Bruce County supports the…

Bruce County supports the government of Ontario’s goal to ensure that the building
blocks are in place for an integrated energy plan that meets Ontario’s energy needs,
while maintaining reliability, affordability and our clean energy advantage. As a
central part of the Clean Energy Frontier, Bruce County knows both the environmental
and economic importance of the energy sector in the daily lives of Ontarians.
Bruce County is host to Bruce Power, the world’s largest operating nuclear power
generating station, so we believe that we are well suited to provide comment on the
ERO posting. The following are comments in response to the province’s Environmental
Registry of Ontario (ERO) Postings 019-6647 which seek feedback on the findings of
the Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO) Pathways to Decarbonization
study.
The IESO Pathways to Decarbonization study ERO posting poses nine questions. Bruce
County’s response will specifically focus on Questions 1, 2, 5 and 9.
The Province of Ontario is seeking input on the appropriate regulatory requirements
to achieve an accelerated infrastructure buildout. As a host community to Bruce
Power, Bruce County is keenly aware of the importance of ensuring regulatory
requirements are maintained and monitored to support safe and resilient
communities. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulates new nuclear
reactor designs and site preparation work and outlines a significant series of steps
needed to access a license required for new nuclear construction. Site design
considerations and environmental monitoring are all large parts of this process, and
often take a significant amount of time. Current nuclear sites are required to
undertake radiological and environmental monitoring programs. These programs are
required to be completed on an ongoing basis to ensure compliance with many of the
other licenses required to operate a nuclear facility. Not only are these important
1 Nuclear Innovation Institute, 2023
2 Ipsos, 2022 – Bruce, Huron 7 Grey Counties Public Opinion Research Tracking
studies but they provide a great opportunity to inform and expedite early-stage
discussions for new nuclear licensing processes. In our community, Bruce Power
continues to show, through their annual environmental protection reports, that they
are continually meeting all relevant Federal, Provincial, and regulatory requirements
and legislation. Furthermore, they are doing more to measure and minimize their
impact on the environment. As a result of this ongoing and robust study of existing
nuclear sites in Ontario, Bruce County believes that the province should first consider
existing nuclear sites as the primary location to invest in new power generation in
order to meet the goals and scenarios outlined in the Pathways to Decarbonization
report. Existing nuclear sites have the environmental data and strong safety record to
demonstrate they can be tasked with siting new clean generation and storage
infrastructure.
The Pathways to Decarbonization report notes that large infrastructure projects can
take 10 to 15 years to build, however the planning, siting and environmental work
needed to move these projects forward can hamper the goal of transitioning away
from natural gas. The report recommends that these processes should begin
immediately. We believe that Ontarians and Canadians are ready to see this
investment in the energy sector as well. Recent polling commissioned by the Nuclear
Innovation Institute found that approximately 60% of Canadians support beginning
environmental and impact assessment process now to keep the door open for new
nuclear generation in future years.
As a host community and a key part of Ontario’s Clean Energy Frontier we believe it is
time to start the conversation about investment in new nuclear generation. Existing
sites, such as the site located in Tiverton, should be the first considered when looking
at new nuclear projects. The use of these existing sites provides an opportunity to
streamline not only the processes but the consultation that needs to occur. Areas like
Bruce County have a high level of citizen engagement, knowledge of the industry and
acceptance of large-scale energy projects due to the existing infrastructure that is in
place. In fact, recent polling by the Nuclear Innovation Institute has shown that 73%
of Canadians believe that nuclear power plants have been built and operated safely
for 60 years1. Furthermore, Indigenous leaders and businesses are actively involved
with projects on site and are partners for continued growth of the energy sector. This
is demonstrated most clearly in polling conducted by Ipsos in Spring of 2022 that
focused on the Clean energy Frontier region (Bruce, Grey and Huron Counties). The
polling found that 86% of residents familiar with Bruce Power have a favourable
opinion of the company while 92% of all residents believe that Bruce Power is involved
in the community in a good way2. Bruce County believes that consulting early and
often with the public and key stakeholders is an important part of any large
infrastructure project in Ontario. Building on existing relationships between local
governments, indigenous communities and the public in nuclear host communities,
such as Bruce County, will assist the provincial government expedite the planning and
siting of new nuclear generating facilities in Ontario.
Investing in new nuclear generation, particularly on existing sites, has the opportunity
to enable the development of other energy opportunities such as hydrogen and other
low-carbon fuels. Existing nuclear facilities rely on developed clusters of innovative
companies, who provide a suite of supportive products and services to clean energy.
These companies continue to learn and adapt to changing technology that would not
only support the expedited construction of new nuclear projects, but the growth of
additional energy projects enabled by these sites. Growth of hydrogen and other lowcarbon fuels continues to be at the top of this list. There are many examples of
businesses in Bruce County to support the growth of this type of energy source. The
Pathways to Decarbonization report estimates capacity of an additional 15,000 MW of
hydrogen capacity that could be supported through the growth of the nuclear sector.
Summary
The IESO Pathways to Decarbonization Study provides the beginning of a roadmap for
additional investment in the Energy Sector in Ontario. As a nuclear host community,
Bruce County wishes to express support for the siting of new nuclear facilities in
Ontario and for prioritizing Ontario’s existing nuclear sites for consideration.
Furthermore, we would like to ask the government to support expediency in requests
from existing facilities to expedite the continued transition to Net Zero in Ontario.