Provinces to file legal action over reactor
POINT LEPREAU, NEW BRUNSWICK - The Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick governments are working together on legal action against Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. over delays at the $1.4-billion Point Lepreau nuclear refurbishment project.
Both provinces want to recover the cost of buying replacement power while southern New Brunswick's Point Lepreau nuclear reactor is shut down.
AECL, the federal Crown corporation in charge of the refurbishment project at the reactor, has broken several deadlines in finishing the work.
Earlier this month, the federal nuclear agency announced it is no longer estimating when it will hand the refurbished reactor back to NB Power.
Because P.E.I. buys most of its power from New Brunswick, Maritime Electric, the Island's electrical utility, has been forced to find a temporary and more expensive source of power.
P.E.I. Energy Minister Richard Brown said it is costing his province $2 million extra each month to buy alternate power while the reactor is shut down.
"I met with New Brunswick and New Brunswick is preparing court documents for working with the federal government," Brown said. "We've requested to be a partner in them in order to recoup this money from AECL."
Brown said negotiations with the federal government are underway on a possible settlement.
Maritime Electric said the utility will back any legal action to reduce replacement power costs.
"That account is becoming a very large concern of ours," said Fred O'Brien, the company's president.
"We support, and will support, any effort, whether it's discussions with the federal government or whatever avenue that is available to us."
AECL shut down the reactor, Atlantic Canada's only one, in 2008.
Repairs were originally supposed to be finished in 18 months.
Related News
![power blackout](https://electricityforum.com/uploads/news-items/power-grid-blackout_1526369023.webp)
Study: US Power Grid Has More Blackouts Than ENTIRE Developed World
WASHINGTON - The United States power grid has more blackouts than any other country in the developed world, according to new data that spotlights the country’s aging and unreliable electric system.
The data by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) shows that Americans face more power grid failures lasting at least an hour than residents of other developed nations.
And it’s getting worse.
Going back three decades, the US grid loses power 285 percent more often than it did in 1984, when record keeping began, International Business Times reported. The power outages cost businesses in the…