Nuclear energy can play a safe role

Tue 08 May 2007

Section: The Editorial Page

Byline: Patrick Moore

When I helped found Greenpeace in Vancouver in the 1970s, my colleagues and I were firmly opposed to nuclear energy. But times have changed. I now realize nuclear energy is the only non-greenhouse gas-emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy Canada's growing demand for energy.

Nuclear power plants are a practical option for producing clean, cost-effective, reliable and safe baseload power in Alberta's oilsands. Nuclear energy is affordable. According to the Canadian Energy Research Institute, nuclear is one of the most cost-effective energy sources available. At less than five cents per kilowatt-hour, nuclear energy is competitive with coal and natural gas, yet has the benefit of not emitting greenhouse gases.

Given that seven CANDU reactors, built in South Korea, China and Romania over the past 15 years, have been completed on time and on budget, as was the most recent Pickering unit refurbishment, it's clear that nuclear power plants are highly reliable and cost-effective. Nuclear energy is safe. In 1979, a partial reactor core meltdown at Three Mile Island frightened people. At the time, no one noticed Three Mile Island was a success story; the concrete containment structure prevented radiation from escaping into the environment.

There was no injury or death among the public or nuclear workers. This was the only serious accident in the history of nuclear energy generation in the West.

Spent nuclear fuel is not waste. Recycling spent fuel, which still contains 95 per cent of its original energy, will greatly reduce the need for treatment and disposal.

Nuclear power plants are not vulnerable to terrorist attack. The 1.5-metre-thick reinforced concrete containment vessel protects contents from the outside as well as the inside. Even if a jumbo jet did crash into a reactor and breach the containment, the reactor would not explode. Nuclear weapons are no longer inextricably linked to nuclear power plants. Centrifuge technology now allows nations to produce weapons-grade plutonium without first constructing a nuclear reactor. Iran's nuclear weapons threat, for instance, is completely distinct from peaceful nuclear energy generation, as they do not yet possess a nuclear reactor.

If the oilsands' projected expansion in production takes place without nuclear power, the expansion will tap out most of the natural gas supply in northern Alberta -- gas that could be sold at a profit to the U.S. for the benefit of all Albertans.

A combination of nuclear energy, wind, geothermal and hydro is the most environmentally friendly way to meet Alberta's, Canada's and the world's increasing energy needs. Nuclear power plants can play a key role in producing safe, clean, reliable baseload electricity.

An adviser to government and industry, Patrick Moore is a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace, and chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. in Vancouver.