Will the NB Power Review finally shake up NB Power?

The report released on March 30 from the NB Power Review panel was meant to chart a path to a better future for the public utility.  Does it do that?

NB Power desperately needs a very big shake up. The NB Power Review report rattled the utility but not nearly hard enough, writes CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell in a commentary published in the NB Media Co-op. Read it HERE.

Stand with Save Lorneville

CRED-NB support’s Save Lorneville’s call for a moratorium on new large data-centre grid allocations and full transparency on the proposed Beacon Data Centers project in Lorneville.

We’re asking supporters to act by April 17. Email a letter to Premier Holt and officials. It takes only 2 minutes using the letter template available HERE.

Copy and paste the text into your own text editor, and then follow the yellow-highlighted instructions. Thank you for standing with Save Lorneville!

Why this matters: Beacon Data Centers is seeking ~200 MW from the NB Power grid, roughly the electricity used by ~150,000 homes. New Brunswickers are being warned about power constraints and rising rates, yet government and agencies have been advancing this massive new demand behind closed doors.

Please share widely with your contacts. To learn more visit the Save Lorneville Facebook page HERE.

Canadian energy exports should not include electricity generated by nuclear energy

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources is currently studying Canadian Energy Exports. CRED-NB submitted a brief to the MPs on the committee. CRED’s position: Canadian energy exports should not include electricity generated by nuclear energy because of the heavy costs borne by Canadians. Read our submitted brief HERE.

Does SMR stand for Spending Money Recklessly?

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.

Concerns about the management of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories by U.S. companies

A House of Commons committee is currently studying the management of Canada’s nuclear laboratories at Chalk River. The nuclear research site is run by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL).

Under a new contract signed at the end of 2025, CNL is managed by a consortium of U.S. companies with ties to the weapons industry. CRED-NB outlined our concerns in a brief filed today with the Parliamentary committee. Read it HERE.

Why is NB Power hiding the risks of transporting radioactive waste?

NB Power and nuclear industry partners want to build a radioactive waste pit in Northwestern Ontario. But they are hiding the risks of transporting the waste more than 2,900 km from Point Lepreau through communities in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.

Current plans envision more than 2,100 transport packages of New Brunswick’s used nuclear fuel travelling approximately 2,900 kilometres, through public roads in the province and across Canada, over a period of 10 to 15 years.

Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO, including NB Power) – filed their official project plan but did NOT include the 2,900 km drive from Point Lepreau. Why? To stop the public from raising concerns about it.

Learn more and take action HERE.

NB groups raise concern about nuclear waste proposal

CRED-NB and three other groups in the province, along with 70 other groups across Canada signed a letter sent Dec. 16 to Prime Minister Carney and two federal cabinet ministers asking them to oversee the nuclear industry’s proposal for radioactive waste burial in Northwestern Ontario.

NB Power is a member of the industry’s Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) proposing the project, opposed by the Chiefs in Assembly of Treaty 3, Nishnawbi Aski Nation, Anishnabek Nation and the Chiefs of Ontario.

The letter raises particular concern with the NWMO plan to exclude the transport of radioactive waste (including across roads in New Brunswick) from the Impact Assessment of the project. Read the letter HERE.

Atlantic Economic Panel missing an environmental expert

A new Atlantic Economic Panel was announced, a “private-sector-led initiative established to catalyze economic transformation in Atlantic Canada.” The announcement makes no mention of how the economy is expected to flourish without considering the impact that greenhouse gas-emitting projects will have on the climate and the natural world.

CRED-NB core member Sam Arnold of the Sustainable Energy Group – Carleton published a critical commentary in the NB Media Co-op, HERE. His commentary points out that an environmental expert is needed. Business and environmental experts must work in concert to safeguard a sustainable economic future for present and future generations – and for nature.

Letter: We need transparent and responsible management of radioactive waste

CRED-NB and nearly 100 other groups and prominent individuals signed a letter to express concern that Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has decided to consolidate radioactive waste at the Chalk River Laboratories site without consultation with First Nations or the public, and without parliamentary debate. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is only a private contractor, not a government agency. Read the letter HERE.