30 Fairmont Park Lane S
Lethbridge, AB
T1K 7H7
Phone: (403) 328-1804
Saturday, September 15, 2007
The Editor
The Lethbridge Herald
P.O. Box 670
Lethbridge, AB, T1J 3Z7
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership – is Canada in or out?
Dear Editor,
Have Albertans become so engrossed with their rush to supply fossil fuel to the world, that they have missed an energy giant in the rear view mirror? It would seem so from the scant press afforded a new energy conglomerate developing on the world stage.
The United States, Japan, France, Russia, and China have proposed a Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. Their long sighted goal is to proceed with the development of technology to make full use of the energy inherently available from uranium and other nuclear fuel resources. A meeting of this group takes place Sunday, September 16. It precedes a United Nations conference on nuclear energy through the following week. Canada has been invited.
Limited news to date suggests our federal government is timidly tiptoeing around this opportunity. That should not be Canada’s place, as she supplies about one third of the world’s uranium. Members of the Alberta Branch of the Canadian Nuclear Society pointed out to the Alberta Royalty Review Panel, that energy production from Canadian exports of uranium are already on par with Canada’s fossil fuel energy exports. Energy from uranium is currently produced using first generation reactors which extract very little of the energy inherently available. The total energy potentially available from our uranium exports using advanced nuclear technology is one hundred times as large, dwarfing that from our fossil fuel exports.
We need to ensure, for future generations, that we will continue to have access to affordable energy while sharing our ample resources with the world. We need to step boldly up to this nuclear energy plate with both feet firmly planted and a firm grip on the bat. Albertans – and all Canadians – need to become aware of this issue and provide our representatives on the world stage with the authority and courage to protect our interests.
Yours truly,
Duane Pendergast
Chair
Canadian Nuclear Society Alberta Branch