Environmental advocates call for end to Sask. nuclear plans

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society and Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan is urging the province to put the brakes on its nuclear energy development efforts. (Keenan Sorokan / CTV News)

Two Saskatchewan green energy advocates are calling on the province to stop its plans for nuclear power generation and instead invest in a number of renewable energy components to meet its goals.

The Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES) and the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan say SaskPower’s plan to build a 300-megawatt small modular reactor (SMR) in the Estevan area will take far longer to build than estimated and will cost far more than the province realizes.

“It takes much too long to build,” SES board member Peter Prebble said. “It comes with long term environmental and health risks. Opting for nuclear power is going to bury SaskPower in debt, drive electricity rates up sharply and put SaskPower in danger of bankruptcy.”

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SaskPower has announced plans to explore nuclear power generation, with a decision on whether to invest in the technology coming in 2029. In the meantime, the province has narrowed its search down to two sites near Estevan for the reactor and has chosen the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 as its preferred build.

Understanding and evaluating this cost and risks is an important part of developing this supply option for Saskatchewan. Based on feasibility work done to date, SMRs have the potential to be a competitive option," SaskPower said in a statement to CTV News.

The GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 is the same model chosen Ontario’s Darling New Nuclear Project, which will see four BWRX facilities built on its site. The first unit is expected cost $7.7 billion.

Prebble listed nuclear projects across the world over the last several decades that exceeded original construction timelines and cost estimates.

He said if the province wants to generate 300-megawatts of clean energy, there are far more affordable options available like solar, wind, battery storage and electricity conservation.

“The fact that we’re not doing this is very difficult to understand. If you look at the global picture, investments in electricity efficiency are massively outpacing investments in nuclear power. We worry that if the Government of Saskatchewan and SaskPower make the mistake of building a nuclear reactor, the cost of doing so is going to suck up most of the money available for new electricity generation in our province,” he said.

However, SaskPower plans to learn as much as possible about Ontario’s project and use that information to inform its own decision.

“One significant benefit to working closely with Ontario Power Generation, and utilizing the same SMR technology, is that we’ll be able to see SMR deployment and glean learnings,” the statement said.

Prebble said other improvements like electricity efficiency — such as encouraging customers to use electricity during low usage hours at a reduced rate, improving interprovincial connections and grid improvements could generate plenty of additional power.

Bob Halliday, another member of SES who spent his career working as a water management engineer, questions if there is enough available water to build an SMR near Estevan.

“I think the best thing that Saskatchewan could do is just to revert back to existing known technologies and make a transformation that way,” he said.

SaskPower has yet to release specific details of its nuclear plan but says the SMR will use surface water for cooling, which is similar to what’s used for existing coal plans. The Crown corporation said access to adequate water was a “key consideration” in narrowing the search down to the two sites near Estevan.

Two weeks ago, the federal government announced a nuclear energy strategy for the country which includes building 10 nuclear reactors over the next 15 years. Similar to the provincial government’s intentions, Ottawa sees nuclear energy as an essential way of doubling clean energy in Canada.

“If our goal is to double our grid and reach net zero by 2050, there is no credible plan for Canada to do that without nuclear energy,” Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson said on June 22.

A day after being part of the announcement, Jeremy Harrison, the provincial minister responsible for SaskPower, said nuclear energy presents an opportunity that goes far beyond the balance sheet.

“There’s a lot in this country that pushes us apart. And I see that being from, from Western Canada, nuclear is an area that really can bring the country together,” Harrison said.