Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 3, 2007

SOUTH SLAVE - Concerns are being raised in the NWT about a proposed nuclear power plant west of Peace River, Alta.

"I'm leery of it right off the bat," said Ken Hudson, president of the Fort Smith Metis Council.

Mary Heron, a Fort Smith elder, believes Northerners should have their say about proposed nuclear plant in Alberta. - NNSL file photo

Hudson said it's just another "scary thing" for people worried about water quality in the Mackenzie Basin, which feeds rivers flowing into the NWT.

"It just adds to the pile of concerns we already have," he said.

Mary Heron, an elder with Smith's Landing First Nation, hopes people in the NWT will make their feelings and concerns known about the proposed plant

"If we don't speak, we're not heard," said Heron, who played a key role in a recent Fort Smith conference on water in the Mackenzie Basin.

Gabe Lafferty, a trapper and fisherman in Fort Resolution, does not want to see more industrial development in the Mackenzie Basin, noting he has already noticed problems with fish which he blames on pollution from the South.

"Our fish is getting really bad here," he said. "The more plants they put up, the worse it's going to get."

For example, he noted that, a couple of weeks ago, he had to cut open 22 fish before finding one with a healthy liver.

"I'd rather not see it," Lafferty said of the nuclear plant. "I'll have no fish to eat pretty soon."

On Aug. 27, Energy Alberta Corporation announced it has filed an application for a license with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to prepare a site for the plant.

The site is on private land adjacent to Lac Cardinal, approximately 30 kilometres west of Peace River.

The application is for up to two twin-unit CANDU reactors. Energy Alberta plans to initially build one twin-unit reactor to produce 2,200 megawatts of electricity with a targeted in-service date of 2017.

Guy Huntingford, the public and media relations director with Energy Alberta, said a multi-year environmental study lies ahead.

"We're incredibly sensitive to the water issue," Huntingford said.

The company official explained water from Lac Cardinal will be used to cool the turbines and would not come anywhere near the reactors.

Heavy water would be used to moderate - slow down - the reactors, and that water would be in a sealed system, he explained.

Asked if the nuclear plant would mean any effects on water flowing to the NWT, he replied, "To the best of our knowledge, no."

Huntingford noted there are many myths around nuclear energy.

"Depending on your age, your whole frame of reference is Three Mile Island and Chernobyl," he said, referring to two of the world's most infamous nuclear accidents.

However, he said nuclear energy has been used safely elsewhere in the world for decades, including in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Plus, he said a nuclear power plant is free of greenhouse gas emissions, unlike generating plants using fossil fuels.