Nuclear Power-TS – Living Green Barrie

The Editor
The Toronto Star.
lettertoed@thestar.ca

June 22, 2008

Nuclear Power

Dear Sir,

The suggestion that, somehow, nuclear power can do better than it has in the past simply flies in the face of the facts

You quite plausibly explain part of Darlington’s past cost overruns. However, not long ago, Pickering A, Unit #1 was refurbished. In August 1999, project cost was estimated at $213 million, and completion was expected by January 2002. When the dust finally settled, it was completed in November 2005, and the final tab was $1016 million – 4 times the estimate!

AECL just abandoned the two Maple reactors at Chalk River. These were only 8 years behind schedule, and it is obvious no amount of work or money was going to fix whatever problem plagues their design.

And it’s not just AECL. Areva, the French nuclear behemoth, contracted to build a reactor at Olkiluoto, in Finland. In 1992, they suggested this would cost €2.5 billion. When the final contract was signed, the cost has grown to €3.2 billion. Construction began in August 2005. By December 2006, just 16 months into the project Areva admitted they were 18 months behind schedule and €507 million over budget!

At that time, Finland’s nuclear regulator inspected the work and declared that some major problems would require fixing . . . more money . . .

How many chances should nuclear power get? Personally, I prefer spending my hard earned money on energy efficiency – partly out of fear that nuclear power will be completely unaffordable!

Sincerely,

Peter Bursztyn (Ph.D.)

View Other "Letters To The Editor"