Holt considers 2nd large-scale nuclear plant at Lepreau

Premier Susan Holt says a second large-size nuclear power plant is back on the table to help address the growing demand for electricity both inside New Brunswick and beyond its borders.

After a decade of rhetoric from three different governments about how small modular nuclear reactors were a faster and cheaper option, Holt says the province will consider a next-generation model of CANDU reactor alongside the original plant at Point Lepreau.

"It's not an either-or," Holt told a news conference Thursday. "There's certainly a case for SMRs that folks have been making.

"I think there's a case for full next-stage nuclear and it's just figuring out which one has the best financial case and is going to meet our needs." 

Holt said the interest of other provinces in next-generation CANDU reactors could create economies of scale. 

"It's changed the financial picture a little bit for what a next full reactor might cost, at a time when the SMR technology development path has been — hasn't gone to the timeline that people maybe anticipated 10 years ago," she said.

Two companies that set up operations in New Brunswick, ARC Clean Energy and Moltex Energy Canada, received tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to develop their models.

But both companies have run into delays in having them ready by their original timeline of 2030, and N.B. Power CEO Lori Clark said earlier this year the utility was looking for "a Plan B" in case they weren't ready. 

Lepreau's existing CANDU unit, which began operating in 1983, hasn't been trouble-free either. 

A 2020 report by New Brunswick's auditor-general said the $1.3 billion cost of building the plant, plus the subsequent $1.3 billion refurbishment and $1 billion price of replacement power during that project, represented the larger part of the utility's $5 billion debt.

Holt said that electricity from Point Lepreau "is the cheapest energy that we sell to New Brunswickers," and it was important to continue achieving that "affordability mandate."

But Green Leader David Coon said besides the huge increase to the utility's debt, nuclear power carries other major costs beyond the expense of processing uranium, including maintenance, staff and security, plus replacement power during breakdowns.

"When you add those all together we know it's the most expensive source," he said.

Holt said it's possible an out-of-province entity could be a co-owner of a new nuclear power plant, suggesting provinces such as Quebec and Prince Edward Island may buy in.