James Wood, Saskatchewan News NetworkPublished: Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Cheveldayoff, whose responsibilities include SaskPower, was asked in a media scrum about Saskatchewan's nuclear options following an Earth Day question period where the NDP chastised the government for neglecting wind power development.
He said all power options, including nuclear, are in the mix as the utility grapples with growing short and long-term need, which is currently estimated as an additional 800 megawatts in the next 10 to 12 years.
"It's not a matter of what comes first, it's a matter that we need it all. Not only wind and nuclear but we also need hydro generation, we also need to expand the clean-coal project. We're not excluding anything, we're looking at developing all facets of electrical production," he said.
Cheveldayoff cited Saskatchewan's world-leading supply or uranium and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions -- the province has committed to a cut of 32 per cent by 2020 -- as potential factors in favour of nuclear development.
But the large scale of nuclear reactors -- which typically produce a minimum of 1,000 megawatts -- has meant that they have generally been seen as too large for the province. SaskPower's generating capacity is 3,600 megawatts.
There are also huge costs involved in construction of a nuclear plant and significant environmental concerns about nuclear waste.
Read More From Woods HERE
Also
Targets coming, minister says
No comments:
Post a Comment