A Canadian energy minister says nuclear power is the North American nation’s “only pathway to net zero”, and has told Australia to consider going down the same road.
Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith joined 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Thursday morning to discuss the topic, particularly the largest Canadian province’s proposed move to Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
SMRs are an emerging class of nuclear reactors, more diminutive than conventional reactors, which can be built in one location and then shipped and operated in other suitable sites. China and Russia are so far the only countries to trial the technology.
Mr Smith has spoken to numerous Australian media outlets this week on the merits as the Labor government reaffirms its non-nuclear stance amid growing energy concerns.
Nuclear energy from six major plants produces about 15 per cent of Canada’s electricity, with its government currently looking to mandate a net-zero power grid by 2035.
Much of that is hoped to be derived from nuclear power, which Canada has already used for over half a century.
Speaking to Fordham on Thursday morning, Mr Smith declared, “(Nuclear) is the answer, it’s energy autonomy, it’s energy security, and its reliability that the jurisdictions are looking forward to power their growing communities.”
“Nuclear power is baseload power. It’s there 24/7, 365 days a year,” he said.
“It’s power that you can count on at a very competitive rate – at about 10 cents a kilowatt -and it employs about 76,000 workers in our province and in our country.”
Nuclear energy has been effectively banned in Australia since the late 1990s, but Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen was pressed this month to explain why the ban should continue.
In an op-ed published by the Australian Financial Review, Mr Bowen argued that nuclear energy is the “most expensive form of energy available,” citing studies like GenCost by CSIRO and Australian Energy Market Operator, which found nuclear power more costly than renewables.
Mr Bowen claimed SMRs are an “unproven technology,” claiming Ontario’s plans lack cost estimates and environmental approvals.
He added sluggish construction times and the inflexibility of nuclear as a source of energy to his list of arguments.
The production of nuclear waste was also a significant concern for Mr Bowen, who claimed SMRs generate “no small amount of waste”.
Studies cited suggest that many SMR designs would increase the volume of nuclear waste, complicating waste management and disposal.
However, Mr Smith attempted to rebuke most of Mr Bowen’s points.
He said regarding price in Ontario, “I can only tell you what’s happened here in Ontario, but we’re producing our nuclear power for about 10 cents a kilowatt hour in this province.”
Australian households currently pay between 20c and 40c per kilowatt, depending on the state.
Mr Smith “somewhat” agreed the SMR technology was unproven, though he had faith in the technology Ontario was looking to trial.
“We do have a technology that we’ve chosen here in Ontario that’s based on the boiling water reactor, which is proven technology that we’ve had for 50 or 60 years,” he said.
“It’s just a smaller scaled-down version of what we’ve had operating in North America for a long, long time.”
According to Mr Smith, the entirety of nuclear waste produced by Ontario, which is home to 14.5 million people, “fits on the size of The football field”.
“If you were to go per capita, per person in our country, the amount of waste that one person would consume in their lifetime is the equivalent to a Coke can,” he said, using a widely quoted piece of colour cited by nuclear power proponents.
His biggest argument in favour of nuclear power, however, was an environmental one, arguing it’s a more viable path than renewables to achieving net zero emissions targets.
“It’s non-emitting. Our federal government has come around a long way on nuclear as being the only pathway to net zero because of the reliability factor,” he said.
“The amount of energy that can be produced from a very, very small footprint – you’re talking about a very small chunk of land that produces enormous amounts of megawatts.”
“Our government here moved on wind and solar in a big, big way. And it’s created some serious problems for our system operator.”
“So I would say, in a nutshell, it’s been a very, very big success story for our province.”
The discussion comes as it’s revealed that much of Australia’s power grid will face imminent and substantial reliability problems over the next decade and as soon as this summer. The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) bleak outlook called for swift and substantial investment in electricity generation and transmission.