Thank you for the…

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Ontario Long Term Energy Plan (LTEP). I believe that the LTEP puts too much reliance on nuclear power, and that Ontario should invest the money earmarked for rebuilding nuclear reactors into renewable energy instead. I bring the following supporting arguments.

Rebuilding nuclear reactors is a time consuming and expensive task and, if history is to be repeated, fraught with very real risks of schedule and cost over-runs (Pickering, Gentilly-2, Point Lepreau for example). Solar projects, on the other hand, are straightforward and predictable because they are smaller and more numerous. If one solar project fails, there are many backups but if a nuclear project fails, there is no backup.

Nuclear energy has an availability problem. One nuclear reactor can produce an enormous amount of power, but this massive scale means that a shutdown (even just for routine maintenance) removes a large portion of the grid's capacity for weeks. In the case of a breakdown such as the Pickering failure of a pressure tube, the loss to the grid is a long term problem. It's like saying my car can do 250 kph, but it's in the shop 4 weeks of every year.

Nuclear energy could not have become as big in the electricity mix if it weren't for massive subsidies. Ontario taxpayers and ratepayers will never see a return on investment. Continuing to subsidize nuclear power is good money after bad.

Solar photovoltaics will continue deployment even without subsidies as PV materials and manufacturing improve and lower the cost per kW-h. Nuclear reactors are stuck in 50 year old technology and new designs are both financially risky (they might not work) and hazardous (they might leak).

The availability of very powerful low cost "Industrial Internet of Things" microcontrollers and networking equipment contributes to improving the kind of distributed control systems required for the "smart grid" of small generators with local consumption.

Electricity storage systems are becoming commercially viable and will help to reduce the daily peak demand while also addressing the sporadic nature of wind power. Power generated in off-peak periods could be stored to supplement peak demand.

The nuclear industry still has not solved the problem of radioactive waste. Deep geologic dumps are not a solution, merely deferring the problem to future generations. We enjoyed the benefits, they get the burden. It hardly seems fair.

[Original Comment ID: 206819]