Professor: Ontario Should Turn to AECL for Nuclear Build

The Canadian province of Ontario faces a number of challenges when it comes to its electric grid -- challenges that have lead many pundits and policymakers to suggest that it was time for the province to reconsider nuclear energy. In today's Toronto Star Alan Middleton, a professor at York University, agrees, but said that the province doesn't need to look any further than its own backyard when it comes to a reactor design:

We have a world-class nuclear industry here in Ontario. The CANDU 6 operates in five countries on four continents. In terms of average lifetime capacity factor, the single most important measure of reactor performance, the CANDU 6 fleet ranks well ahead of the French and U.S. reactor fleets. In 2002, the top three CANDU 6 units actually achieved an average 97.1 per cent capacity factor.

CANDU 6 is already licensed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and is considered to be among the safest reactors in the world. CANDU 6 is a proven safe, clean, reliable and affordable solution that is ready to fill Ontario's looming electricity supply gap in the shortest possible timeframe.

Elsewhere in Canada, French oil giant Total told the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) it was thinking of building a nuclear plant in Alberta to help it extract oil from tar sands in that resource-rich Canadian province.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy Environment Energy Politics Technology Economics Ontario Canada AECL