Company seeks approval to build Alberta's first nuclear reactor
Jon Harding, Financial Post, 28-Aug-2007

Firm to build $6.2B nuclear plant in Alberta
Canadian Press, 27-Aug-2007

Alberta nuclear proponent has mystery power buyer
Jeffrey Jones, Reuters, 28-Aug-2007

Energy Alberta Corporation

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

COMMENT: Mary Poppins' Umbrella

(Can't remember the Big Owe? In 1970, it was going to cost $134 million. In 1976, when it was opened, only half done, for the Olympics, it had already cost $264 million. By 2006, total expenditures came in at $1.61 billion. The stadium project has never really ended. The first roof went on ten years after the Olympics; it's now on its third roof; the stadium is closed during winter months; and through its history parts of it regularly collapse.)

Nuclear plant plan draws fire
Environmentalists question impact on area land and water; company touts 'clean, safe, reliable' power

Jamie Hall
The Edmonton Journal;
With files from the Calgary Herald
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Bruce A and Bruce B nuclear generating stations
on Lake Huron, about 250 kilometres southwest of Toronto,
are one of five operating Candu nuclear power sites in Canada.
CREDIT: Courtesy of Bruce Power, file

EDMONTON - Energy Alberta Corporation has chosen Peace River as the site of a proposed nuclear power plant.

The Calgary-based company Monday filed an application with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to build a pair of twin-unit Candu reactors on private land adjacent to Lac Cardinal, 30 kilometres west of the town.

The move ends months of speculation about the intended site of the corporation's $6.2-billion nuclear power plant, which was said to be between Peace River and Whitecourt.

Energy Alberta president and co-chair Wayne Henuset says the decision marks "a historic moment for Canada, for Alberta and for the nuclear power industry" and touted the benefits of "clean, safe, reliable nuclear power."

Ontario currently operates five of the Candu 6 reactors, which AECL said were some of the top-performing units in the world last year, with greater than 95 per cent capacity factor rankings.

But environmentalists gave short shrift to the claims, expressing worries over impacts a reactor might have on the area's land and water.

"The nuclear power industry has a long history of over-promising and under-delivering, so I'm skeptical," said Marlo Reynolds, executive director of the Drayton Valley-based Pembina Institute.

"I'm still not convinced there's a need for nuclear power given all the other resources we have here in Alberta."

The institute won't support any form of government financial support for the project and Reynolds said all environmental impacts must be fully accounted for in the final cost of the facility.

"That business case has never been made clear... once you factor in the full environmental cost I don't believe nuclear power competes."

David Schindler has serious concerns, too.

"There are huge issues involved in building this," says Schindler, a professor of ecology at the University of

Alberta who teaches environmental decision-making, "and one of them is reactor safety.

"I would want to know where the waste is going to be stored, how it's going to get there and what the use of the power is supposed to be for.

"(Nuclear power plants) use a lot of cooling water, so I guess this is one reason for putting it in Peace River, so they can get water from the Peace. The needs are around a cubic metre a second, so it's like a small oilsands plant."

Elena Schacherl insists the proposed plant is "a far different beast" than the existing Candu reactors currently in Canada, which are located in Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec.

"They're approximately half the size of just one of the (twin reactors) that are being proposed," says Schacherl, who represents Concerned Citizens Advocating Use of Sustainable Energy.

"What's being proposed has never been built before."

She fears the plant will get "fast-tracked" before "the other side" can fully air its arguments in front of an environmental assessment panel.

Henuset said the Peace River region was chosen because of its demonstrated support from the community, the existence of essential infrastructure and support services, and technical feasibility.

Lorne Mann, the mayor of the Town of Peace River, says the plant would bring economic stability to the region.

"Today's announcement ... has given our region an opportunity for a more vibrant, exciting and sustainable future," said Mann.

The corporation has partnered with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the federal Crown corporation and maker of Candu reactors.

Initially, Energy Alberta plans to build one twin-unit ACR-1000 that will produce 2,200 megawatts of electricity with a targeted in-service date of early 2017.

"Building a nuclear power facility is a long and rigorous process," said Henuset. "This is the beginning of a public and regulatory process that will include environmental, health and safety assessments."

Press conferences will be held in Calgary, Peace River and Whitecourt today to provide more details about the project.

jhall@thejournal.canwest.com
© The Edmonton Journal 2007

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Company seeks approval to build Alberta's first nuclear reactor

Jon Harding
Financial Post
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

CALGARY -- A private Calgary-based company aiming to build Alberta's first nuclear reactor took a step in that direction when it filed an application late Monday with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for a licence to prepare a site for the facility.

Energy Alberta Corp., whose backers include Hank Swartout, founder of the country's largest oil and gas driller, Precison Drilling Trust, said in a release it has teamed with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to build up to two twin-unit ACR-1000 Advanced CANDU Reactors, with the first slated for a site 30 kilometres west of the town of Peace River in the province's northwest Peace Country.

The facility would be in service by 2017, according to the company statement.

"This is an historic moment for Canada, for Alberta and for the nuclear power industry," said Wayne Henuset, president and co-chairman of Energy Alberta.

The first unit would ultimately produce a total net 2,200 megawatts of electricity.

© Financial Post 2007

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Firm to build $6.2B nuclear plant in Alberta

Canadian Press
Mon. Aug. 27 2007

CALGARY -- Energy Alberta Corporation has chosen Peace River, Alta., as the site for its proposed $6.2 billion nuclear power plant.

The site is on private land next to Lac Cardinal, about 30 kilometres west of Peace River, the company said in a release Monday night.

"We are proud to be pioneers in bringing the benefits of clean, safe, reliable nuclear power to Alberta,'' said Wayne Henuset, president and chairman of Energy Alberta.

The company had also looked at Whitecourt, Alta., as its possible site. But it delayed its decision three weeks ago when Woodlands County withdrew its letter of support for the facility after 300 residents signed a petition saying they wanted more information. Last week, Woodlands County said it would also hold a plebiscite for residents to vote on the proposed plant.

"Energy Alberta has chosen the Peace River region as its preferred site because of the demonstrated support from the community, existence of essential infrastructure and support services and technical feasibility,'' the release said.

The privately owned company has filed an application for a licence to prepare the site with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The application is for siting up two, twin-unit Candu reactors. The company has partnered with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the federal Crown corporation that makes Candu reactors, and says it has lined up financing and clients.

Energy Alberta says it plans to start with one twin unit that will produce 2,200 megawatts of electricity with a target start date in early 2017.

Henuset said the application is just one of many steps required to get the licences to build the plant.

He said there will also be environmental, health and safety assessments and public consultations.

Peace River Mayor Lorne Mann said in the release the announcement has "given our region an opportunity for a more vibrant, exciting and sustainable future.''

"We understand that this is just the beginning of a lengthy process and we welcome the chance to become more informed on nuclear energy.''

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Alberta nuclear proponent has mystery power buyer

By Jeffrey Jones
Reuters
28-Aug-2007

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Backers of the first nuclear power plant proposed for the western Canadian province Alberta sketched out their plans on Tuesday, but left questions unanswered including the identity of a mystery buyer for most of the electricity.

Privately held Energy Alberta has agreed to supply a company with 70 percent of the 2,200 megawatt plant's output, but President Wayne Henuset declined to name the firm, its business or describe the stage of the deal, citing confidentiality agreements.

"(The agreement is) as solid as it gets, I guess, five years out," Henuset said at a news conference. He was referring to his goal of starting construction around 2012.

The C$6.2 billion (US$5.8 billion) plant had first been proposed to provide both electricity and steam for the booming oil sands industry in northeastern Alberta.

But Energy Alberta applied to Canada's nuclear safety authority on Monday to build it further west in the Peace River area and to provide just the power.

Since the company first floated the idea two years ago, it has sparked debate among residents and politicians in Alberta, an oil- and coal-producing province that had officially rejected the notion of nuclear energy.

Under the proposal, the debt-financed plant would start up in 2017. Government-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd would build a twin-unit ACR-1000 Candu reactor and Energy Alberta would own and operate it.

Henuset said it could help solve a power supply crunch in Alberta, where he projected to jump by 400 MW annually. The capacity is about 20 percent of the province's current peak load.

"There are no doubts Alberta needs a large, reliable, clean power source to meet its current future needs and there is no doubt in our minds Albertans are ready for nuclear power," he said.

Radioactive waste would initially be stored near the plant, 30 km (19 miles) west of Peace River, but long-term storage is still being studied, said Stella Swanson, an environmental consultant to the project with Golder Associates.

She pointed out Canadian Energy Minister Gary Lunn recently approved the idea of burying waste deep underground at a single location. Environmentalists have condemned the idea as too risky.

Also attending the news conference were representatives of Citizens Advocating Use of Sustainable Energy, a group formed to oppose the plan.

Among its many criticisms is that the Peace River region is susceptible to seismic activity, said CAUSE member Jack Century, a geologist and consultant to the oil industry.

"Just to the west of the Peace River faulted area is Fort St. John (British Columbia), where oil fields have been inducing earthquakes as a result of conventional water-flooding. This is known to all seismologists, but sort of hidden in the oil patch," Century said.

Swanson said the backers have done geological and engineering studies "at a regional level in a preliminary nature" and plan to keep studying such risks.

"You're right, there have been earthquakes in the area, but it was not what we would call a fatal flaw for choosing this area," she said.

Henuset, a Calgary-based businessman, has run a series of oil field service businesses and car dealerships and has also established a chain of liquor stores.

His partner in Energy Alberta, Hank Swartout, founded Canada's biggest oil field service company, Precision Drilling, and is on the boards of a handful of other firms.

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Posted by Arthur Caldicott on 28 Aug 2007