Back to the Future
Back to the Future: rather than fighting old battles Saskatchewan can lead the way
April 6 2009
In an April 2nd editorial the Saskatoon Star Phoenix characterized NDP leadership candidates who expressed concerns about the Sask Party’s urgency to develop a nuclear reactor as “anti-nukes dragging the NDP into the past.”
This article came the day after, while on a campaign tour in NW Saskatchewan, I stopped to visit Annette Niultcho. Annette is an elder in the community of Buffalo River Dene Nation and a great friend. She asked me “Ryan, why are they talking about building a reactor? We fought against that in the 70’s.” Her story brought it home for me. Building a nuclear reactor in Saskatchewan didn’t make sense then. It doesn’t make sense now. Not when we have so many other options.
Nuclear power is expensive. The most generous estimates peg the cost of nuclear generation to be at least 50 percent higher than generation from renewable sources (18 cents per kilowatt hour for nuclear, compared to 11 cents per kilowatt hour for wind) - and that assumes that this nuclear plant won't experience the kind of cost overruns that have bedevilled nuclear plants around the world.. Like Ontario residents, we stand to be paying capital surcharges on our power bills for generations to come.
Nuclear power is slow. Based on the typical timelines of nuclear plants built elsewhere in Canada, it is doubtful that a Saskatchewan nuclear plant would generate a single kilowatt before 2020.
Nuclear power won't last. The most optimistic assessments show that Saskatchewan would run out of uranium before the end of this century.
Saskatchewan has the greatest potential for wind and solar energy production in the country. We can obtain all of our energy needs from renewable sources such as wind, solar and small-scale hydro rather than non-renewable technologies such as coal, fossil fuels and nuclear power. These can come online much more quickly and less expensively than nuclear power. By taking leadership and becoming early adopters of alternative energy technology we can establish an environmentally and economically sustainable energy industry in the province. We can build an industry that will bring development and jobs that will exceed and outlast any that may come from nuclear development.
We have a limited number of dollars to spend in developing our energy industry. Why waste it on a bridge to nowhere when we can establish a long-term plan? A renewable energy future is more affordable, more efficient and more prudent.
Like the iconic elevators of our prairie landscape, I imagine a future where the small towns, reserves and farms of Saskatchewan boast wind turbines as a testament to their foresight and energy independence. Providing power for the local community and selling it back to the provincial grid for a profit will help to recharge rural Saskatchewan. Most importantly, we won’t run out of wind or sun. This means that rather than our traditional boom-and-bust resource-based economy, we can have a stable base for further development of local economies.
Opposing old and tired solutions and proposing bold inspired solutions will not drag the NDP or the province into the past. It will lead us into the future.
