While Alberta can be better known for its oil and gas industry, a conference in Edmonton this week is promoting another form of energy: nuclear.
“The potential is tremendous here,” said May Wong, Senior Vice President of Power Generator Capital Power, which is exploring the possibility of building small modular reactors (SMRS) In Alberta.
“We have a time in the time in which we can transform our industry and create a new industry.”
Smaller on scale and production than a traditional nuclear reactor, SMRs are built in a factory; In theory, they are cheaper, safer and more fast to build, and can be used in less populated regions.
There is already nuclear energy in New Brunswick and Ontariowith ontario depending on nuclear to more than half of its electricity. The province also has plans to increase its nuclear capacity through the use of SMrs, an initiative that caused Ottawa Ottawa’s list “Nation construction projects”
Now the buzz has arrived in Alberta; The province recently established a Expert panel to explore the possibility of building reactors and minister Danielle Smith, who has expressed reservations On renewable energies such as wind and solar energy, he said “there are I like much on nuclear “.
Alberta has been here before. In 2008, it also established a panel To explore the potential of nuclear energy, but a decade and a half later, there are no nuclear reactors to see.
So what has changed this time?
Ideal ‘Time
The attractiveness of nuclear energy is that it can provide a lot of long -term reliable electricity without much on the path of emissions, said Nathan Neudorf, Alberta Accessibility and Profits Minister, in an interview outside the SMR Forum in Edmonton.
Part of the appeal is that Alberta does not go alone, he said. Instead, the province would be climbing a global car.
Countries Around the world They are struggling to increase their nuclear capacity as a way to ensure a stable and low carbon source. And great name Technology companiesLike Microsoft, Google and Amazon, they are signing large acquisition contracts to ensure a constant nuclear energy supply for their growing AI and cloud services.
“All those things work together to create this time … making it ideal,” said Neudorf.
The renewed urgency around nuclear energy is partly driven by the expectations that the demand for electricity rocket Worldwide in the coming decades due to the growing demand for everything, from air conditioning to electric cars and AI data centers.
Alberta, in particular, also affirmed with the demand driven by a strong increase in population and the plan of the province to become a center For AI data centers.
Scott Henuset, the Energy Alberta CEO, made a similar point. His company plans to build a nuclear power plant in northern Alberta, although with a more traditional candu style reactor Instead of SMRS.
“We believe he has a place in all west of Canada, ensuring power [supply] And increasing the stability of the network, “Henuset said in a zoom interview this week.
But the nuclear energy economy in Alberta could raise a challenge; Capital costs in advance are high, which could make it a more difficult sale in a province where natural gas is abundant and already provides the in bulk of electricity.
The projected cost to develop four SMR at the Darlington Energy Plant of Ontario is approximately $ 21 billion, while a large -scale nuclear installation in Georgia questioned $ 35 billion in the US. UU. For two reactors built from the crash.
“At this time, the use of natural gas is obviously cheaper,” said Dustin Wilkes, president and CEO of Nucleon, based in Calgary, a SMR project developer. “In the short term, it is very difficult.”
Natural gas competition
History has shown that this is the case.
In it early 2000sThe Alberta energy, then directed by Scott Henuset’s father, Wayne, was exploring the possibility of building reactors near Peace River. The company was later bought by Bruce Power, based in Ontario, but when the price of natural gas collapsed a few years later, the project was discarded, Henuset said.
While the price of natural gas remains low Today, the global appetite for nuclear energy has created a very different investment climate, said Henuset. The costs in advance can be high, he said, but the long -term reward will be worth how long Nuclear plants can work and how much demand It is expected for electricity in the coming decades.
“There is economic viability for nuclear energy; we would not be looking at it if it weren’t there,” said Henuset.
When it comes to SMRs, in particular, Wong, with capital power, says that the costs of small prefabricated reactors will probably decrease over time, a resonant prediction by observers and researchers in the industry.
Wilkes said that although nuclear energy is new to Alberta, the advantage of the province is its deregulated electricity system, which allows private operators to build and compete to sell energy to the market.
Even so, there are many details that must iron before someone begins to divide the atoms.
Wong said that while the nuclear attraction is that an energy plant can work for a long time, once built, the equipment is relatively easy to maintain or update, it also means the costs of operating it and the necessary security protocols must also be taken into account in many decades.
And nuclear waste produced by electric plants should be considered; There has been a heated debate in Ontario when possible places to store the material are chosen.
“Because it is a very long duration, from a development perspective, as well as a [operational perspective]That uncertainty increases much more than traditional technology, “Wong said.
The Minister of Public Services, Neudorf, said the province must first listen to Albertaos if they want nuclear energy first. An online survey that seeks public contributions has just closed on Thursday, while a request for industry information and local governments is open until October 25.
Public opinion and social acceptance could be a point of conflict, considering concerns about the safe storage of nuclear waste and some high profile problems with nuclear power plants in the past.
A 2009 report commissioned by the Alberta government did not make recommendations on whether the province must proceed with the development of a nuclear energy plant industry, while details how each form of electricity production has its compensation, such as emissions, water use and general expenses.
At the UN Climate Conference of the COP28 in 2023, Canada and several other countries made the understanding of tripling the amount of nuclear electricity worldwide by 2030.
As for Henuset and Wilkes, the two CEOs expect it to take some place around a decade so that their respective projects are put into operation.
At that time, they say, the demand for electricity will be even greater, and the case of nuclear will be more convincing.
“We believe in the long term … that nuclear energy wins,” Wilkes said.
