Municipalities see opportunity in nuclear push

“We look forward to learning more as planning advances through consultation and regulatory processes,” Hawtin said.

The province’s goal is to add at least 2,600 megawatts of power to the provincial grid. It also wants to expand the nuclear option into Alberta and the Northwest Territories and has reached an initial memorandum of understanding with those two jurisdictions.

Along with the locations, the type of reactors has yet to be determined. There are different types of nuclear reactors in use for energy supply. The Canadian-designed CANDU reactor uses natural uranium rather than the enriched uranium required by other reactors.

As a former SaskPower employee, Powalinsky said he has faith in the safety and necessity of adding nuclear power to the energy grid.

“I know that the clean, efficient production of power through hydro and wind farms is very good, but it won’t be enough to keep up to the capacity required for a growing province,” he said.

He described CANDU reactors as particularly “bullet-proof.”

Beyond the power supply, being a host community for service providers to the nuclear industry is already a hot topic. Powalinsky said Prince Albert has been lobbying for months.

“My hope and what we’re lobbying for is to be part of the supply chain or if there’s secondary processing or something of that nature. We know that PA is well positioned geographically. We’ve got air transport, we’ve got rail, we’ve got obviously highway access,” he said.

“So we’re strongly lobbying for our position. And any of these province-wide initiatives that, if it goes northward, we want to be the gateway to the north and not the funnel to the south.”

Adrian Foster, mayor of Clarington, Ont., one of Canada’s most well-known nuclear host communities, told paNOW there are significant benefits, but hopeful mayors should be realistic.

“Every host community wants to host the nuclear supply chain and it’s just not doable,” he said.

“You can’t recreate the business every place that a reactor is coming so figure out what is doable and what is reasonable as you’re moving forward.”

Powalinsky also urged patience. The first reactor is not expected to be operational until 2042.

“It remains to be seen how this will roll out,” he said. “We’re not going to see this happen overnight. It’s obviously going to take years.”

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Municipalities see opportunity in nuclear push

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