Nuclear future for oilsands?

Neil Waugh, May 11, 2007, Edmonton Sun -- The Nuke of the North is back on the hot seat with Energy Alberta's proposal to site a CANDU reactor somewhere in the province.

And while Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. has been trying to convince somebody - anybody - to build a nuclear power plant in the oilsands for decades, EA president Wayne Henuset brings a new sense of urgency to the project. He will soon be filing a preliminary application with federal regulators.

Henuset has exposed yet another fault in the Alberta Tories' oilsands strategy, which can best be summarized as cut the royalty and let 'er rip.

"They're in a gas crisis now," Henuset told the Edmonton Sun's editorial board recently. "Every oil company in the tar- sands is looking for energy alternatives."

It looks like somebody forgot that you have to burn a lot of energy to make synthetic crude. And with the development of deeper "in situ" technology - where the bitumen is literally steamed to the surface - natural gas consumption is going to soar.

Henuset proposes to use power production from the proposed 2,200-megawatt nuclear plant to replace the gas needed for bitumen extraction. Whitecourt and Peace River have already shown an interest in hosting the project, which could create 1,000 jobs.

The feds are obviously on board. They own AECL. And Henuset claims the provincial PCs have also changed their tune. The Tories once favoured nuclear power in the oilsands, but only if the plant was built in Saskatchewan, where the uranium comes from.

Certainly, with the impending gas "crisis," the Nuke of the North clearly has its attractions if you ignore Chernobyl and Three Mile Island and focus on the CANDU reactor's exemplary safety record.

With the Alberta government now joining the crusade against hydrocarbons and greenhouse gases, going nuclear offers politically correct power without emissions.

The myopic Tories have clearly backed Albertans into a corner when it comes to gas in the oilsands. Nuclear power is back in town with a new purpose.

Let the debate begin.