The View from the West

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

AECL: use it, not lose it

By: Waterloo Region Record

18/07/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Do Canadians want a nuclear energy industry in this country or not? The question is an urgent one and has been raised by the Ontario government's decision to suspend the bidding process to buy a new nuclear power plant.

Until that surprising decision was announced in late June, the province seemed ready to award the contract for building two nuclear reactors to Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., a federally owned Crown corporation. However, legitimate concerns about cost and the future ownership of Atomic Energy of Canada convinced the Ontario government to delay its decision and seek help -- which means money -- from the federal government.

To a degree, Ontario's prudence is welcome. When this project goes ahead it will be hugely expensive. Premier Dalton McGuinty surely remembers public outrage over the Darlington generating station which, by the time of its completion in the early 1990s, cost the province $13.5 billion -- more than five times the original estimate.

Faced with an $18.5-billion deficit for this year, the premier and his government have a responsibility to protect the interests of Ontario taxpayers, and this means doing everything possible to control the price tag for this nuclear power plant. Right now, that price tag might have $14 billion written on it.

But there is another issue of equal importance -- and that is the survival of Atomic Energy of Canada. We inhabit a world where, for the next generation at least, demands for nuclear energy will soar. Declining supplies of easily obtained fossil fuels and the growing commitment to halt climate change by reducing fossil fuel emissions are convincing countries around the planet to ramp up nuclear generating projects.

But there are basically just three suppliers of the technology for this. One is Atomic Energy of Canada.

If this Crown corporation gets things right, the world is its oyster; contracts for new nuclear generators could pour in from around the world. There could be new jobs, sweet profits and high-tech growth, all of which would enrich Canada. Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are looking to buy nuclear reactors. The market in Asia, especially China, is opening up. The potential is enormous.

However, if the Ontario government refuses to buy from Atomic Energy of Canada, many industry experts fear no one else will.

The Canadian vote of non-confidence for Canadian technology could kill the nuclear energy industry here. And once dead, it would never come back...

There is no doubt another nuclear generating station will be built in Ontario to produce the energy the people of this province need. At this point, only Atomic Energy of Canada has satisfied the stipulations of the Ontario government by agreeing to assume the risks of any cost overruns.

If the Ontario government need not make its decision immediately, it should within the current term of office, which ends in 2011. Lower energy demands in the recession have given the Liberals time and breathing space to get this right.

The federal government will, however, have to help the Ontario government make its decision. While Ottawa may shy away from using federal taxpayers' money to subsidize Ontario ratepayers, it needs to consider the future of the nation's nuclear energy industry.

Even if the federal government proceeds with its plan to sell off Atomic Energy of Canada's profitable nuclear reactor business, it should, unless there are problems with quality the public knows nothing about, ensure the future of this vital Canadian industry. We should use it, not lose it.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 18, 2009 A14

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