Posted on June 30th, 2009 by by Steve Aplin

Ontario–federal nuclear negotiation continues, as does CANDU-climate disconnect

Last month the Canadian federal government announced it was going to privatize Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL). The medical isotope part of the business would be separated from power reactors. The feds hoped that this would thereby ease Ontario’s troubled mind as the province, in the middle of finalizing its choice of a vendor to build at least two new reactors at the Darlington generating station, weighed the implications of choosing an AECL encumbered with … read more

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U.S. climate bill set for vote: watch and learn, Canada

Professional climate policy wonks are watching the spectacle south of the Canada-U.S. border, where a House bill on climate change will receive its first major political test Friday. Political wrangling over what industries get covered (or hit, depending on your perspective), and how they are covered (or hit) has virtually ensured that the bill will […]

Canadian carbon offsets: opportunities and problems

Four years ago, I participated in an Environment Canada consultation on creating an offset system for greenhouse gas reductions. My aim was to see that nuclear power projects qualified under the proposed system. If emitters were able to buy down their emissions with nuclear offsets, this would represent a non-government way of financing nuclear power […]

AECL purchase decision depends on Ontario outcome, Areva executive hints

Would Areva, the French nuclear company, buy the power reactor part of Atomic Energy Canada Limited if AECL wins the Ontario reactor competition? I put this question to Jacques Besnainou, president of Areva North America, in a conference call yesterday. The Canadian government decision to sell AECL came as a surprise, was his diplomatic reply. “So we’ll […]

Canadian government spending on climate change: $3.2 billion and counting

A note attached to documents left behind at the CTV studio in Ottawa may hint at the dollar figure the federal government will pitch, or has already pitched, to Ontario to sweeten the province’s incentive to buy Canadian in its nuclear reactor competition. The figure: roughly $538 million. i.e., the same amount that former prime […]

CANDU-Climate communication disconnect continues in Canada

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Nuclear and climate change stories have featured large in Canadian news reports over the past couple of days. You’d never know that the first is an integral part of addressing the second, since there wasn’t a single news story that linked the two issues. This […]

Hydrogen, fuel cells, and the right way forward: Chu vs. the auto industry

In their decades-long efforts to develop effective and affordable climate change policy, most western governments have put a lot of money and effort in two areas: (1) hydrogen, and (2) carbon capture and sequestration. They are on the right track, but they’re going about it in a roundabout way. That could set back progress by decades

Areva’s bold North American gamble: nuclear giant rewrites PR playbook

When it comes to media play, French nuclear giant Areva is a juggernaut. The chart below shows how Areva’s media coverage in the past three months compares quantitatively with that of its two competitors in the Ontario reactor competition. As you can see, Areva out-pulled arch rival Westinghouse three to one, and Ontario incumbent AECL […]

Nuclear power in Alberta II: time to think small, and time for small to think big

Alberta could use nuclear power. Canada’s current economic engine is like one of those carbureted big-block V-8s from the 1970s: impressive power, but lousy fuel economy and lots of emissions. This is because Alberta’s electricity sector is mainly fossil-fired, and because the oilsands use enormous amounts of natural gas

Carbon taxes and the British Columbia election: another experiment in the green policy laboratory

In last October’s federal election, Canadians, and especially British Columbians, were unequivocal about their dislike for a carbon tax. But let’s not forget the context. The election came three and a half months after BC introduced its carbon tax. Gasoline prices were exceptionally high at that time—$1.40 a litre when I filled up outside of […]

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