Sounds about right. But I worry about the nimby backlash to all this. Where I am in eastern Ontario, there is already blowback (if you’ll pardon the expression) to wind power, let alone more traditionally contentious options like nuclear and hydro dams.
The whole Ontario electrical sector has been hugely mis-managed by NDP, PC and Liberal governments. Even at current power rates, maintenance and upgrade budgets aren’t adequate, let alone expansion, and certainly not new nuclear. The moratorium on offshore wind was exceptionally bad policy as was the half-assed privatization attempt.
The last greenfield nuke plant built in Canada was Darlington and it ended up way over budget (equivalent of $23B in today’s money) and 5 years behind schedule. The Bruce refurbishments have been pretty successful, the Point Lepreau refurbishment, much less so. But new nuclear is a completely different ball of wax. With AECL being sold off to SNC by Harper, we don’t have the domestic talent for new CANDUs anymore. The experience with AP1000s (V.C.Summer, Vogtle) and EPRs (Hinkley Point C, Flamanville, Olkiluoto, Taishan) has been really dismal.
Not just the Bruce refurbishments but the ongoing Darlington one. I would definitely not call the grid upgrades mismanagement either. The new corridor from Bruce to the GTA makes expanding Bruce nuclear and escarpment wind possible, and ice storms aren’t going to be taking down hundreds of 50 year old hydro pylons anymore. We under-invested for 2 decades, and then had to play catch up, which, yes is an example of poor management, but lets give credit where it’s due. There’s plenty of success to point to.
I’ve heard there is talk of adding new reactors at the Bruce site, though it’s basically only that at this point. Talk. Do you think they would not be of the CANDU/heavy water design? That would be unfortunate. I’ve always felt we had good tech but abysmal management in the nuclear sector.
A while back someone was going door to door delivering pamphlets warning people about the nuclear plant and I was like wtf, but this is good news lmao.
Omg I can’t believe that is an actual product. Though tbh I know some people who would buy it.
Once upon a time, I drove to the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. It’s a radio telescope observatory in the middle of nowhere. Around the facility is a no radio/wifi/cellular zone to help reduce noise the telescopes would pick up. But when I got there, I noticed there was a village nearby full of literal tin-hat-wearing conspiracy types who make pilgrimages there to be in emf-free paradise. It was such a strange juxtaposition. You have some of the brightest minds in science coming to the observatory, and right next door, the bat shit crazy…
Sounds about right. But I worry about the nimby backlash to all this. Where I am in eastern Ontario, there is already blowback (if you’ll pardon the expression) to wind power, let alone more traditionally contentious options like nuclear and hydro dams.
The whole Ontario electrical sector has been hugely mis-managed by NDP, PC and Liberal governments. Even at current power rates, maintenance and upgrade budgets aren’t adequate, let alone expansion, and certainly not new nuclear. The moratorium on offshore wind was exceptionally bad policy as was the half-assed privatization attempt.
The last greenfield nuke plant built in Canada was Darlington and it ended up way over budget (equivalent of $23B in today’s money) and 5 years behind schedule. The Bruce refurbishments have been pretty successful, the Point Lepreau refurbishment, much less so. But new nuclear is a completely different ball of wax. With AECL being sold off to SNC by Harper, we don’t have the domestic talent for new CANDUs anymore. The experience with AP1000s (V.C.Summer, Vogtle) and EPRs (Hinkley Point C, Flamanville, Olkiluoto, Taishan) has been really dismal.
Not just the Bruce refurbishments but the ongoing Darlington one. I would definitely not call the grid upgrades mismanagement either. The new corridor from Bruce to the GTA makes expanding Bruce nuclear and escarpment wind possible, and ice storms aren’t going to be taking down hundreds of 50 year old hydro pylons anymore. We under-invested for 2 decades, and then had to play catch up, which, yes is an example of poor management, but lets give credit where it’s due. There’s plenty of success to point to.
I’ve heard there is talk of adding new reactors at the Bruce site, though it’s basically only that at this point. Talk. Do you think they would not be of the CANDU/heavy water design? That would be unfortunate. I’ve always felt we had good tech but abysmal management in the nuclear sector.
A while back someone was going door to door delivering pamphlets warning people about the nuclear plant and I was like wtf, but this is good news lmao.
Reminds me of the lady who was taping up signs on lamp posts trying to get 5G banned in the neighbourhood.
She just needs a Somavedic Amber to block all the 5G waves /s
Omg I can’t believe that is an actual product. Though tbh I know some people who would buy it.
Once upon a time, I drove to the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. It’s a radio telescope observatory in the middle of nowhere. Around the facility is a no radio/wifi/cellular zone to help reduce noise the telescopes would pick up. But when I got there, I noticed there was a village nearby full of literal tin-hat-wearing conspiracy types who make pilgrimages there to be in emf-free paradise. It was such a strange juxtaposition. You have some of the brightest minds in science coming to the observatory, and right next door, the bat shit crazy…