Quote:
Originally Posted by GP_Matt
From what I know of the attempts by Bruce Power to build nuclear in Alberta the sticking point was rates. In order to build the plant Bruce or any other company will want a guaranteed rate for the lifespan of the plant. The sticking point is in finding a rate that rate payers and the provider can agree to. Right now I think the gap is too large. Most likely because coal power is so cheap.
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What else do you know about that? I've been trying to contact Bruce about their proposal and have had no response. Their reactor isn't even on the queue for projects on the AESO site anymore. SNC almost bought out AECL (who owns a portion of Bruce) last year, but that deal fell through as well.
I've also tried to contact the guys who were involved with EAC who got bought by Bruce, but they're ghosts at this point.
It would seem to me that a JV with a dedicated customer (i.e. large industrial project) would be a better fit than selling to the grid, where power supply and cost certainty would be a good thing for the project on both sides of the equation.
Coal is losing is cost competitiveness, especially if the end user ends up getting hit with the carbon emission penalties that are in place, particularly once a coal plants gets to be beyond 40 years old. The incentives to build new coal are dropping off - nat gas does seem to be the next best alternative in this respect, but there is also the spectre of carbon tax...
From what I understand, the Bruce Whitemud project was to be an ACR1000 reactor which is a third generation AECL design and probably quite expensive, and unproven. I believe it does have the ability to use Mixed Oxide fuels (and thus accept some thorium), but it is not as nice as the molten salt designs which can be predominantly Thorium based.
Also, I thought a lot of nuclear reactors take a loss on their electricity at times and make a large portion of their profits on the sale of things like radioactive isotopes for use in medicine, enriched plutonium for warheads, and other by-products... it would be interesting to see this kind of data.
All I know is that I don't particularly want a high pressure water cooled reactor in Alberta (or anywhere for that matter) when a superior design exists and should be developed further.