NB Power signs small modular reactors agreement with South Korea nuclear operator
While Indigenous leaders from New Brunswick are raising concerns about nuclear waste in Ottawa, NB Power’s CEO is signing on to a trilateral agreement including one of the world’s largest nuclear operators.
The agreement between NB Power, Saint John-based ARC Clean Technology, and Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power has the goal of “establishing teaming agreements for global SMR fleet deployment,” according to a statement from all three companies on Wednesday.
None of the three CEOs, including Lori Clark from NB Power and Bill Labbe from ARC, were made available for an interview on Wednesday. The agreement was signed at the Reuters SMR and Advanced Reactor 2024 Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
NB Power is planning to add an ARC-100 small modular reactor at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station by 2030, and made an application for site preparation last year. The New Brunswick government has a goal, as stated in its 12-year-energy plan, to add 600 megawatts of SMR energy production to the provincial grid by 2035.
NB Power and ARC Canada have touted small modular reactors as carbon-free energy powered by spent nuclear waste, announcing other SMR agreements with Saskatchewan and seven New Brunswick First Nations.
On Tuesday, Green Party leader Elizabeth May countered claims about small modular reactors being a climate change solution, in a Parliament Hill news conference alongside Chief Hugh Akagi of the Peskotomuhkati Nation and Grand Council Chief Ron Tremblay of the Wolastoqey Nation.
“(Small modular reactors) don’t decrease nuclear waste, they increase nuclear waste,” said May. “They increase high level nuclear containments that must remain isolated from the biosphere for hundreds of thousands of years.”
Grand Chief Tremblay criticized a federal plan to eventually transport nuclear waste from Point Lepreau (and other Canadian nuclear generating plants) to a site in Ontario, calling it “very dangerous.”
“From Point Lepreau, to where the proposed dumping site is, it’s over 2,000 kilometres,” said Tremblay. “That’s a long haul.”
For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Drive one of these vehicles? You may pay 37 per cent more than average insurance costs due to thefts
As the number of auto theft incidents rises in Canada, so have insurance premiums for drivers, even the ones whose vehicles aren't stolen.
'I'm not wealthy': Ontario senior shocked she owes $40,000 in capital gains after gifting land
An Ontario senior who wanted to help her daughter and grandson eventually own homes one day decided to give them two lots on her property as a gift—but she didn’t know it would eventually cost her tens of thousands of dollars.
NDP want Liberals to scrap proposed election date change that could secure pensions for many MPs
The federal New Democrats want to amend the Liberal government's electoral reform legislation to scrap the proposal to push back the vote by a week and consequently secure pensions for dozens of MPs, CTV News has learned.
Israel's war cabinet minister moves to dissolve parliament: statement
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz's centrist party has proposed holding a vote to dissolve parliament in a bid to bring about an early election, his party said in a statement on Thursday.
DEVELOPING BMO clients face outages in Canada, U.S. following data centre fire alarm
Bank of Montreal clients on both sides of the border Thursday morning have reported outages with banking services. BMO said its technical team is investigating.
Exorbitant fees get Gazans out with no help from Ottawa
The comforting sound of giggling grandchildren has chased away the cloud of anxiety that has loomed over Mohammed and Intisar Nofal's home for the past seven months.
Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., begins RBC Canadian Open defence
Nick Taylor begins the defence of his RBC Canadian Open title this morning.
B.C. mortgage broker ran $270-million Ponzi scheme, then fled Canada, bankruptcy trustee says
The trustee appointed to manage the bankruptcies of a Victoria mortgage company and its owner has concluded that they committed "numerous offences" and operated as a "massive Ponzi scheme."
Want to turn off Meta AI? You can't - but there are some workarounds
If you use Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram, you've probably noticed a new character pop up answering search queries or eagerly offering tidbits of information in your feeds, with varying degrees of accuracy.