Successive New Brunswick governments have been bewitched by two nuclear fantasies: first, its beleaguered public utility NB Power can connect two experimental reactors to the electricity grid, and second, the small province can successfully run a nuclear power reactor.
Holt plans to re-convene the New Brunswick Legislature before the end of November. At that point the two SMR start-ups will be on life support. The Point Lepreau reactor will still be mothballed with no confirmed start-up date. Each day the reactor is down costs NB Power $1-million or more, threatening the new government’s finances.
Keeping the Point Lepreau and SMR fantasies alive will require considerable effort from the new government. Susan Holt’s handling of the nuclear file will be an early test – both of her leadership and her commitment to wishful thinking.
Read the full commentary by CRED-NB core member Susan O’Donnell in the NB Media Co-op, HERE.