The news marks a shift for an industry that has been stalled for decades amid fears about safety and cost overruns. It’s also seen as a critical step in modernizing an aging power grid that needs to add capacity without boosting already-high electricity costs, or threatening emissions goals.
“We are returning to our nuclear roots, and it couldn’t happen at a more important time,” said John Gorman, president of the Canadian Nuclear Association. As global demand for clean energy soars, Canada is once again poised to be a supplier of nuclear reactors domestically and internationally, he said.
“At night, wind fights with nuclear and hydroelectric. During the day, wind and solar fight each other for the peak. So something has to be curtailed,” said Paul Acchione, a longtime engineer who co-authored a report on electricity price projections for the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers. “Wind and solar are really, really cheap sources of power, but you need to be concerned with addressing their intermittency,” said Jason Dion, senior research director of the Canadian Climate Institute. “The challenge grows as their share of overall generation grows.”