Category: Uncategorized

A small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) across the country is designed to generate 300 megawatts (MW) of electricity or less, compared to Canada’s existing CANDU power reactors which generate 500 MW or more. Proponents claim that SMRs will decarbonize the electricity grid in New Brunswick and other provinces. So, how is Canada’s SMR strategy going, in New Brunswick and across the country?

CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell and colleague M.V. Ramana and the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University published a new report assessing SMR development. The report, the launch webinar video, and a commentary by the authors published in The Energy Mix is HERE.

ProEnergy Services is active not only in New Brunswick but also P.E.I. A new study raises significant concerns about proposals by the provincial utility in that province, Maritime Electric, to purchase two refurbished aeroderivative combustion turbines from ProEnergy Services to service the Prince Edward Island electrical grid. Read the article and see the link to the study HERE.

The study could be useful for activists in New Brunswick fighting the Tantramar gas plant proposal. The study was commissioned by Climate Action Network Canada and the Ecology Action Centre. CRED-NB is a member of Climate Action Network Canada.

It is troubling that the province is pursuing new large consumers of power while NB Power is saying we are “running out of power”. In an open letter to Premier Susan Holt, Dr Chris Watson lays out his evidence for this bizarre situation as drawn from the results of his Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RTIPPA) requests.

Read the open letter here. (Note: This link opens a Facebook post with the letter. You do not need a Facebook account to read it. If a window titled “See more on Facebook” is covering the post then just click the “X” in the top right corner to close it.)

Dr Chris Watson is a member of the Save Lorneville community group, a CRED Champion, advocating against industrial encroachment and environmental destruction in Lorneville, located in west Saint John. Chris holds a doctorate in space physics and works as a research scientist at the University of New Brunswick.

The organization Efficiency Canada has organized a Parliamentary petition for individuals across Canada to sign. The petition calls for the Canadian government to make energy efficiency a nation-building priority, with two clear goals: 1) Double the rate at which we improve energy productivity, so Canada gets more economic value from every unit of energy used, and 2) End energy poverty in Canada as we work toward net-zero emissions. Please sign the petition HERE.

Beverly Gingras, the Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick wrote about the costs of and alternatives to the power plant proposed for Tantramar.

You can read her piece HERE.

CRED-NB Champion Group Sierra Club Canada commissioned a poll that found most Canadians believe that made-in-Canada renewable energy is important for strengthening Canada’s national security, independence and resilience. The survey, conducted February 4-13, 2026 by polling firm Opinium highlights concern across Canada about the geopolitical risks linked to oil and gas reliance. Read the results HERE.

Jim Emberger, coordinator of CRED-NB Champion group New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA) published an op-ed in the Telegraph Journal arguing that NB Power’s case for the Tantramar gas plant does not make the grade. Read it on the NBASGA website, HERE.

CRED-NB Champion group the CEDAR project at St. Thomas University has been studying small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) for years. CEDAR researchers Susan O’Donnell and M.V. Ramana are finishing up a report on SMRs in Canada. On March 18 at 2 PM Atlantic, they will discuss their research at a webinar hosted by Nuclear Transparency Watch in Paris. Everyone welcome, more info and registration link HERE.

Several groups in Alberta have organized a webinar to educate Albertans and all Canadians about what the nuclear industry isn’t telling us. Hosted by
Keepers of the Water and Peace River Environment Society, Presented by
REAC (High Prairie Regional Environmental Action Committee). The webinar will be livestreamed from the Keepers of the Water Facebook page on March 10 at 1 PM MT, 4 PM Atlantic, HERE.

Several CRED-NB members joined the more than 120 scientists and academics from all four universities in New Brunswick (Université de Moncton, University of New Brunswick, St. Thomas University, Mount Allison University) signed a letter to Susan Holt, asking the Premier to intervene and stop NB Power’s proposal to build a fossil gas plant in Tantramar. The letter was published in the Telegraph Journal, Acadie Nouvelle and the NB Media Co-op. Read the letter HERE.