Utilities and Affordability Minister Nathan Neudorf told an economic development conference in Medicine Hat on Friday that nuclear power should be studied for its potential place in the province's electricity mix.--News Photo Collin Gallant
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Alberta’s utility minister says small nuclear reactors are an opportunity “all across the province,” and he’ll soon open consultations on Albertans’ appetite for new power development over the next 10 years.
The audience of rural municipal administrators, which Nathan Neudorf spoke to in Medicine Hat on Friday, appeared more near-term focused – supportive of firm natural gas-fired power supply or even bringing new coal plants onto the system.
“We’re known innovation in oil and gas, geothermal and hydrogen – small modular nuclear reactors is the next frontier,” Neudorf told the Local to Global Trade forum at the Medicine Hat Lodge.
He later said there is “economic opportunity for communities like Medicine Hat and across the province.
“Building nuclear facilities, either small modular reactors or conventional nuclear power plants, means a lot of job creation. One of your communities could wind up being the new Fort Mac of nuclear energy.”
Small modular reactors (SMRs) are proposed as much smaller than a traditional nuclear plant, producing 300 megawatts of power, enough to power a city like Medicine Hat, rather than 1,000-megawatt units in large plants that are often built in sequences.
Though still in development, the smaller units have been proposed as a solution for remote communities, such as Fort McMurray, where gas is burned to extract oil from sand deposits.
That could knock down total emissions from producing Alberta crude, said Neudorf, but also eventually add stable energy supply, and stable pricing across the province, potentially in a 10-year window.
Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have existing agreements to examine SMR development, and last year, Ontario Power and Capital Power announced a joint study of the potential for private sector nuclear in that province.
This month, private company “Energy Alberta” proposed four conventional plants in the Peace River region, and filed initial federal environmental applications this month.
That approval could be years away, while technology development in SMR could take just as long. As well, capital costs for prototypes are currently much higher than expected, but could fall as technology matures and becomes standardized.
Dustin Wilkes is the head of Nucleon Energy, a Calgary-based company developing a potential SMR site near Bonnyville.
He told delegates that small-scale reactors could have a place in the energy mix, but siting is important, while larger developments could wreak havoc on utility transmission systems.
“There’s no power line in the province that could handle 4 gigawatts,” he told delegates,
For SMR development, “The stakeholder piece becomes a caveat along with the design (costing) process.”
He said power costs to produce could eventually fall in the 5- to 6-cent per kilowatt range – about where the Alberta market is now with a mix of gas and renewables.
Neudorf said Alberta’s power needs are not critical, and the longer timeline could be of benefit as the technology improves.
The province has a surplus of power generation, about 25,000 megawatts of production capacity to meet a peak demand of about 12,000.
Neudorf’s ministry is also promoting the province for large data-processing centres, and plans to change market and transmission rules over the next year.
“Our next step is to engage with Albertans and find out how they feel about nuclear energy,” said Neudorf. “We’ve already heard a lot of feedback that the general attitude and sentiment in Alberta has shifted significantly in the last 15 years, when it was last talked about in a significant way.”
Newell County Reeve Arno Doerksen said he supports studying the idea, but “we’re living in an age moving away from ideology and back to economics, and it’s high time.”
“That tells me that we should keep our eyes focused on what coal can do for us,” he said. “We can still get ready for the day when nuclear is viable.”
Jay Slemp, the former chair of the Special Areas Board and recent chair of the Palliser economic Partnership, lives in Hanna. Concerns there were high years ago when the coal power phase-out began.
Now, large power plants have been converted to burn natural gas, but could be challenged under more-strict emissions standards.
“You have all that (power line) infrastructure there for base-load power,” said Slemp.
“Natural gas is the future for us, and without the base load we’re intermittent, and we can’t operate that way.”
