Dear Editor,
December 2015, Canada participated in the Paris-COP21 Climate Change Conference. What action should be taken to reduce Carbon emissions in Canada?
Humans burn three trillion cubic metres of gas per year, three million barrels of oil monthly and three hundred tons of coal every second. How fast can we change this? The safest and quickest would be nuclear plants. At the rate of 52 reactors per year, it would take at least 20 years and to replace all coal-fired plants in the world would take 150 Years at the current installation rates and oil and gas would still burn. Ontario's Cap and Trade proposal is just another Tax-Grab, it will not do much to reduce carbon emissions. Research Scientists said "Over the past 50 years, nuclear power plants have avoided 60 billion tons of carbon dioxide". Nuclear energy is safer and cleaner and it has regulations in place, unless it's a completely new fuel to power the reactors. Since Dec. 2012, Norway has started testing MOX fuel in their existing reactor at their Halden site, backed by Westinghouse-Toshiba. If successful United Kingdom will manufacture the fuel.
Bill Gates has invested in "Terra Power" for nuclear innovations. China and India have invested in the nuclear industry on a grand scale, specially on new fuels. In a reply letter from former Honourable Joe Oliver P.C, M.P February 4,2013- Quote " Atomic Energy of Canada limited (AECL) has been conducting Research and Development at its Chalk River laboratories and continues to explore the viability, safety and weapon proliferation resistance of Thorium-based fuels in nuclear reactors. The implementation of the nuclear cooperation agreement (NCAA) with India will certainly encourage nuclear R and D collaboration between Canada and India, including that in the area of thorium." As I am writing this letter, I noticed that the President of Bruce Power is retiring and he will be the CEO of Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd owned by Hitachi Ltd. He will be working towards building six new nuclear reactors in the United Kingdom. Well, I can only speculate on the type of reactors: (a) Westinghouse AP1000, (b) Chinese High-temperature, gas cooled, pebble-bed reactor of German origin, (c) Mixture of oxides (MOX) and (d) At a later date Molten Salt reactor (MSR) or Liquid fluoride Thorium reactor (LFTR). The latter was tested and ran for a short time at the Oakridge National laboratory Tenn. under the direction of Alvin Weinberg. The project was shelved and Hyman Rickover got his Nuclear submarine Nautilus and the light water reactor using enriched uranium, nuclear bombs and the first civilian nuclear powered electric station at Shippingport Penn. USA. Today Canada and the United States has a totalled of 120 reactors, all producing fissile materials. With the declined price of oil, our Country needs an economic boost,for too long we have relied on coal and oil. What we need is a long term energy strategy to move off fossils fuels. we have to apply Canadian economists Harold Adam Innis and W.A Mackintosh idea " Staple Thesis." It factors the extraction of natural resources into several areas of economic development. Historically, an example can be derived from the fishing industry: an increase in the demand of fish subsequently increases demand for the construction of fishing ships. The petroleum industry brought about an economic growth in a country that export oil. Hence the development of associated infrastructures. The nuclear CANDU reactors brought about the creation of many related engineering firms, including humans capital.
We need cleaner and safer technologies to put a cap on Greenhouse gas emissions.
Few suggestions to make this happen and at the same time creates jobs.
(1) invest in carbon capture sequestration technologies. Require all existing power plants to include a CCS system. Recently Saskpower was looking towards such a system , since the Province depends on 44 percent coal power plants.
Bill Gates has invested in a Calgary engineering firm to build a CCS system in Squamish BC
(2)Use Biochar which revitalizes soil fertility by returning sequestered carbon to agriculture.Invest in the necessary plants to boost crop yields locally and around the world where lands are affected by droughts-specially important as the population of the world is increasing.
(3) Use Pyrolysis plants to convert petroleum-based materials into useful fuels.
(4)New nuclear reactor designs, since our Prime Minister has vowed to invest in "green energy."
Now is the time to inject new moneys in our own Crown Corporation "Atomic Energy Of Canada Limited." Research and Development on thorium-based reactors. A reactor system that would consume existing stock-pile fissile materials (plutonium, enriched uranium-235 and uranium 233) as a driver or primer since thorium is fertile not fissile.
It was a disappointing first Federal budget. There is nothing for new energy technologies, no fund for infrastructure needed for electric vehicles but at the Nuclear Security Summit, Canada promised $42 million for the Global effort to protect fissile materials.
Joseph Leung
