Aging plants 'jeopardize' Ontario's electrical future

However, the study released today concludes the plants wouldn't be needed at all if the three affected provinces embark on aggressive conservation and efficiency programs and develop new environmentally friendly power sources.

In Ontario, which is already struggling to produce enough electricity and came close to running short during a hot spell last month, nuclear power supplies about 35 to 40 per cent of its power needs.

"The crisis is looming and it will make what we've been through this summer look like a Sunday school picnic if we don't start addressing it now," said Ralph Torrie, who wrote the report for the group Campaign for Nuclear Phaseout.

Canada's other nuclear reactors - the Gentilly-2 in Quebec and New Brunswick's Point Lepreau - face a similar problem by the end of the decade, the study finds.

For Quebec, scrapping its nuclear plant would be painless given its abundance of emission-free hydro-electric power but Ontario and New Brunswick face bigger challenges.

Still, the report argues the two provinces could phase out both their nuclear and smog-producing coal plants, drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the process.

For Ontario, that would mean losing about 60 per cent of its current domestic production.

The report says savings of 50 per cent in consumption could be achieved with more energy efficient appliances, homes and buildings. In addition, new wind, solar and other environmentally friendly generation sources would ensure an adequate supply.

"I don't know if it's dreaming in Technicolor (but) this is a dream worth working for, this is a dream worth fighting for, this is a dream for a sustainable and environmentally acceptable energy future," said Torrie.

A NB Power spokesman said the study underestimates New Brunswick's future energy needs and Lepreau will be essential to meeting the demand.

The cost of refurbishing the province's lone reactor is estimated at more than $850 million but the government of Premier Bernard Lord has yet to give the go-ahead.

The core of the problem, critics argue, is that nuclear plants are expensive and potentially dangerous, while the radioactive waste they produce makes them anything but environmentally friendly.

The plants can be notoriously unreliable. Eight of Ontario's 20 reactors were out of commission between 1995 and 1998 for safety reasons and getting them back online has been a taxpayer and engineering nightmare.

"So the question really is what else could we do with $15 billion or $20 billion that will be better for the environment, better for the economy, better for public health," said Torrie.

Ontario's publicly owned power producer defended its reactors.

"These plants operate continuously, day and night, helping to keep the homeowners' lights on and the motors of industry turning," Ontario Power Generation said in a written statement.

"These plants produce virtually no smog, acid gas or greenhouse gas emissions, so they are helping Canada meet its environmental commitments."