By Peter Moore
Canadian environmental groups are questioning the wisdom of a nuclear power comeback in Ontario and its expansion to the rest of Canada.
Energy generating projects are included in the federal government’s Building Canada Act which plans to speed up infrastructure projects that are “in the national interest”. To date, neither Prime Minister Mark Carney nor Minister Dominic Leblanc have released a list of projects for the fast-track development promised under the Act.
“There’s no transition that works without nuclear, full stop,” Mark Carney said at an investor meeting in September 2022, when he was head of Brookfield Asset Management Inc.’s clean energy transition fund. Four years earlier, Brookfield had bought bankrupt American nuclear power company, Westinghouse Electric Company, making it part of its clean energy portfolio.
While a list of qualifying nation-building projects is expected in the Fall session of Parliament, federal and provincial governments have begun to pivot toward nuclear power again.
The government of Carney’s predecessor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, approved a $970 million grant from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to Ontario Power Generation in October 2022 to cover Phase One of building an experimental Small Modular Reactor (SMR) alongside Ontario’s Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors in Clarington. Phase One is the design, site preparation and procurement stage which covers “all preparation required prior to nuclear construction,” according to the bank.
This first outlay of nearly $1 billion just to prepare plant construction has environmentalists scratching their heads.
“You have a limited amount of money to spend on generating power,” said Anne Lindsey of the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, which hosted an information session on the risks of the new SMR in June. She said that spending money on nuclear power is a costly distraction from renewable energy projects that could be deployed sooner, generate energy and would help Canada respond quicker to climate change.
Nuclear waste remains a question. Unlike the CANDU reactors, which use raw uranium, the new reactors would require uranium to be processed before use and plutonium would be part of the nuclear waste generated. Plutonium is a volatile byproduct that could be used in nuclear weapons.
Currently, nuclear waste is stored on-site at nuclear plants. In 2002, Canada funded a not-for-profit organization called the Nuclear Waste Management Organization to figure out what to do with the country’s nuclear waste. It has proposed drilling a repository up to 800 metres into rock and setting up multiple barriers to prevent waste from seeping into the land and watershed. The organization selected the town of Ignace in Manitoba as the first community to host the “Deep Geological Repository” in November 2024. The town’s press release describes it as “a potential $26 billion project” that would transform the town. An impact assessment has not been done yet.
“The truth is it’s never been done anywhere else successfully,” said Lindsey, adding that nuclear waste would need to be brought in by truck on Highway 17, which has frequent accidents.
The nuclear industry is still trying to clean up from its first round of nuclear development in Canada. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission granted a construction license in January 2024 for the construction of a “Near Surface Disposal Facility” for irradiated waste with a multibarrier design to have multiple barriers to prevent leaks into the groundwater and soil. The federal government has committed to paying for the construction.
Ole Hendrickson is an ecologist and researcher for the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, a group that has focused on protecting the environment from radioactive waste from the Chalk River facility of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, north of Petawawa, Ontario. His organization participated in a press conference on May 26 with the Kebaowek First Nation to denounce the construction of the disposal facility, raising concerns about the high cost of $1.5 billion, and the risk of leaks into the drinking water of downstream communities, including Ottawa.
“They want to say they have a solution so they can keep making more [nuclear waste],” said Hendrickson.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is drawing up his own list of projects, including energy projects, to fast track with the June 5 passage of his government’s Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act legislation. Ontario is in the process of refurbishing its 16 CANDU nuclear reactors and wants to build four SMRs with the first one to be built alongside the Darlington plant by 2030. Ontario’s goal is to produce 17,400 megawatts using nuclear power. According to Ontario Power, the four reactors would cost $20.8 billion, with the first one priced at $7.7 billion. The first reactor would be connected to the grid in 2030, according to the Ontario government.
These are not national building projects. These are foreign corporation building projects.
Currently, just over half of Ontario’s electricity (53%) is generated by its nuclear plants. “Today, Ontario’s three nuclear sites — Darlington, Bruce and Pickering — have a combined installed capacity of over 12,000 MW. These facilities currently deliver reliable electricity at a price lower than any other resource with the exception of Ontario’s hydroelectric fleet. This cost reflects a proven, emissions-free technology that limits land use impacts,” according to Ontario’s Energy for Generations plan. The plan envisions “clean, affordable and reliable nuclear power will continue to serve as the backbone of the province’s electricity system providing the 24/7 baseload power the province’s economy requires.”
Hendrickson said he does not see building more nuclear plants as nation-building and he thinks Prime Minister Carney “doesn’t understand the physics” of nuclear power and waste. “These are not national building projects. These are foreign corporation building projects,” says Hendrickson.
Building four new reactors is going to create more debt for Ontario taxpayers. “The nuclear industry is draining the economy” because it needs taxpayer money to build it and dispose of the waste. “We’re going to bankrupt the province by going down this road,” said Hendrickson.
The push to adapt new reactor technology has spread across Canada. New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Alberta are all planning to add nuclear power to their energy plans, citing the rationale of rising electricity demand and the need to reduce carbon emissions.
New Brunswick plans to add two reactors by 2035 at its current nuclear power station.
Energy Alberta is proposing to build two reactors near Peace River and is conducting public consultations and assessments now.
SaskPower has identified two potential sites at the reservoirs near Estevan and Cambria, with a decision expected in 2029, and completion set for 2034.
In the small community of Pinawa, Manitoba, there are plans to do a demonstration project where a SMR powers remote communities.
With this much provincial and federal investment, nuclear power is returning to the top of Canada’s energy agenda.
