Time is running out for one of Canada’s most polluting power plants, and two Mi’kmaw bands in New Brunswick say an Indigenous-owned transportable nuclear power station could support the country’s pledge to develop cleaner energy.
Leaders in Pabineau (Oinpegitjoig) and Eel River Bar (Ugpi’ganjig) say they’re considering a proposal to host a small modular reactor, or SMR, near the Belledune generating station, which must stop burning coal by 2030.
In the first phase of the project, the station could supply enough baseload power for up to 40,000 homes.
“The amount of CO2 that’s being released into the environment is astronomical,” said Pabineau Chief Terry Richardson, who imagines sharing the wealth if the project takes off.
“Right now, it’s in Pabineau and Eel River Bar traditional territory and we’ll lead it,” he said. “But at some point, why not all First Nations communities in New Brunswick get a part of it?”
Small modular reactors get their name because they produce about a third of the power of a full-scale nuclear reactor such as N.B. Power’s Candu-6, which can supply as much as 40 per cent of New Brunswick’s electricity demands.
WATCH | ‘We have to change with the times,’ Pabineau chief says:
First Nations in N.B. look to nuclear as Belledune coal-burning plant faces federal deadline
Leaders in Pabineau (Oinpegitjoig) and Eel River Bar (Ugpi’ganjig) First Nations say they’re considering a proposal to host a small modular reactor, » Read More
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