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It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission gave Bruce Power a B report card overall for 2007, with calls for improvement in three areas at the Bruce A site. Ken Lafreniere, the CNSC director of Bruce Regulatory Program Division said Bruce Power is a "good nuclear licensee" that makes "adequate provisions" to keep in line with the Nuclear Safety and Control Act. "All of the facilities that are licensed meet the requirements and meet them well," Lafreniere said at the Davidson Centre Tuesday night. "It's a complex site and there's a lot of activity going on." Bruce Power got an A for emergency preparedness at both the Bruce A and B nuclear sites, with the regulator's staff noting no "degradation in the program or weaknesses in its implementation."

"Bruce Power is investigating what caused a "small spill" of radioactive heavy water, which forced workers to evacuate Unit 6 about 3 a.m. Monday. Workers were conducting maintenance at that Bruce B reactor, which has been down for planned service and inspections since May 14, when a spill occurred, Bruce Power reported in a news release Monday. An alarm sounded after the equivalent of a "barrel" of the reactor moderator water spilled, Bruce Power spokesman John Peevers said in an interview Tuesday. The spill occurred "as part of" maintenance activities according to a news release posted to Bruce Power's website. "The spill was immediately isolated and routed to a collection tank," the release said. All workers were allowed to return a few hours later, Peevers added. "

Chalk up another milestone for Bruce Power. The executive assistant to the President of Bruce Power, James Scongack says last week's announcement of the make-up of the joint review panel to look into the proposed Bruce Power new nuclear power plant project is significant. Scongack says the quick announcement shows the government is interested in Bruce Power moving ahead with its environmental impact statement.

Citing falling demand for electricity in Ontario, Bruce Power announced Thursday it has cancelled plans to build two new nuclear generating stations at Nanticoke on Lake Erie and in Bruce County. Instead, the Bruce Power said in a statement that it will refurbish the two plants it currently leases from the provincial government in Port Elgin on Lake Erie. "These are business decisions unique to Ontario and reflect the current realities of the market," said Duncan Hawthorne, Bruce Power's president and chief executive. "Our focus has always been to find the best way to provide Ontario with a long-term supply of 6,300 megawatts. For more than five years, we've examined our options and refurbishing our existing units has emerged as the most economical."

"Up to 217 workers may have been exposed to nuclear radiation at a Bruce nuclear power plant near Owen Sound, Ont., says the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in a document released Tuesday. The nuclear safety watchdog first confirmed last month that workers who were upgrading the Bruce A Unit 1 reactor may have been exposed to radiation. A routine airborne sample taken on the morning of Nov. 26 at the plant threw up some red flags, according to a preliminary report by Bruce Power. Further testing of samples uncovered the presence of alpha particles, which can damage human tissue and cause cancer. The number of workers who may have been affected by the incident was unknown until Tuesday, when the CNSC, the safety commission, filed a report with new details on the November incident. The report later appeared on Scribd.com, an online site for publishing and sharing documents. "

"Critics slam plan, regulators downplay risks The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station plans to ship 1,760 tonnes of radiation-laced steel through Lake Ontario - a precedent-setting project that has officials worried on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. On April 1, Bruce Power asked the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Canada's nuclear regulator, for a licence to ship low-level radioactive generators from its power plant on Lake Huron to Sweden, where 90 per cent of the metals inside the generators are to be cleansed and resold. The remaining materials that are too radioactive to be recycled will then return to the Bruce plant to be contained for the rest of their radioactive lives. But the planned journey, which would have 16 decommissioned steam generators travel through the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence River and then to Sweden this fall, has municipal officials concerned because they haven't been given the chance to vet the proposal. If approved, this would be the first time a licence has been issued by the commission to ship nuclear waste through the Great Lakes."

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission released draft guidelines on April 7th for the environmental review of two separate projects proposed for the Bruce Nuclear Station near Kincardine, on the eastern shore of Lake Huron. Bruce Power Inc. and Ontario Power Generation are the proponents for the projects. Bruce Power is proposing the construction of up to four new nuclear reactors at the existing Bruce Nuclear Site, located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, north of Kincardine. The project is expected to generate approximately 4,000 megawatts of electricity to the Ontario grid.

It is only logical that safety, security and the management of radioactive waste would concern local residents as we learn of Bruce Power's plans for our region. These are issues which are of concern to people around the world, particularly those living in close proximity to nuclear facilities. With regard to potential terrorist attacks, Monte Sonnenberg noted in Friday's article, "Bruce Power takes the occasion of these meetings to boast of its readiness in the face of all threats." Bruce Power's informational literature includes a photo of a security team and vehicle deployed at their Tiverton plant. While the swat team and armoured vehicle may inspire confidence today, let's remember that these paramilitary commandos must keep this radioactive material secure for thousands of years. Bruce Power's own Fact Sheet #5 informs us that "The required isolation period may be for tens, hundreds or even thousands of years depending upon the radioisotopes present in the waste and their concentration." Last week, Britain's Oxford Research Group think tank released a paper for the Institute for Public Policy Research warning that the new generation reactors, like the three models short-listed for Nanticoke, risk proliferation that could lead to "nuclear anarchy." The report notes that the new type of reactor produces large amounts of plutonium as a by-product. Plutonium is used to make the most efficient nuclear weapons.

"Groups opposed to a Bruce Power plan to ship 16 steam generators, considered intermediate-level waste, through Owen Sound and the Great Lakes en route to Sweden for recycling are circulating a resolution to municipalities and other organizations calling for an end to the proposal. A Bruce Power spokesman said the company sees moving the 100-tonne generators more as a traffic issue than one of nuclear safety. "Everyone has the right to express their opinions, but we don't see any risk in this," said Peevers. The resolution being circulated by groups such as Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Beyond Nuclear and the Nuclear Information and Resource Centre (NIRC) has collected signatures from a few hundred anti-nuclear, First Nations, environmental, and physicians groups from across Canada, the United States and countries around the world. In Bruce County, Citizens for Renewable Energy out of Lion's Head is opposed to the shipment of steam generators off the site. Hundreds of individuals have also signed, including Inverhuron's Eugene Bourgeois, Dr. Paul J. Eisenbarth of Hanover and Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley. "

he Bruce Power nuclear generating station has shut down one of its reactors. The problem isn't mechanical -- it's because there isn't enough demand for the electricity generated by the station. Spokesperson Steve Cannon says the manufacturing slowdown caused by the recession and a cooler summer have left Bruce Power with a surplus. Cannon says a 795-megawatt reactor will be offline for at least a few more days and follows a brief shutdown in June for similar reasons. He says it's not something they like to do because nuclear plants are designed to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cannon says the shutdown doesn't affect any jobs and that all other units at Bruce Power remain online and available for service.

"The number of workers at Bruce Power being tested for exposure to alpha radiation has risen to 190 from 19 and some workers have balked at working in the affected area. However, no one yet has fallen ill or shown levels above recommended guidelines. "We always knew it was going to expand," Bruce spokesman Steve Cannon said Thursday. "People are naturally concerned. It's totally understandable and we appreciate that. We're going to do everything we possibly can to let people understand that all precautions are being taken." Crews working to restart the Bruce A Unit 1 reactor in November first discovered the problem through routine air monitoring. Alpha radiation, typically associated with old or degraded fuel bundles, can cause radiation sickness if it's breathed in but can't penetrate the skin. Work was stopped while the area was ventilated with HEPA filters but has since recommenced, Cannon said. "

"Bruce Power has added 40 long-term employees to a growing list of workers being tested for exposure to alpha radiation, company spokesman John Peevers said Monday. "This is just another step based on what we learned from the restart project," Peevers said. "We put a number of measures in place to protect employees, to better monitor alpha, and now we're looking back historically to see if any of our long-term employees in operations have had any exposure to alpha over their career." The company unexpectedly discovered alpha radiation when workers were doing Jprep work -- cutting and grinding down tubes that had carried coolant as part of the Bruce A Unit 1 restart project. Similar work on Unit 2 had been done without incident. The first hint of airborne alpha radiation in the Unit 1 nuclear vault came during a routine air sample test on Nov. 26, 2009. Two days later, a similar radiation spike was found but the company didn't find out it was alpha radiation until Dec. 21. "We have always been looking for alpha but we were using . . . industry standard assumptions" based on ratios of beta-gamma radiation which are quite common in nuclear plants, Peevers said. The company now knows "that the ratios weren't as accurate as we wanted." "

The recession appears to be having little impact on a multibillion-dollar bid by Ontario-based Bruce Power Ltd. to bring the first nuclear reactors to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Bruce Power chief executive Duncan Hawthorne says long-term atomic power projects may be able to sidestep the current global economic turmoil because they wouldn't actually be built for several years. "The economic climate is a cause for concern for all of us," Hawthorne said in an interview.

People apparently opposed to nuclear power in Alberta have depicted their views on at least one billboard that touts the controversial technology. Bruce Power, an Ontario company exploring nuclear development in the province, has put up billboards pitching the power source as a clean energy alternative in four Alberta communities. But one of the company's ads recently was painted over with a glowing, dead cow with a nuclear symbol branded on its rump and the slogan "A New Brand of AB Beef." There was also a radioactive symbol painted in the "o" in Bruce Power's name. Albert Cooper, a spokesman with Bruce Power, shrugged off the graffiti. "It's not a big deal," he said. "We simply replaced the board and moved on." Still, photos of the billboard were circulated among anti-nuclear advocates.

After years of rumours and speculation, Bruce Power announced yesterday it will begin an environmental assessment on the impacts of a nuclear power station in Haldimand County. Bruce Power has optioned 800 hectares within the Lake Erie Industrial Park from US Steel Canada Inc. and is considering building two reactors to generate between 2,000 and 3,000 megawatts of electricity.

Proposed plans by Bruce Power to build two new nuclear reactors on the shores of Lake Erie met with strong opposition from the Ontario government Friday. The only private nuclear generating company in Canada will conduct an environmental assessment as it considers building two reactors at the former Stelco lands in Nanticoke in southwestern Ontario. Bruce has an option to buy the land from Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, which bought out Stelco, but it won't actually purchase the lands before the environmental assessment is completed.

The Bruce Power partnership predicts a nuclear plant in the Peace River region of Alberta would contribute $12 billion to the province's economy during the construction period and would generate 2,700 long-term jobs. "While more detailed work needs to be done, this early report paints a good picture of the economic benefits our proposal could bring to the Peace Country," Duncan Hawthorne, president of Bruce Power Alberta, said in releasing the partnership's study Tuesday.

Bruce Power has temporarily withdrawn its application to prepare a site for a nuclear power plant near Peace River, and is now considering a second site. In a letter to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the nuclear power company says a new site was chosen partly because concerns were raised about an aquifer near the first location. The second site is on the west bank of the Peace River, about 30 kilometres north of the town. The original site is on the northeast shore of Lac Cardinal, about 30 kilometres west of the town. It was selected by Energy Alberta, which Bruce Power bought last March.

"The future of nuclear energy will have stiff competition with competing green renewable and future novel technologies that have a higher approval rating with the public. There is an especially strong grassroots pro sustainable movement in Calgary that doesn't involve the nuclear energy equation. The question whether the public's disapproval of nuclear energy will force governments that are part of the GNEP to reconsider is likely not a scenario that will come to fruition. With an increasingly energy hungry world, it looks as if nuclear power is here to stay on a local and global level. In time, engineers and scientists may solve the nuclear waste issue and come up with new ways to appease the skeptics who are pro sustainable energy that doesn't involve nuclear. "