Information session to be held this week on proposed nuclear power plant

Chandra Lye, May 16, 2007, Whitecourt Star -- Town council has offered a formal invitation to Alberta Energy Corporation representatives to come and conduct an information session with the public on May 17 at 7 p.m. at the community hall.

After returning from a tour, at the expense of Alberta Energy Corporation, councillors have spoken up about their support for a nuclear power plant proposed for Whitecourt.
Mayor Trevor Thain said he was impressed by the security of the plant he saw in New Brunswick.
"When you go from one compartment to another compartment within the facility you are checked for any radiation or contaminants before you are allowed to go into the next section," he explained.
Councillor Bill McAree said the waste problem was key on his mind when he visited but "was surprised that after 25 years at how little nuclear waste there was."
"To me it’s a manageable amount. Are the rewards worth the risk? I think there is risk in everything so I tend to like it."
He said if asked today he would vote for it but still feels he needs more information.
"I would like more time to research stuff and talk to people," he said.
"The environment, I think, will be the main benefactor in the long run."

Mayor Thain agreed with Coun. McAree and said using the nuclear power plant to help companies draw more oil out of the ground did balance out environmentally.
"The pollution that would be caused by natural gas pulling that oil out of the ground is going to be eliminated."
"When they are producing oil from the oil sands right now there is sort of a double whammy. There is the greenhouse gases that are formed when they extract the heavy oil, there is the greenhouse gases when they process it and there is the greenhouse gases when it’s actually used. You are still removing one of those streams."
Councillor Nieta World said that the issue was important on a provincial level, not just a local one.
"I would have the same questions no matter where in Alberta they go."
She said she too would vote yes if she was asked to vote right now.
"If it’s going to come to Alberta I want it here," she said and explained that it would bring all the economical benefits to Whitecourt.
However, Councillor Don Guenette said that he did not feel he was informed enough on the topic to make a good decision.
"We haven’t been educated yet. This is not something to be taken lightly and I don’t think its something that at this point in the game we should be asking councillors to vote either way."
"That being said, in my opinion nuclear power is coming to Alberta and we want to make sure that if it’s coming to Alberta and it is a safe solution that it’s something that would benefit our community then I would be interested in looking at."
Counc. Larry McConnell said the tour did not change his opinion.
"So far as I understand what’s happening, when I weigh the risks of the nuclear plant and the positives that are going to the world and to Alberta and to Whitecourt, the positives outweigh the negatives."
Councillors Neil Mombourquette and Derek Schlosser were not available at press time.