The Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. (Image: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission)
An advocacy group is sounding the alarm over NB Power’s bid to renew its nuclear license for an unprecedented 25 years.
The Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB) has objected to NB Power’s request to the federal nuclear regulator for a 25-year extension to its license to operate the 660-megawatt Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.
The matter is currently the subject of a hearing conducted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and marks the first time NB Power has sought a license period this long.
CRED-NB is calling for the licensing period for NB Power to be limited to five years and for the regulator to push the utility to work toward decommissioning Point Lepreau.
NB Power’s current license expires in June 2022.
On a webpage it published to raise awareness of the issue, CRED-NB questioned NB Power’s push for a 25-year license period, alleging the move aims to prevent public input on decisions related to the operation of Atlantic Canada’s sole nuclear plant.
“An entire generation will have their voices silenced about the nuclear plant–a license hearing is the only opportunity for the public to raise concerns about safety, security, health, and environmental issues related to the nuclear plant in New Brunswick,” the organization says.
Gail Wylie, a CRED-NB member and member of the Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians, said the proposed license would last until 2047 and exceeds the CNSC’s recommended 20-year license interval.
“There’s an air of mendacity surrounding all of this, provincially and federally,” said Wylie. She called for more transparent sharing of the information NB Power is using to argue for a 25-year renewal.
“If you really want the public to participate and to understand, you have to include a study or modeling or something you’ve done,” Wylie said.
“The general public is not as well informed as lawyers who are into this stuff. Many might not know to ask for this stuff.”
Group Claims Plant Has Problems
CRED-NB encourages the public to write to the province calling for better consultation and to consider a number of risks CRED-NB has raised the alarm over.
The group claims that nuclear power is costly, that Point Lepreau has fallen short of production targets and gone over budget, and that there are hazards in disposing of radioactive waste.
The organization calls for a thorough off-site nuclear emergency plan and more thorough First Nations consultation. It also cautions that climate-change-generated events, such as heatwaves, could impact the plant.
CRED-NB also says there are inherent dangers to operating a nuclear plant next to the Bay of Fundy, an environment home to numerous federally protected species, and that there are dangers surrounding the production of nuclear waste in a time of global security issues and potential nuclear weapons proliferation.
CRED-NB alleges that the province will face 25 years of nuclear operations without the ability to participate in a public hearing.
“We may decide in five years that we can start to shut down the Point Lepreau plant because we don’t need it anymore,” the organization says.
Utility Response
Huddle reached out to NB Power to ask about CRED-NB’s allegations and received a written response from Representative Dominique Couture. She said the $3.6-billion debt figure from CRED-NB’s webpage is a figure from an Auditor General report published in 2020 and refers to the utility’s debt history since 1970.
“It is an inaccurate number because it does not account for debt repayment over the past 52 years,” wrote Couture.
When asked why the utility is looking for a 25-year license period, Couture wrote that the application is “based on advancements in the safety and reliability of nuclear operating stations, as well as the advancement in the regulatory framework in which we operate.”
She wrote that a 25-year license will coincide with end-of-life decisions and whether the utility refurbishes or decommissions the station.
“A decision will be made based on many factors, such as energy demand, cost, reliability and the environment,” she added.
The Point Lepreau Generating Station is critical, as it is a base-load contributor to New Brunswick’s electrical grid, Couture wrote, adding it supplies about 35 percent of the province’s electricity.
“It produces enough non-emitting electricity to power more than 333,000 homes per year and is a foundational piece of both our domestic energy supply and our export sales,” she wrote.
Point Lepreau contributes to NB Power sourcing 80 percent of its electricity from “clean, renewable, or non-emitting” sources, wrote Couture.
She told Huddle that NB Power has full confidence in the regulatory process and that the utility has a history of reliability, adding that Point Lepreau adheres to world-class safety and performance standards.
She added the CNSC has many public forums, including regulatory oversight reports and routine status updates on reactors.
NB Power hosted four public information sessions in December and March. The utility is also participating in a two-part public hearing process that will be streamed on the CNSC website.
Wylie argued that online hearings aren’t enough when “half of New Brunswick doesn’t have access to the internet. What are people who don’t have a computer going to do?”
NB Power refurbished the Point Lepreau Station in 2012 – a process that extended its life by 30 to 35 years, noted Couture.
Wylie contended much of the debt referred to on CRED-NB’s website is on account of the refurbishment – a process that was expected to take 18 months and cost $1.4-billion, but took more than four years and cost more than $2.4-billion.
Wylie said CRED-NB doesn’t want to see another situation like the 2008 refurbishment that leads to the province “holding the bag” on the costs.
Startup Perspective
Moltex Energy and ARC Nuclear Canada, New Brunswick’s two nuclear startups vying to build a small modular nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau site, both told Huddle they are not directly affected by the utility’s nuclear licensing process because they are in the midst of their own, separate licensing processes.
Erin Polka, vice president of communications for Moltex, said a 25-year license extension to run the Point Lepreau Generating Station would be a potential boon for Moltex.
“Our reactor runs on recycled, spent fuel, so the longer the Point Lepreau reactor is running, the more spent fuel they amass – that’s what we use in our reactor.”
Polka noted Moltex supports NB Power’s push for a 25-year license period, saying” A longer license period will give customers, suppliers and potential investors confidence in the company’s long-term prospects.”
Polka stressed that longer-term licensing intervals are not unusual in other jurisdictions, citing their prevalence in the case nuclear operators in the United States.
“This may offer a model for Canada to consider,” Polka said.
ARC Spokesperson Carol Landry told Huddle that the licensing process for ARC’s technology at the site will be a separate process – and is scheduled to begin in 2023.
The CNSC will make a final licensing decision by June 30.
Sam Macdonald is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
