Don Morgan, Minister responsible for SaskPower, made an announcement earlier this week about a timeline for the first Small Modular Reactor in Saskatchewan. (980 CJME)

By Rob Mahon

Nuclear Power Questions

Province bullish on nuclear power, but environmental groups have concerns

Jun 29, 2022 | 11:00 AM

Though the first of them may be a long way from being built, there is some excitement in Saskatchewan about the prospect of small modular reactors (SMR) coming to the province. One group, however, wants to temper that excitement.

As the Saskatchewan government touts SMRs as a path toward generating green energy, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society has some concerns. They don’t think these reactors will be the safest or cheapest way forward.

“We think there are much better alternatives,” said Ann Coxworth, a researcher with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society. “There are a number of problems with nuclear reactors of any form. We have cheaper, safer alternatives that would enable us to cut down our greenhouse gas emissions substantially.”

According to Coxworth, there are two main concerns with using nuclear reactors to generate power. The most pressing of the two is what to do with the waste produced by these reactors and what harm that waste can cause. After all, nuclear waste can remain hazardous for tens of thousands of years.

“Really, the world has no experience of managing hazards that are that long-lived,” Coxworth said. “We do not have in place in Canada a system for long-term management of nuclear waste.”

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The second major concern is the risk of nuclear materials being diverted for military use, though Coxworth admitted that was unlikely. Her main focus is on the issue of waste, though that’s by no means the last issue.

“It’s also an expensive option,” Coxworth said, “and one that hasn’t been altogether successful with the larger scale reactors. They do go out of service like any other industrial plant. They don’t provide the energy security that’s often suggested they can do.”

Coxworth wants to see Saskatchewan explore other alternatives to nuclear power before diving into this field. Solar and wind power are often among the suggested alternatives, with Saskatchewan having ample supplies of both.

“The energy storage systems are really important because of the intermittency of the renewable sources,” said Coxworth. “We’d be looking at a lot of energy efficiency procedures, we’d be looking at the import of hydro from Manitoba. Probably what really makes sense is a system of interchange of energy between Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan because we have different resources that are in place at different times.”

Coxworth added nuclear power had been very successfully promoted in Canada and looks to a lot of people as an easy solution to the problem of green energy.

The province has said the first SMR in Saskatchewan would not be operational until 2034.

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robmahon@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @RobMahonPxP