{"id":13909,"date":"2016-07-12T12:37:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T16:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/?post_type=news&p=13909"},"modified":"2020-03-10T13:55:05","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T17:55:05","slug":"testimony-senate-committee-energy-environment-natural-resources-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2016\/07\/12\/testimony-senate-committee-energy-environment-natural-resources-2\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u00e9moignage au Comit\u00e9 s\u00e9natorial permanent de l\u2019\u00e9nergie, de l\u2019environnement et des ressources naturelles"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\u00e9moignage par John Barrett, pr\u00e9sident et chef de la direction, Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne<\/strong><\/strong>
\nau Comit\u00e9 s\u00e9natorial permanent de l\u2019\u00e9nergie, de l\u2019environnement et des ressources naturelles
\n21 avril 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Nuclear Association is a national industry association founded in 1960 to raise awareness of the many benefits that civil nuclear technology brings to Canadians.<\/p>\n

Those benefits are around us every day \u2013 in the form of life-saving medical diagnosis and treatment, sterile medical supplies, safer food, greater engineering and manufacturing quality, stronger materials, better consumer products \u2013 and, not least, the benefit of 20% of Canada\u2019s clean electricity that comes from nuclear power.<\/p>\n

Cutting greenhouse-gas emissions is a tough job. \u00a0Environment and Climate Change Canada projects Canada\u2019s GHG emissions in 2030 will be 55% above the previous government\u2019s target. \u00a0We can be sure the current government will set much more ambitious GHG reducing targets. \u00a0As Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said, \u201cMore needs to be done to close the gap between where we are today and where we need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aspirations are high, Mr. Chairman.\u00a0 That is why all low-carbon energy technologies must be on the table and given a fair hearing \u2013 not only for what they promise tomorrow, but, more importantly, for what they deliver today, because the carbon challenge is immediate.\u00a0 We cannot afford to cherry-pick some technologies over others because of prejudices and preferences.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Nuclear Association would like to offer some insights into how nuclear technology can help the Government achieve its ambitious clean energy and climate change objectives, on the way to a low-carbon economy.<\/p>\n

First, nuclear generates about 15% of all of Canada\u2019s electricity and 20% of its low-carbon electricity.\u00a0 This means that nuclear\u2019s capacity to deliver low-carbon energy is a fact.\u00a0 It provides approximately 60% on any given day of Ontario\u2019s clean electricity needs.\u00a0 Without this contribution, Ontario would not have one of the best provincial records for clean electricity generation.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t have had the generating capacity to substitute clean energy for coal.\u00a0 Without nuclear power, dirty fossil-fuel fired electricity would still be in effect, polluting the air of the Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario.\u00a0 Ontario\u2019s leadership on clean energy would be jeopardized. \u00a0Also, uranium from Cameco, Canada\u2019s largest uranium mining company, powers 1 out of every 18 homes in the United States and 1 of every 10 in Canada.\u00a0 This represents an enormous amount of avoided GHG emissions.<\/p>\n

As it stands, Ontario has announced the biggest single investment in clean energy in North America \u2013 and most of the world (except China).\u00a0 $25 billion in refurbishment of 10 reactors will guarantee a significant supply of clean electricity out to 2040 and beyond.\u00a0 This gives not just Ontario but the rest of Canada confidence that the 20% of clean electricity supplied by nuclear power will continue to be a foundation stone, an endowment, for the Canada\u2019s evolving low-carbon economy.<\/p>\n

Second, nuclear technology supports the increasing integration of other low-carbon options \u2013 such as wind and solar \u2013 into the grid, as the Ontario electricity system shows.\u00a0 In the future, innovation at nuclear power plants will help this baseload source to become more \u201cload following\u201d, with the capacity to ramp up and down in accordance with fluctuating supply from renewables.\u00a0 Given that today, and for the foreseeable future, wind and solar account for extremely modest contributions to Ontario\u2019s energy needs, the nuclear contribution will remain essential.\u00a0 Reliability of renewable sources and sufficiency of storage are not here today; they may take some time to reach nuclear\u2019s 60% share, if at all.<\/p>\n

Third, nuclear energy in Ontario can play a very important role in supporting the various collaborative arrangements agreed among the three North American Energy Ministers at their meeting in Winnipeg in February 2016 and between President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau in Washington in March 2016.\u00a0 Nuclear can combine with other sources (e.g. hydro) to provide clean electricity across provincial borders and to other jurisdictions (such as the northeastern U.S. states).\u00a0 Should American demand for clean electricity ramp up, Canadian capacity would help to supply these markets, with Ontario exporting quantities of clean energy generated by nuclear and hydro; while Manitoba and Quebec could draw on their hydro capacity.<\/p>\n

Fourth, nuclear construction, operations and refurbishments provide good jobs and economic benefits \u2013 the supply chains are Canadian; the knowledge requirements are high.\u00a0 Studies by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, by KPMG and by others have demonstrated the important positive economic impact in local Ontario communities as well as right across the province.\u00a0 The fuel comes from Canadian mines, mainly in Saskatchewan; it is refined and fabricated into fuel bundles in Ontario.\u00a0 This, along with building, refurbishing, operating and servicing, brings \u201cmade-in-Canada\u201d economic success to Canada, unlike other sources of energy technology where the manufacture \u2013 and resultant income and jobs benefits \u2013 take place off-shore.<\/p>\n

Fifth, nuclear technology plays a role in other important aspects of the government\u2019s clean energy policies, particularly on the international level.<\/p>\n

No other Canadian source of clean energy has the same international impact as nuclear.\u00a0 For a start, Canada\u2019s nuclear technology expertise gives credibility and influence to Canada\u2019s policies on nuclear non-proliferation, safety and security.\u00a0 It is a strategic asset for the country\u2019s foreign policy, enabling Canada to participate and have its voice heard on a range of international security issues, from Iran\u2019s nuclear program to UN expert meetings on arms control and disarmament verification and the cut-off of fissile material.<\/p>\n

In addition, the export and servicing of Canada\u2019s CANDU nuclear technology abroad is an important element in bilateral relationships.\u00a0 Canada\u2019s relations with countries utilizing Canadian nuclear technology \u2013 China, India, South Korea, Pakistan, Argentina, Romania \u2013 are underpinned by the long-term nature of nuclear cooperation.\u00a0 Canada\u2019s nuclear reactor technology and uranium exports have, over the last 30 years, contributed globally to the avoidance of at least a billion tonnes of CO2 (in displacing fossil fuel sources) \u2013 a unique and ongoing contribution to global climate change mitigation which no other Canadian energy source can claim.<\/p>\n

Finally, there are two further areas of the federal government\u2019s clean energy goals that could be successfully achieved with support from nuclear technology.<\/p>\n

One is the possibility of bringing electricity and energy to remote Indigenous Peoples communities, whether in Canada\u2019s north or in places far off the transmission grid.\u00a0 These communities need non-fossil energy resources sufficient to power electricity needs as well as water purification and public health needs.\u00a0 A very small modular nuclear reactor, inherently safe and simple to operate, would be a real option.\u00a0 That possibility is coming closer as the SMR technology develops around the world and right here in Canada.<\/p>\n

The second is also an outcome of small modular reactor (SMR) development, this time in the resource extraction sector.\u00a0 Much of mining operations (current and potential) occurs in areas away from electricity transmission lines.\u00a0 Similarly, the oil sands industry relies on producing vast amounts of steam to use in the extraction of bitumen.\u00a0 Today, the enormous energy required by the industry is provided by fossil fuel generation, resulting in the highest levels of GHG emissions in the whole country.\u00a0 Were the steam produced by clean electricity from an on-site SMR, the situation would be dramatically changed \u2013 and Canada\u2019s emissions reduction targets would become more achievable.\u00a0 The oil sands would become the clean sands.<\/p>\n

A final point concerns uranium mining.\u00a0 By taking this element out of the ground, refining it and placing pellets of it in a nuclear reactor, the industry is bringing Cobalt 60 to the world; it is bringing medical imaging and cancer treatment to millions of patients.\u00a0 It is allowing researchers to delve deeply into sub-molecular structures of living tissue or of new composite materials or in the soundness of rotor blades in jet engines.\u00a0 These are just some of the non-destructive testing applications of nuclear technology that bring benefits to Canadians and people the world over.\u00a0 And our leading uranium miner, Cameco, is the largest industrial employer of Indigenous People in Canada.<\/p>\n

In all of these areas described above \u2013 whether in uranium mining, in refurbishment of Ontario\u2019s reactors, in applications to energy-consuming applications such as remote communities or resource extraction \u2013 the single feature that unites them all is INNOVATION.\u00a0 And to this end, the industry is putting the finishing touches on a \u201cNuclear Innovation Roadmap\u201d that sets out the aspirations of the industry in providing clean energy to Canada.<\/p>\n

To expedite the role and contribution of the nuclear industry to Canada\u2019s low-carbon future, we propose the establishment of a Nuclear Innovation Council.\u00a0 This forum would have participation by industry, the federal government, and provincial governments.<\/p>\n

The goal of the Nuclear Innovation Council could be:<\/p>\n