I heard the incoming premier of Ontario this morning telling representatives of the province’s South Asian community about her desire for stronger economic connections between Ontario and South Asia. That is encouraging to me: Canada has recently “re-normalized” nuclear trade with India, the biggest South Asian economy, after three decades of petulantly cold-shouldering that country over strategic choices it was forced to make in the 1960s and 1970s. There is a very strong connection between the civilian nuclear sectors in India and Ontario. Ontario was, as I have said, the proving ground for the CANDU reactors that were at eight a.m. this morning generating 9,710 megawatts of carbon-free electricity in this province. The first exports of CANDUs were to South Asia: several to India, in the late 1960s and early 70s; one in 1972 to Pakistan. Because of those exports, and the collaborative exchange of human resources and knowledge that accompanied them, most of India’s domestic nuclear power reactors are either CANDUs or based on CANDUs.
Equipment for the Bruce A restart, in its time Canada’s biggest infrastructure project. This is what thousands of jobs look like. A scene like this at the Darlington station east of Oshawa would also mean thousands of jobs, and, in light of premier-designate Wynne’s recent gesture to the Ontario South Asian community, the possibility of thousands more—in both Ontario and India.
The incoming premier has several decisions to make regarding Ontario CANDUs, which as mentioned are by far Ontario’s most important energy source. These decisions relate to a life extension at the Pickering B generating station east of Toronto, and the refurbishment of the Darlington station east of Oshawa. Both projects are vital for ensuring Ontario has enough cheap, clean power to function as a modern industrial jurisdiction. And both are major jobs magnets: the recently completed Bruce A restart employed well over 3,000 high skilled, high paid workers, and injected huge economic stimulus into the area around the plant. At its height, it was by far the biggest infrastructure project in the country.
The Pickering and Darlington projects will be the same.
And, apropos of premier-designate Wynne’s outreach to the South Asian community, there are breathtaking opportunities for nuclear trade between Ontario-based companies and India. Ontario’s long-term energy plan calls for 2,000 megawatts of new nuclear capacity. If that capacity were to be based on the CANDU EC6, then Ontario could re-open a major new export industry, with South Asia being a huge new market.
As I said last week, the stroke of a pen could make this so.
What’s the deal with that massive crane? Was the top of the containment building removed to allow access for refurbishment?
The crane was used to remove the old boilers and set the new boilers in place.
This isn’t related to the article specifically, but I wondered if a clever engineering mind associated with this site could offer some help.
I’m wondering how many tons of avoided emissions are represented by the used material to be placed in the deep geologic repository they are currently trying to site in Ontario.
A protest group has organised a meeting in our area for tomorrow. If the total amount of waste represents all of Ontario’s fleet plus Quebec and New Brunswick…the other side of the equation needs to be recognized as well. As in this waste represent x billion tons of avoided Co2, sulphur dioxide, mercury etc. and if used as future fuel in next generation reactors it represents y billion more in avoided emissions.
Anybody willing to make an educated guess at this at least for a talking point? Thanks.