As I have blogged on several occasions Ontario is in several ways leading the charge in the green power revolution in North America. Nuclear power is one of the reasons that Ontario already has one of the lowest carbon emissions rates in North America. In 2011 about 56.9 % of Ontario's power came from nuclear power plants.
In 2007, the Ontario Government committed to phasing out coal generation in the province by 2014. Although coal accounts for only about 19 % of power generation in Ontario, a province of over 10 million people, that is still a lot of power generation to have to find an alternative for. For example, Ontario Power Generation's Nanticoke plant is the largest coal fired power plant in North America. The Province has decided that more nuclear power is required to make up for what is lost when all coal-fired generation is retired.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has issued a Nuclear Power Reactor Site Preparation Licence to Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) for a new nuclear power plant project at the Darlington nuclear site. This is the first new nuclear reactor preparation license since 1981. The CNSC has concluded that the project was not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, assuming proposed mitigation measures will be implemented. In May 2012, the Government of Canada authorized the project to proceed to licensing to prepare a site, which is the first step in the CNSC licensing process that is required for any new nuclear power project in Canada.
The next step in the regulatory process will be CNSC licensing to construct a nuclear power plant, once OPG submits an application. The public will have an opportunity to comment on OPG’s application to construct, and application to operate, at public hearings to be scheduled in the future.
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