Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Waste Recycling, Pickering and Durham Region

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East In today’s world our energy needs are constantly increasing, especially our need for electrical energy. Because of that, we need an energy source that is reliable, puts less stress on Nature, and is less challenging to the environment. At this point, we can certainly affirm that nuclear energy is one of these kinds of energy. Moreover, we have the technology, the plants and the science to support it. So let us put Canadian ingenuity to work for Canadians once again. Durham region is a hub of nuclear plants in Pickering and Clarington. So let us capitalize on them and keep them working at their best. In addition, it is high time that Durham region had a serious nuclear science center. We could facilitate and capitalize on the rapid evolution this science is likely to undergo if we work at developing it. Look at the example of the rapid strides made in electronics. In just a few decades we have progressed from the invention of the transistor to the very sophisticated integrated circuits and nanotechnologies which enjoy a broad range of applications in our daily lives today. The relevant question is obvious: why can we not accomplish a similar transformation in the field of nuclear reactors? We see efforts to make electric vehicles with improved battery life, but we do not see any research or ideas on miniaturizing nuclear reactors, for vehicle use for example. Such reactors would certainly be better for powering vehicles that the proposed batteries. This suggestion may seem far-fetched, but there is evidence that it is possible. The first nuclear submarine, for example, was created in the middle of the last century. In the early 1950’s, regardless of the challenges faced in developing and operating brand-new technology, Admiral Rickover and his team did not disappoint. They created a highly reliable nuclear reactor in a form-factor that would fit into a submarine hull with no more than a 28-foot (8.5 m) beam. This became known as the S1W reactor. Nautilus was launched and commissioned with this reactor in 1954. Seventy years have passed and we have not seen further miniaturizations of reactors. Therefore, I say, it is time to do some research in this direction right here in the Durham region. To do that, however, we need vision, political will and expertise, all of which is badly lacking in Canada at this time. Imagine having a car that will run for years without needing a fill up! My thinking may be well ahead of its time, but I hope that the future will vindicate me. Anyway, there are some signs that nuclear energy is in the spot light again, although not for the right reasons. Politicians promoting the use of electrical vehicles have mounted pressure for nuclear energy as an answer to the lack of electrical energy for the electric vehicle project. So now, all levels of politicians who proudly professed the elimination of nuclear power plants in the past, especially those in Pickering, are doing an about-face, praising nuclear energy. Both federal and provincial governments have officially recognized the importance of nuclear energy for meeting climate and energy needs. Even so, development and licensing of a new site can take years. Ontario's electricity demand is rising and refurbishing nuclear plants is a way to meet it cleanly and cost-effectively. The Pickering site, which is ideally positioned to supply the Greater Toronto Area with zero-carbon electricity around the clock, is licensed for over 3,000 MW of nuclear capacity. Then, in a move likely unnoticed by most Ontarians, the province has inched closer to quite a change in energy policy. Witness the City of Pickering, which was posed to fully support the dismantling of the Pickering plant in 2020, is now enthusiastic to refurbish it. What an about face in a few short years, by the same people on Pickering Council! Doesn’t their deep expertise amaze you? Of course, nobody seems to be talking or even thinking about the recycling of spent nuclear fuel at any level of government. They seem oblivious to this national treasure in full view. All the most vociferous so-called experts are ready to burry the spent nuclear fuel. Experts in political science rather than nuclear science, they burry their heads in the proverbial sand when they advocate for burying spent fuel. Today we have the technology to recycle spent fuel, thus reducing its radioactivity and getting far more energy out of it. Over the last decade, my own efforts as an MP and Professional Engineer, an endangered species in the House of Commons in Canada; and especially the efforts of Professor Emeritus Peter Ottensmeyer have been ignored. For the record, Peter Ottensmeyer is Professor Emeritus, past Chair of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His educational background is in engineering physics and metallurgy with a postgraduate education in solid state physics and biophysics. The bureaucrats from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) continue to blindly pursue the idea of burying the spent fuel even thought the Nuclear Fuel Act has a provision for a: “Change in Approach Marginal note: New approach — technical innovation 20 (2) If a new technological method is developed that has been the subject of a scientific and technical review by experts from international governmental organizations that deal with nuclear matters and has received their support, the waste management organization may propose, in its triennial report, a new approach for the management of nuclear fuel waste that is based on that new method.”Isn’t it time for Canada to become a leader in the nuclear field once again, by recycling the spent nuclear fuel rather than burying it? We are sitting on a treasure trove in Pickering, and these clowns call it waste! Apart from legacy hydro dams, Ontario’s nuclear fleet makes the cheapest electricity in the province, while abundant natural fuel and a local supply chain shore up our energy security and economy. With some of the lowest fuel costs of any thermal power plant in the world, revenue from Pickering supports nearly 5,000 high-quality jobs at the plant and thousands more in the surrounding area.The sudden love the Ford government has developed for nuclear energy, despite MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy’s former lack of enthusiasm, is also noted. The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) is loaning almost a billion dollars to OPG to build the country’s first grid-scale, small modular reactor (SMR) in Clarington, Ontario. In conclusion, now that Ontario has entered its first energy crunch in decades, and refurbishments at Darlington will be wrapping up, the rationale for moving refurbishment workers to Pickering is stronger than ever. My hope is that politicians at all levels in Pickering will be able to secure a bright future for nuclear energy for the benefit of the city, the province, and Canada. It is up to you to check on them!