AECL is about to write (and pay for) a report that suggests NB should go ahead with a fancy-pants new reactor, primed to deliver over 1,000 MW of electricity to the United States.
Considering how the federal crown corporation is about to examine the export-worthiness of its own product, perhaps it is too much to ask for due diligence. But it would be really nice if someone at the provincial crown corporation, NB Power, thought hard about this:
- With a utility debt of over $2.9 billion, and average earnings from exports falling in at around a meagre $300 million annually, NB Power isn't necessarily in the best position to expand its load capacity.
- Lepreau I may have been a good investment, but it was built over 25 years ago. Since that time, NB Power generation assets have certainly had a spottier record of performance (Coleson Cove? Belledune?....anyone? Bueller?)
- The Americans are considering building over 25 new nuclear reactors, all with the financial assistance of Congress. Perhaps the New England energy market may not be as lucrative as AECL hopes (prays?) for.
All this to say that a Lepreau II feasibility study is certainly warranted, but perhaps not one that will be written by the folks who want to build the darn thing. Unless, of course, AECL offers to move Deep River, Ontario here to NB. At least that would help this province's population strategy...
UPDATE: According to the optimists, this project - if it goes ahead - won't cost NB taxpayers a dime, and NB Power may not in fact be the operator. Developing...
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