The electricity resource…

The electricity resource strategy cites a target to develop local or regional ‘renewable’ resources. This technology-biased target is an example of engineering by bureaucrats and NGOs, and will not achieve the goal of lowering CO2 emissions, and will unnecessarily increase costs for taxpayers.

Solar energy in Canada is not sustainable due to the latitude and low capacity factor, and wind turbines produce power out of synch with demand, resulting in significant curtailment. Unwise investments in renewables has cost Ontario ratepayers billions of dollars.

The UNECE has concluded that nuclear power is sustainable and has the lowest lifecycle CO2 footprint of any power source. Plus, Canada has a strategy to demonstrate Small modular reactor (SMR) technology, and we have the safest nuclear technology in the world in our CANDU fleet.

Ottawa would be a perfect receptor community for new CANDU or SMR plants. It has access to cooling water and expertise at Chalk River, it would benefit from district heating in winter that can most cheaply be provided by new nuclear reactors. It has a goal to increase electrification of transport so will need a low carbon reliable source that can charge batteries in calm dark nights.

Spent nuclear fuel, although a concern, has never harmed a single individual anywhere in the world, and likely never will due to its extremely small volume and ease of storage. A lifetime supply of electricity results in roughly one Coke can worth of spent fuel. Furthermore, next generation reactors like the Russian BN-800 can recycle used fuel by burning up the remaining 95% of the energy, and thereby significantly decreasing the mining footprint of the nuclear industry.

Nuclear power plants create stable, high quality unionized jobs for a community for generations, rather than temporary construction jobs created by ‘renewables’. They create medical isotopes that help diagnose and treat cancer. They capture and store all their waste and can more than pay for their eventual decommissioning without increasing costs. When averaged over their long lifetimes, the cost of power produced is 3-8 cents/KWh whereas Ontario rate payers are on the hook for 15c/KWh for wind and 42c/KWh for solar.

If climate really is an emergency then Ottawa should be doing it’s part and supporting the only reliable low carbon energy source that can replace fossil fuel infrastructure. Choose nuclear.