The proposed new reactors for the Bruce nuclear power plant, located at Nanticoke, Ontario, have been scrubbed Power Engineering - Bruce nixes plans to build new nuclear reactors They cite declining power consumption in Ontario. Perhaps the enormous cost overruns of similar ventures, such as Darlington, CTV.ca | Ontario wants a cheaper nuke bid from AECL happens to be the real reason a new reactor has been scrubbed. It's one thing if a project is 20% over budget, quite another if it's 3-4 times over budget
With the Defacto closing of the Yucca Mountain storage facility, opening any new nuclear plant in the US means opening a local waste site right next to the reactor.
Yes, same as Canada. There had been research done at the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd Pinawa site, the Whiteshell Lab, to determine suitability for long-term storage. This research was cooperative with DOE Manitoba Community Profiles - Community Profile:L.G.D. of Pinawa RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION EXPERIMENTS AT A SCALE OF 1 m IN TUFF BLOCKS UNDER UNSATURATED AND SATURATED CONDITIONS Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information - - Document #828214 Although one can make the arguement that France also doesn't have a *true* long-term plan, they are light years ahead of anything we're doing here
France has nuclear-powered electric trains that are faster, city to city, than airplanes. I think 515 kmh (about 320 mph) is the latest speed record. TGVs make VIA and Amtrak rolling stock look like horse-drawn carriages.
Yes, the TGV style electric trains in France get their power from nuclear. What I find ironic is that folks assume a "socialist" country will automatically be anti-nuclear. Yet France gets the vast majority of its power (76-89%, depending on who cites the sources) from nuclear reactors. Since the start of her nuclear power program, the French government had a firm and commanding hand involved in their nuclear power program Sort of like how the Canadian nuclear power program started. A lot of folks don't realize that gasseous centrifuge diffusion of plutonium production was pioneered at McGill University. A lot of key nuclear developments occured in Canada Canada's Role in the Atomic Bomb Programs of the US, UK, France & India But there is an old saying: s*** or get off the pot. The French followed through on that, Canadians apparently lost interest. IMHO the CANDU system is the most efficient nuclear reactor design in the world, but nothing much was done with it AECL Whiteshell Lab was poised to have some real breakthroughs in not only smaller scale (Town/small city) nuclear power, but in long term processing and storage of spent fuel. The CANDU reactor was designed - from the start - to "reburn" spent fuel with the much more widely available thorium. Indeed, if you search around a bit and look into scientists involved at Whiteshell and Chalk River, they are globally respected in the field of nuclear power and reprocessing/waste management. The DOE in the United States, and respective nuclear power agencies in the UK, France, and Japan, highly respect Canadian nuclear scientists Consider the recent "crisis" with nuclear medical isotopes DOTmed.com - Medical Isotope Shortage Reaching Crisis Proportions Reactor Shutdown Causing Medical Isotope Shortage - New York Times When you consider that the Canadian government has a contractural obligation to supply upwards of 80% of global medical isotopes, it's mind boggling how long various Liberal and Conservative governments passed the buck on that ancient reactor at Chalk River It will cost billions to build a new reactor, such as the canceled MAPLE TheStar.com | Canada | Isotope crisis worse now: Ex-nuclear head but the fines from failing to provide the US, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and others with medical isotopes, will also be in the billions. Why are Canadians such poor businessmen? They give away the kitchen sink in every bargain-basement decision, and cannot comprehend the long-term impact
I just don't get that. Canadians are quite capable of achieving brilliance, yet on the rare occasion we actually do, we just walk away. (The Avro Arrow comes to mind, but no point dwelling on that now.) It's a good thing we have more natural resources than we know what to do with, but the eternal disparity between potential and reality is frustrating. A sense of urgency, and an appreciation of how lucky we are, is sadly lacking.
Bruce Power has moved into the Alberta market and has plans to build a power plant near Peace River. They will make more money if they invest in reactors in Alberta because of electricity deregulation and the high demand for power in the oil sands.
Don't forget the various acronym Crown Corporations (EDC, IC, CIDA, etc) investing tens of billions of taxpayer funds in foreign ventures. Eg copper mine in Chile, power dam in China, etc etc Submission to the Export Development Act Review, Part 1 | Probe International Of course, you already knew about this. Right? RIGHT?! They will make money if they just power the tar sands. The lessor of two evils is using CANDU nuclear power, instead of Mackenzie Delta natural gas, to run the tar sands
For all countries, it's much clearer that the entire chain of responsibly mining fuel, building facilities, operating plants, and reliably disposing of waste is vastly more expensive than originally thought. Pointing out that there are existing or potential technolgies that solve each item individually is meaningless if the government ability to implement the entire program is a failure. If Yucca Mountain is permanent closed, then the US will show Canada who is better at wasting money on failed projects. So far every time a utility raises the rates to generate cash for nuclear construction, enough of the population figures out a way to conserve more, reducing the justification for the new plant. Not a bad feedback loop.
The nuclear energy lobby has always promised FAR more than they could deliver. The Canadian Coaltion for Nuclear Responsibilty, primarily comprised of former nuclear scientists and engineers, point that problem out The Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility The more you read through a site like that , the more worried you get That's what happened in Ontario, when Ontario Hydro went Tango Uniform. Hydro One, or whatever the hell they call themselves this week, claim their rates are "cheaper" than Manitoba Yeah, right. I used to have a cabin in Ontario, sold it back in 2004 There are a variety of costs, fixed and variable. Transmission charge, distribution charge, Transmission Loss Value, Debt Retirement charge, etc etc. Long story short: if I use 500 kwh in Manitoba, total cost to me, taxes in, around $42. In 2004, in Ontario, using 500 kwh would cost me around $74 dollars. So if you were unlucky enough to have electric heat in Ontario ....
Uranium from Canada was used to make the first atomic weapons. The Dene people of Great Bear Lake were also used - and abused - to carry 100 pound sacks of uranium ore on their backs. Radioactive dust covered their clothing, their skin, and coated their lungs. Children played in the dust at the docks, families fished in the tailing ponds, and the leftover sacks were sewn into tents. Both the US and Canadian governments were aware of the dangers, but no one told the Dene. At the time, they didn't even know what the ore was for. They got paid 3 dollars a day, and they're all dead now - not from old age. Sorry, Hill, I know you were teasing, but this isn't funny.
Several years ago I attended a talk by an economist who had studied the cost of efficiency standards for home appliances. He said that modern efficiency standards for refrigerators had already saved California from building a nuclear energy plant. Not very sexy, but using foam insulation instead of fiberglass in refrigerators makes that big a difference. It's probably several more nuclear plants that didn't have to be built by now. The fact that the Prius gets about double the mileage of similar sized non-hybrid vehicles is another example of the impact of energy efficiency. And the Prius is still made with heavy materials like steel. A carbon fiber body would allow considerably better mileage. The gas is probably still cheaper than carbon fiber construction, but how long will that be true?
I have frequently brought up this topic, but the average Canadian refuses to believe their role in the development of nuclear weapons for the United States and the UK Don't forget the radioactive legacy of Uranium City, Saskatchewan
