FYI, from another listserv.....
Jaro
Sent: Wednesday January 29, 2003 8:56 AM
To: cdn-nucl-l (E-mail)
Subject: [cdn-nucl-l] Alberta mulls ACR for oil sands
An ACR 700 would generate more than 700 MW of steam - the oil sands need heat more than electricity. Presumably some of the steam would be tapped off for a turbine-generator set to provide power for the internal electrical consumption (mainly pump motors). I'd guess that the ACR will need 40 to 50 MWe for its own internal consumption, and perhaps would be increased to supply the oil sands plant and even some grid connection if needed.
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Globe and Mail
Alberta mulls nuclear plants to power oil sands extraction
By PATRICK BRETHOUR
Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - Print Edition, Page B1
CALGARY -- Alberta is contemplating the use of nuclear reactors to feed its power-hungry oil sands megaprojects. The province's Energy Ministry and Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL), the federal Crown corporation that sells reactors, have already had preliminary discussions about how nuclear power might be used in the oil patch. And AECL has commissioned a study from the Canadian Energy Research Institute on how the costs of nuclear power compare with the natural gas-fired plants currently used to generate the steam and electricity needed to extract gooey bitumen from the oil sands and process it into usable crude oil. The study, nearly complete, will show that nuclear power is a viable option for the oil sands, at least on a strict cost basis, said Bob Dunbar, CERI's senior director of research. "It does look like it's going to be competitive," said Mr. Dunbar, head of the study. He said that evaluation does not include the costs of complying with the Kyoto Protocol, which would add to the expense of using natural gas for power generation and strengthen the case for nuclear energy. Right now, the Alberta government is willing to hear the case for nuclear power, said one senior official in the Energy Ministry.
"We're open, but intrigued would be an overstatement," said Bob Taylor, assistant deputy minister for oil development. He said AECL, looking for new markets, approached the province about two months ago to kick off discussions. Earlier, in formal remarks to a CERI conference in Calgary, Mr. Taylor said the growth in Alberta's oil sands operations by 2045, to perhaps four million barrels a day from about one million barrels now, could boost energy requirements so high that "every molecule of gas" produced in the province would be consumed. He said that such growth, while not guaranteed, demonstrates that oil sands operators need to rethink their "addiction" to natural gas. "What we're doing is not sustainable over time."
One environmental group said nuclear power should not be used in the oil sands, even if it does emit fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuel-fired equivalents. There are other obvious environmental concerns with nuclear energy, said Matthew Bramley, director of climate change for the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development. And he warned that Alberta should heed the "economic fiasco" of nuclear power. He said that a growth in oil sands production to four million barrels a day would necessitate a new source of energy, but he questioned whether that level of production will ever be achieved. Several of the fossil fuel generating plants in the Fort McMurray area, about 400 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, sell electricity into Alberta's deregulated market, defraying their costs of operation. The AECL reactor that would be used, the Advanced Candu Reactor, generates 700 megawatts daily, more than double the combined output of two natural gas-fired plants that provide Shell Canada Ltd. with energy for its new oil sands project. Any functioning reactor in Alberta would be years distant, even if the province were to make a quick decision authorizing the use of nuclear power. It takes four years to get an ACR 700 reactor up and running after a contract is signed, according to AECL.
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