July 18, 2008

Bruce Power touts benefits of Peace River nuclear plant project

CALGARY

The Bruce Power partnership predicts a nuclear plant in the Peace River region of Alberta would contribute $12 billion to the province’s economy during the construction period and would generate 2,700 long-term jobs.

“While more detailed work needs to be done, this early report paints a good picture of the economic benefits our proposal could bring to the Peace Country,” Duncan Hawthorne, president of Bruce Power Alberta, said in releasing the partnership’s study Tuesday.

“Our focus will continue to be on our conversation with the people of the Peace Country, answering their questions and taking guidance from their input.”

Bruce Power — owned by TransCanada Corp., Cameco Corp. and the BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System — filed an application earlier this year with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission seeking to prepare a site that could generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity from two to four reactors.

The study Tuesday “is the first step in the development of a more thorough assessment of the social, economic and environmental impacts of building Alberta’s first nuclear station,” Bruce Power said.

It said the plant would provide up to 1,900 permanent full-time jobs, plus 800 indirect jobs in the region.

Canadian Press

Print | Email | Comment