of a new nuclear reactor. The CNSC has extensive experience with EAs, the first step of this regulatory process, and works closely with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and other federal and provincial agencies to ensure an effective and efficient EA process that follows the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA)."

The Canadian Envrionmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) is tasked to provide environmental assessments (EA's) to the federal Minister of the Environment. Though lacking "CEO's" (they are a "real" government agency), the CEAA sounds as adaptable to corporate culture as their part siblings over at CNSC and AEC. The government website describes the CEAA mission statement;

"Through our headquarters in the national capital and six regional offices, we work in partnership with other federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories, environmental and Aboriginal groups, industry and others to ensure that our efforts are coordinated and harmonized."

While the "government" agencies, and government agencies sing harmonies with privately held Energy Alberta, itself already in a multi-reactor deal with AEC to generate power, (70 percent of which remember is devoted to "mystery buyers" by a company that can shield questions and accountability behind a screen of "confidentiality agreements,") the people of Alberta may wish to know: "Where is the nuclear waste going to go?"

The plan so far, approved not by the Minister of the Environment, but by Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn, is to bury all the plant's waste in a single location, (that site currently "being studied") according to Stella Swanson, a consultant advising the project.

 

Citizens Advocating Use of Sustainable Energy (CAUSE) say Lunn's confidence in a single burial site is ill-placed. But, more worrisome is the proposed site's proximity to the province's largest "earthquake field."

 

Expressing concerns about the possible effects of seismic activity on theoretical nuclear plants near the oil patch, Jack Century, a geologist, and consultant to the oil industry says;

"Just to the west of the Peace River faulted area is Fort St. John (British Columbia), where oil fields have been inducing earthquakes as a result of conventional water-flooding. This is known to all seismologists, but sort of hidden in the oil patch."

Swanson acknowledged the problem, but assures it too is being "studied," saying;

"You're right, there have been earthquakes in the area, but it was not what we would call a fatal flaw for choosing this area."

As for Energy Alberta's Henuset, the former Calgary car salesman, oil patch service provider, and current operator of a string of liquor stores in Alberta, the future is glowing;

"This is an historic moment for Canada, for Alberta and for the nuclear power industry. We are proud to be pioneers in bringing the benefits of clean, safe, reliable nuclear power to Alberta."

Well that may be true for 30 percent of the "clean" power destined for the households of the province, but the question remains:

 

Albertans may have missed today's news release on the CNSC's site, but a project of this magnitude is sure to garner public attention in a province already ill disposed toward atomic energy.