Energy Alberta Corporation was created in 2005 with a concept to provide

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

to the energy-intensive development of the

oil sands Oil sands, tar sands, crude bitumen, or bituminous sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Oil sands are either loose sands or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and wate ...

resources in northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. The company was founded by Hank Swartout, CEO of Precision Drilling Corporation, and Wayne Henuset, co-owner of Willow Park Wines and Spirits in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta. The company intended to build a nuclear plant on the shore of Lac Cardinal, from Peace River, Alberta. Its business plan was to build one or more twin-reactor ACR-1000 nuclear plants in partnership with

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation and Canada's largest nuclear science and technology laboratory. AECL developed the CANDU reactor technology starting in the 1950s, and in October 2011 licensed thi ...

to supply electrical energy to the rapidly growing demand of the Alberta electrical grid, influenced by announced new facilities for oil extraction from the Athabasca Oil Sands, oil upgrading facilities near

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, and associated population and economic growth across Alberta. Energy Alberta initially proposed to build their first plant at either

Whitecourt Whitecourt is a town in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Woodlands County. It is approximately northwest of Edmonton and southeast of Grande Prairie at the junction of Highway 43 and Highway 32. It has an elevation of . White ...

(several hundred kilometres southwest of the oil sands) or Peace River (on the western part of the oil sands). Peace River local councils welcomed the project, and a site 30 km west of Peace River on Lac Cardinal was chosen in August, 2007 and an application to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was filed. In 2007 Energy Alberta was acquired by

Bruce Power Bruce Power Limited Partnership is a Canadian business partnership composed of several corporations. It exists (as of 2015) as a partnership between TC Energy (31.6%), BPC Generation Infrastructure Trust (61.4%), the Power Workers Union (4%) and ...

of Ontario. In March 2009, Bruce decided to relocate the site to Whitemud, a different site still within 30 km of Peace River. As of October, 2007, the company had not announced the names of any oil sands companies interested in using its energy, or investors willing to provide the estimated $6.2 billion ($ billion today) for construction of the first plant. Present oil sands extraction plants use natural gas to supply heat to make hot water or steam used in the separation of oil and sand. Using nuclear power instead of burning gas would prevent the emission of large quantities of carbon dioxide. The direct use of heat from nuclear reactors has been found cost effective in an energy analysis. However, nuclear reactors have a lifetime of 50 years or more and cannot be moved so there is a problem supplying the heat where it is needed as nearby deposits are depleted. Energy Alberta appears to have no plans for using the heat directly; they plan to produce electricity which can easily be delivered anywhere. However, the cost of nuclear electricity is about 7 cents per kilowatt-hour when privately financed or more than $17 per gigajoule compared with $6 per gigajoule for natural gas. Rising costs for gas and carbon taxes could change that picture. Some environmental groups oppose nuclear power in Alberta. A Pembina Institute opinion argues that renewable sources of energy be used instead and mentions many problems associated with nuclear power including risk of devastating accident, radioactive waste, leaks, heat pollution, cost overruns and unreliable performance. See

Nuclear Power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

. Since most electricity in Alberta is generated by coal plants, nuclear facility emissions are compared with the much higher radioactive emissions of coal-fired plants. In March 2008, the Energy Alberta Corporation was purchased by

. Bruce Power announced in December 2011 that it will not go ahead with the nuclear power plant proposed for Peace River."Bruce Power dropping Alberta nuclear plant proposal" ''CBC News'' 12 Dec 2011
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References

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External links

Official Energy Alberta Corporation website

Canada Public Nuclear Comment website
Nuclear power companies of Canada Companies based in Alberta Environment of Alberta Energy companies established in 2005 Non-renewable resource companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in Alberta