Premier has cast nuclear adrift, says Hudak

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The McGuinty government is leaving Ontario's nuclear industry "drifting in the wind" after handing foreign-based Samsung a $7 billion deal to develop green power, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak charges.

The comments came after the Star revealed Crown-owned Ontario Power Generation is finalizing a plan to close its Pickering nuclear power plant in a decade while fully refurbishing its Darlington station – all as the government continues to debate whether it will build a second plant on the lakefront site east of Oshawa.

"He's kicked any decision on nuclear down the road," Hudak told a news conference.

Government sources said a full refurbishment at Pickering – which is older and has been plagued by problems, costly repairs and shutdowns over the years – would not be cost-effective, so the plant will get upgrades to operate another 10 years. That will provide enough electricity while the province decides whether to build a second plant at Darlington, a project that could take 10 years.

The province last month signed a $7 billion wind and solar power development and manufacturing accord with Samsung C&T Corp. and the Korea Electric Power Corp. The deal has been criticized because of a controversial "economic development adder" incentive over and above the hefty feed-in tariff premium already paid for green energy generation, which means the South Koreans will effectively receive a $437 million subsidy over the 25-year life of the agreement.

Energy Minister Brad Duguid said the reported recommendations from OPG on Pickering and Darlington have not landed on his desk yet, despite government promises to make the decision by the end of 2009.

"The modernization of our nuclear fleet is an obviously complex and important decision," Duguid said.

"You want to look at all factors but the principal criteria that we look at are affordability, reliability and sustainability."

Ontario and federal officials are still talking about the prospect of the federal Crown corporation Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. building a second plant at Darlington after a first bid came in "many billions" higher than expected. One factor in the delay is that Ottawa is looking to sell off some of AECL's operations.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said he hasn't spoken to Duguid about the Pickering and Darlington plans yet but reiterated that he supports nuclear power because it is free of greenhouse gas emissions.

"A significant portion of our electricity today still comes from nuclear and we are committed that it's there for some time to come," McGuinty told reporters in Brockville.

Meanwhile, the anti-nuclear group Greenpeace said pouring more cash into the Pickering plant to keep it running another decade is putting good money after bad and will be expensive for ratepayers.

This gives the government a chance to ramp up efforts to have green energy replace nuclear, which now accounts for about half of Ontario's power, said Shawn-Patrick Stensil of Greenpeace.