The federal government has decided not to require that a controversial nuclear project undergo an environmental assessment, prompting criticism from experts who oppose the technology and fear the rejection would set an “unfortunate precedent”.
New Brunswick’s primary power provider, Énergie NB Power, has proposed the project, which is based on a Small Modular Reactor (SMR), a portable nuclear technology that is still in the development stage. The federal government and some provincial governments are betting on SMRs, which do not produce greenhouse gas emissions, to replace coal and other fossil fuels as an energy source. However, many experts say the risks far outweigh the benefits: SMRs are expensive, experimental, produce toxic nuclear waste, and are unlikely be economically viable.
NB Power has plans to operate two SMRs and a spent fuel reprocessing facility at its current Bay of Fundy site, the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station. Moltex SMR and the spent fuel reprocessing unit are expected to be operational in the early 2030s, while ARC SMR will be operational in 2029, according to the company. This latter project was being considered for federal review following a request from the Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB) as it does not automatically fall under the federal review process. The Moltex project does this because it will require recycling nuclear waste, according to CBC News.
The federal government is currently pushing the new technology through its SMR Action Planpromoting their ability to play an essential role on the path to net zero greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have signed a memorandum of understanding expressing their support for SMR technology.
However, because SMRs are still in the development stage, any potential benefit they may have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not occur soon enough to contribute to Canada’s goal of reducing emissions one 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, CRED-NB said. National Observer of Canada in March.
CRED-NB, made up of 20 groups of citizens and companies and more than 100 people throughout the province, asked the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change steven guilbeault in July to consider the importance of assessing the SMR project under the Impact Assessment Act, a federal process that examines the environmental impacts of major projects, including all oil and gas facilities, refineries, pipelines, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The group expressed concern about its potential impacts on the surrounding environment, nuclear waste, and indigenous treaty rights.
The Passamaquoddy Reconnaissance Group, representing the Peskotomuhkati Nation and the Wolastoq Grand Council, which has spoken on how the storage of nuclear waste and continued funding for nuclear power goes against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), he also sent letters of support.
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In it initial application, CRED-NB notes concerns with “project splitting”, which is the “intentional disintegration of the project into its component parts” to circumvent the need for an impact assessment. In 2019, the federal government exempted nuclear reactors with less than 200 megawatts of thermal power and SMRs at pre-existing nuclear sites with less than 900 megawatts from the Impact Assessment Act. this came later lobbying of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the independent federal regulator of nuclear energy, which raised concerns that the evaluation process would harm the SMR industry in briefing notes obtained by Greenpeace.
Since there are two SMRs scheduled for the Point Lepreau site, the coalition argues that they are essentially one project with different operators. However, evaluating the ARC SMR individually means that it falls below the megawatt limit.
in Guilbeault decisionsaid that an impact assessment for the SMR project was “unwarranted” because the current legislative processes will address the issues raised by CRED-NB and that its decision was based on analysis of the Impact Assessment Agency. The project will undergo provincial evaluation and must obtain the Nuclear Security and Control Law license, he said.
“The mechanism we had to advocate for environmental justice has been denied,” said environmental lawyer @KerrieABlaise. #SMR #Nuclear
In a submission to the Impact Assessment Agency, New Brunswick’s environmental assessment branch said the concerns raised “would be expected to be addressed as part of the provincial assessment.” [environmental impact assessment] revision.”
However, CRED-NB stressed that the federal government’s process is more comprehensive than a provincial assessment, due to arrive in 2023.
“The mechanism that we had to advocate for environmental justice has been denied,” said Kerrie Blaise, an environmental lawyer who helped CRED-NB with the impact assessment request.
“The many unknowns and the potential for not only severe but irreversible impacts to the health of communities and the environment will not be subject to the rigorous public and cumulative effects assessment that an IA (impact assessment) provides. This is simply something that the nuclear regulator cannot achieve in its specific license assessment.”