RE: Report urges power-short Ontario to go nuclear

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

There has been a virtual deluge here of media stories on this subject in the

last couple of days.



An interesting aside is that there appears to be a fight looming over which

community gets to host the construction of new nuclear plants first (see

story below).

I suspect that won't happen so fast, however.

PS. For more on the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) see

http://www.aecltechnologies.com/Content/ACR/default.htm



Jaro



http://www.cns-snc.ca/branches/quebec/quebec.html



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



Clarington mayor pushes for new nuclear reactors

The Toronto Star, March 16, 2004

Stan Josey



Ideal location, John Mutton says Coal-fired plants being phased out

John Mutton wants to put a little more light in your life.

Mutton is mayor of Clarington, the GTA's most easterly municipality, and the

home of one of two nuclear power stations east of Toronto.

He's working hard to make his municipality the "Energy Capital of Ontario."

Still smarting after Clarington was knocked out of the race for the proposed

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), by a reluctant

Canadian government, Mutton now is on a quest to locate one or more of the

new-generation Advanced Candu Reactors beside the Darlington nuclear plant

on the shores of Lake Ontario.

"We heard that our name was being mentioned in Ottawa as a possible site for

the new Candus, and we ran with it," Mutton said in an interview after a

lobbying trip to the Canadian Nuclear Association annual meeting in Ottawa.



There is a lot of controversy about how Ontario will meet its future power

needs.



The divide is wide between those who think nuclear is the answer and those

pushing conservation and alternative power sources, such as solar and wind.



Canada's nuclear communities, such as Pickering, Clarington, Kincardine, in

Ontario and others outside the province, believe nuclear is the choice to

meet Ontario's future power needs.

They are excited by an offer from Atomic Energy Canada Ltd. (AECL) to locate

eight of its latest generation power plants in Ontario at a cost of $12

billion.



But the offer came around Christmas, at a time when the province was still

reeling over the massive cost overruns in the refurbishment of one of four

of Ontario's oldest CANDU generators at Pickering.

At least two task forces have been assigned to advise the province on what

technologies should be used to power Ontario in the future.



That hasn't deterred Mutton and his Clarington crew. They've spent years

travelling the world trying to secure a piece of science fiction, in the

form of the ITER project.

"Our experience with ITER would make us an ideal location for the new

CANDUs," Mutton says. "We have the knowledge, the university, and the ideal

site to locate the next generation of nuclear power station next to our

Darlington station."



The Liberal government's commitment during the last election campaign to

phase out Ontario's coal-fired generating stations by 2007 has created

pressure to quickly find alternative sources for about 7 megawatts [ 7000 MW

] of power.

"We want to be part of the solution," says Suzanne McCrimmon, economic

development officer for the local board of trade. "I think we are working

together with the city to become the energy capital of Ontario."



Mutton has been quietly meeting with federal and provincial officials and

representatives of Atomic Energy Canada Limited, pushing his municipality as

a site to install one or more new-generation Candu reactors. He says the

local economic benefits would be enormous. Earlier this year the Electricity

Conservation and Supply Task Force, charged with recommending "an

affordable, reliable and environmentally acceptable" source of electric

power to 2020, said "new nukes" would likely be part of the equation.



But the task force also stressed that the biggest impact should come from

conservation by consumers. The power options might be clarified further when

former federal cabinet Minister John Manley completes his report on the

future of Ontario Power Generation, expected later this month.



AECL is keen on Clarington and will make a presentation to the local

community on its new advanced CANDUs next week.



But nuclear critics argue that the design of the new advanced Candu reactor

is not completed, and it has not received regulatory approvals by either the

Canadian or U.S. governments. 

========================================







-----Original Message-----

From: Sandy Perle [mailto:sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET]

Sent: Friday March 19, 2004 12:37 PM

To: nuclear news list

Subject: Report urges power-short Ontario to go nuclear