B.C. shuts door on uranium projects

subscribe

British Columbia has slapped an official moratorium on uranium exploration and development in the province, reinforcing a long-standing informal ban on the nuclear fuel and dashing the hopes of companies that hoped to take advantage of soaring prices for the commodity.

The ban makes B.C. a no-go zone for uranium and confirms a moratorium put in place in 1980 by a previous government responding to anti-nuclear sentiment in the province.

That moratorium lapsed in 1987 but subsequent governments did not move to update it, as companies focused their exploration campaigns on other metals and because there was a widespread view that uranium production would be unpopular in the province.

That changed in recent years, as uranium prices more than doubled and climate change concerns put emissions-free, uranium-fed nuclear power plants in the spotlight.

Several companies, including Vancouver-based Boss Power Inc., dusted off uranium projects that had been explored decades ago with an eye to bringing them into production.

The government's decision comes as a surprise and contradicts assurances Boss had received that it would be able to take its project to public hearings, Boss spokesman Rupert Allan said.

"We did not know this was coming," Mr. Allan said, saying the decision makes the company's Blizzard deposit worthless. The company had described it as containing up to $1-billion worth of uranium.

There is no uranium mining in B.C. Uranium exploration is under way in other provinces, but the only producing mines in Canada are in Saskatchewan.

Related News

powerlines

Smart grid and system improvements help avoid more than 500,000 outages over the summer

CHICAGO - While the summer of 2019 set records for heat and brought severe storms, ComEd customers stayed cool thanks to record-setting reliability during the season. Smart grid investments over the last seven years helped to set records in key reliability measurements, including frequency of outages, and through smart switches that reroute power around potential problem areas, avoided more than 538,000 customer interruptions from June to August.

"In a summer where we were challenged by extreme weather, we saw our smart grid investments and our people continue to deliver the highest levels of reliability for the families and businesses we serve,"…

READ MORE
houston substation

Electric Cooperatives, The Lone Shining Utility Star Of The Texas 2021 Winter Storm

READ MORE

us offshore wind

U.S. offshore wind power about to soar

READ MORE

nick clark

Calgary electricity retailer urges government to scrap overhaul of power market

READ MORE

Solar-powered pot: Edmonton-area producer unveils largest rooftop solar array

READ MORE