Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan Includes Darlington Refurbishment

Ontario's long-term energy plan focuses on maintaining a clean, modern and reliable electricity system. The main goal of the program is to ensure clean air, reliable energy and a strong economy. In order to achieve Ontario’s broad goals, in 2006 OPG was given the go ahead to set up two new nuclear reactors on the Darlington site, adding an additional 4,800 MW to the province’s base load.

In light of the recent nuclear disaster in Japan, many Canadians spoke against the new reactors, and the plan was put up to public debate. The public hearings for input on this matter were scheduled just days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and there has been strong public scrutiny against the proposed plan.

It seems that the Fukushima disaster is ripe in the minds of the Canadian public and has influenced reaction from organizations such as the Canadian Environmental Law Association, Greenpeace Canada, Lake Ontario Water Keeper and North Watch, who are all opposed to new nuclear at Darlington. These public action leaders teamed up to file a judicial suite with the federal court in September 2011. The action sought to stop federal approval of the new reactors on the grounds of possible environmental issues and risks. The argument of those opposed is that there are safer and cheaper ways to build reactors.

The outcome of the debate sparked 67 recommendations that need to be addressed before continuing with the licensing process. These recommendations will be addressed and OPG assures there are no major barriers preventing the execution of the project. OPG and Darlington supporters remain hopeful that the Federal government will make a positive decision in order to obtain licensing to prepare the site. However, those opposed remain skeptical of OPG's building plans.

In the meantime, Ontario still deals with the concern for and importance of a long-term energy plan. With this concern OPG awarded a two phase contract to plan for and then replace major components of the reactors at Darlington. The contract is for more than $600 million and is jointly held by SNC- Lavalin Nuclear Inc and Aecon Construction Group. The plan details the clean up and refurbishment of Darlington's existing reactors. The refurbishment plan will involve the removal and replacement of 480 pressure tubes and calandria tubes as well as 960 feeder pipes for each of the stations four reactors. This will give the reactors another 25- 30 years of life.　

Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance

On March 1, 2012, twelve of Canada’s largest oil sands producers jointly announced the formation and signing of a charter under the newly formed “Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance”. The goal of both the alliance and the charter is to address environmental issues relating to the oil sands through collaborative, action-oriented strategies.

The alliance consists of major players in the industry: BP Canada Energy Company, Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Cenovus Energy Inc., ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp., Devon Canada Corporation, Imperial Oil, Nexen Inc., Shell Canada Energy, Statoil Canada Ltd., Suncor Energy Inc., Teck Resources Limited and Total E&P Canada Ltd. The group’s initial focus will be on tailings ponds, greenhouse gas emissions, land and water. The alliance intends to use their collaborative powers to overcome obstacles within funding, human resources and intellectual property as they impact environmental performance on large-scale oil sands projects, and members have vowed to collectively develop new and innovative production methods that minimize environmental impact.

Canada’s Oil sands Innovation Alliance is not the first environmentally-focused association in the industry, as the Oil Sands Tailing Consortium, the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative and the Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development pre-exist the alliance. However, this new alliance is the most broadly based of its kind, and boasts some of the most influential executives in the business.