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Second Nuclear Plant Needed for Power-Hungry Maritimes: P.E.I. Power Boss

Posted on: Monday, 31 October 2005, 18:01 CST

By CHRIS MORRIS

SAINT JOHN, N.B. (CP) - The time has come to look into building a second nuclear reactor in the Maritimes to satisfy the region's growing demand for electricity, the head of Prince Edward Island's electric utility said Monday.

Jim Lea, president of Maritime Electric, told an energy conference that while it's fine to talk about wind power and energy conservation, the region needs a new source of constant and reliable power.

Construction of a second reactor, most likely at the same site as the region's first reactor in Point Lepreau, N.B., would be a 10-to 15-year project, he said.

"When we look at the reliability and the cost of nuclear energy and compare that with the costs of fossil fuels and the need to reduce greenhouse gases, we don't have too many options," Lea told the Atlantic Power Summit in Saint John, N.B.

"I raised it at this conference because I believe we have to start thinking about it soon."

The other two Maritime energy chiefs at the summit, David Hay of NB Power Corp. and Ralph Tedesco of Nova Scotia Power Inc., reacted cautiously to Lea's suggestion.

"In Nova Scotia, by statute, nuclear is today not an option," Tedesco said. "But it is an important part of the overall supply picture in the Maritimes."

Hay said NB Power is focused on completing New Brunswick's $1.4-billion plan to refurbish the existing, 23-year-old reactor at Point Lepreau.

The overhaul is expected to last 18 months, from April 2008 to September 2009.

Meanwhile, Hay said he believes public opinion is softening toward nuclear power.

"Fossil fuel prices have just gone out of this world . . . (and) no one could have predicted that," he said. "But on the nuclear front, I think people are seeing that the operating rates and the safety records - all of those aspects of nuclear - have improved dramatically in the last 15 to 20 years.

So, yes, people are feeling more comfortable about it."

The idea of expanding nuclear power in the Maritimes is moving up the region's political agenda.

In New Brunswick, Opposition Liberal Leader Shawn Graham is calling for construction of a second reactor at the Lepreau site.

Lord said Monday he is not ruling out the possibility and admits there have been discussions with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.

"But we're far from making any announcement on a second or a third nuclear power plant," he said, raising the possibility of even more reactors down the road.

Lord said the problem is money.

"If anyone thinks we should have another nuclear power plant, I'd like to see what their financial contribution would be," he said.

Once the Lepreau upgrade is completed, it's expected the 680-megawatt Candu reactor will continue pumping electricity into the Maritime grid for the next two to three decades.

Lea said Maritime Electric wasn't interested in becoming a part owner of a future nuclear plant.

He said the Island utility likes the current arrangement it has with NB Power where it is a long-term customer for the province's output, including its nuclear output.

Lea said promoting nuclear does not go against the island's bucolic image as a haven of renewable energy.

He said energy needs range from constant, base-load demand to peaking energy requirements.

Wind and renewable energy can meet some of the middle requirements for power, but they are not sufficient to supply base-load demand, Lea said.

"Energy supply requires a basket of resources. This is not a tomorrow project, but it is time to talk, to raise the concept."

Source: Canadian Press

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