Nuclear in New Brunswick

AREVA, a France-based multinational nuclear energy company, recently announced that it would be examining the feasibility of building a second nuclear reactor in New Brunswick in addition to the Point Lepreau facility.

Canada currently has 22 nuclear reactors. Eighteen are currently operational, in five generating facilities: Bruce, Pickering and Darlington in Ontario; Gentilly 2 in Quebec and Point Lepreau in New Brunswick. Nuclear power provides about 12 per cent of the electricity generated in Canada.

At this point, AREVA has only announced a letter of intent for this new light-water reactor, with a more substantive agreement with the province to be inked by the end of 2010. And if nothing ultimately came of the letter, it certainly wouldn’t be the first aborted nuclear project in recent years.

In July 2009, Bruce Power pulled the plug on two additional reactors in Bruce County, focusing instead on refurbishing its existing reactors. The plants had been slated to be built at Nanticoke on Lake Erie, but the rising costs of nuclear production, and the long-term construction period required for a new reactor were likely mitigating factors.

Another important recent development to Canada’s nuclear energy sector has been the federal government’s omnibus bill (Bill C-9), which among other provisions aims to sell off the nuclear power division of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the crown corporation responsible for the CANDU line of reactors. The recent failure of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River, which provides radioactive isotopes for diagnostic procedures, was the likely catalyst for the sale. (AREVA’s letter of intent is not coincidental: NB Power recently rejected AECL’s proposal to build a new CANDU reactor, in favour of AREVA).

If New Brunswick successfully commissions a new reactor, it would be the first new reactor built in Canada since the MAPLE II reactor, which, like Chalk River’s NRU reactor, was built to provide medical isotopes. MAPLE II began operating in 2003 but has been subsequently terminated due to technical issues.

Given the volatile fate of recent attempts to build nuclear facilities, it’s worth noting again how early on in the process this letter of intent comes. In any case, it all goes to show that when it comes to nuclear power, things always run a little hot.