nuclear

The outage at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station in New Brunswick was supposed to last 22 days, with five additional days allotted to address issues. It’s now been offline for more than 40 days. NB Power, which owns the station, said it expects the plant will be back online later this week.

New Brunswick saw a six per cent rise in emissions, according to the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, which put out a provincial breakdown of the federal government’s National Inventory Report. That report, based on the most recent data available from 2021, is an analysis provided to the United Nations to show a country’s progress on reaching climate targets. 

This month marks the 12th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, when three nuclear reactors in Japan suffered catastrophic meltdowns.

The federal government has decided not to require a federal assessment for a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) proposed by New Brunswick Power at Point Lepreau, prompting criticism from experts opposed to the technology who fear the rejection sets an “unfortunate precedent.”