Would Nuclear Power be a Good Choice for Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan Environmental Society
January, 2006

New nuclear plants deliver electricity at far higher cost than end-use efficiency, distributed cogeneration and many renewables (RMI Solutions, summer 2005). Any new nuclear plants will have to face the major issue of their high cost in the context of a competitive electricity market. Nowhere, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, do market-driven utilities buy, or private investors finance, new nuclear plants. Nuclear power can compete with other options only when it is generously supported by disproportionate government subsidies. Canadian Government subsidies to Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. from 1953 to 2002 totalled $17.5 billion ($2001).