Ecofuels Canada: Fueling Change

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Nuclear power is the only large-scale generation option other than hydro that does not release greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to global warming. Nuclear power presently produces 17% of global electricity and is the world’s fourth largest source of electricity (behind coal, hydro and gas). There are nearly 500 nuclear power reactors worldwide, in 31 countries. Dozens more are planned, mostly in Asia and Eastern Europe.

Canada is a nuclear powerhouse. Fifteen percent of our electricity nationwide comes from nuclear. In 2004, about 50% of electricity in Ontario came from nuclear sources (24.6% came from hydro, 17.5% from coal, 6.5% from oil and gas, and 1.2% from renewables). By 2020, over 80% of Ontario’s existing electrical generation will need to be refurbished.

world nuclear consumption

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waste
We’ve never really figured out what to do with the waste. (Though we’ve debated it well beyond the ‘fatigue’-level.) Right now we store it. First under big pools of water (for the first 5-10 years), and later in big concrete containers. We’ve discussed putting in a big underground storage facility under the Canadian shield, but we never got around to it.

The Canadian Nuclear Association likes to point out that the total amount of nuclear waste generated in 40 years of nuclear power would fill 5 hockey rinks to the boards.

environment
The Canadian Nuclear Association kindly provide the following list of benefits of nuclear Energy:

Nuclear energy does not pollute the air
Nuclear energy produces virtually none of the pollutants that contribute to smog and acid rain
Nuclear energy produces virtually no greenhouse gases
By using Nuclear energy

canada’s role
In Canada, nuclear energy is $5B/year industry responsible for 21,000 direct and 10,000 indirect jobs. Canada is the largest producer of natural uranium providing approximately one-third of total world production. Energy from Saskatchewan’s uranium reserves of 800 million pounds is equivalent to that of 19 billion barrels of oil or 4 billion tonnes of coal. Global resources of uranium (and substitutes) appear to be large enough to remove resource constraint as a limiting factor for Nuclear’s role in global energy supply.

risks
The nuclear industry faces some significant challenges:

The industry has been marred by high cost overruns
There is widespread concern surrounding the risks associated with transport, treatment, storage and disposal of radioactive waste, hindering plant-siting and increasing costs
Governments are concerned that global dissemination of nuclear power technologies increases the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation
An emergent concern of potential vulnerability of nuclear plants to terrorist attack, or to ‘dirty-bombs’ manufactured from radioactive waste

resources
Canadian Nuclear Agency
Articles of Interest
American Nuclear Society
International Atomic Energy Agency
Chernobyl
Scientific Publications
OECD Nuclear Energy Agency