The capital cost for the refurbishments will be covered by Bruce, not taxpayers, said Energy Minister Donna Cansfield.
However, according to TransCanada Corp., a major Bruce investor, a "risk and reward sharing schedule" puts Ontario on the hook for 50 per cent of cost overruns of up to $618 million on the project and a 25 per cent share beyond that.
"If this nuclear deal at the Bruce goes over budget -- and nuclear projects always go over budget -- than hydro consumers will have to pick up half the cost overrun," said New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton.
The cost to build the province's controversial Darlington nuclear station nearly tripled during the 1980s to $14 billion, and Ontario Power Generation's efforts to restore Unit 4 at the Pickering A facility cost $1.25 billion, almost three times the original projected cost.
The Ontario government will also cut leasing costs for Bruce by $60 million a year -- worth $1.2 billion over 20 years.
Premier Dalton McGuinty noted that Ontario taxpayers were stuck with all the extra costs at Pickering and Darlington, but their risk is narrowed in half under its deal with Bruce.
"In an ideal world, we would have loved to have been able to shift 100 per cent of the cost overruns," McGuinty said.
The private sector is taking on the bulk of the investment risk, Cansfield noted. "They've taken the risk of putting $4.25 billion of their money into Bruce."
The refurbishments will boost Bruce's total nuclear contribution in Ontario to 6,200 megawatts -- enough to power about 25 per cent of the province on a typical day.
From http://www.canada.com/toronto/globaltv/story.html?id=d62e1e8b-75fd-4c9d-8eae-27f8c3a9d001
Note: http://www.canada.com/t...
Nuclear Power Units To Be Restarted
Posted on Tuesday, October 18 at 11:38 by RuralContributed By
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Quote- "If this nuclear deal at the Bruce goes over budget -- and nuclear projects always go over budget -- than hydro consumers will have to pick up half the cost overrun," said New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton.
The cost to build the province's controversial Darlington nuclear station nearly tripled during the 1980s to $14 billion, and Ontario Power Generation's efforts to restore Unit 4 at the Pickering A facility cost $1.25 billion, almost three times the original projected cost."
Given that the "Bruce" just completed a major refit at this site VERY close to on time and on budget whilst OPG is still dithering around at Darlington seemingly getting nowhere but spending more TAXPAYERS money this is rather an unfair assessment.
Quote- The power produced by the refurbished units will earn Bruce 6.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. That's below average electricity costs this year of 6.8 cents per kilowatt-hour, but well above the 4.9 cents per kWh Ontario Power Generation received for its nuclear power this summer.
Hampton said the higher rate means Bruce stands to earn a 33 per cent profit and will establish "a new base rate" for all nuclear power that will factored into future electricity rate hikes paid by consumers.
Given that "electricity supply isn't increasing fast enough to keep up with demand, which is rising some 200 megawatts per year." and that "By the time this (Bruce) work is completed, we would have eaten up 1,000 of those 1,500 megawatts that this project is supposed to provide,"
If anyone believes that by the time this project is complete that we will still be getting hydro at 5c kwh they are dreaming. The increased demand coupled with the tight supply means that the cost must go up (and I don’t like paying more either) only increased cost will force conservation from consumers and the expansion of "alternate" power generation.
Even at the current cost around double that price delivered to my door this is cheap when you compare it with other "services". A month of hydro for MY household is around $120, basic telephone service and cell access add up to more than half that, if I were to add cable (not available or wanted) total costs would be very close. Consider what you get when you turn that switch and which of these "services" you could manage without!
For those opposed to nuclear power, give me an alternative, reliable, 24hrs - 7 days a week source that can generate this kind of volume and can be delivered in the next 10 years and I (and all Canadians) will thank you. (I note that a major Hydoelectric installation could do this, but where and with what problems getting approvals and building transmission lines?)
(Rural)
No matter what they finally end up doing there's no point in pretending to be happy about it. There are all kinds of economic options, just very few political ones. The province could simply lend money at low interest rates for people to set up their own solar/wind power. I've priced it for our house and it would cost $20 grand. Even if you are paying $100 a month right now that's only 20 years to pay it off, less than most people's mortgages. And that doesn't even include the massive cost increases projected-notice that there are no solar/wind cost increases, in fact the technology guarantees cost savings as it improves.
And it REALLY guarantees conservation because that way you'd pay off the government quicker and the rest is yours.
Of course the real energy subsidies come for auto plants and industry, they use a good percentage of the energy and had those subsidies disappeared, then I guarantee that we'd see an awful lot of those auto plants heading south.
The only real standout is southern ontarian cities. Northern cities are so sparsely populated that the solar solution mentioned above, plus wind and micro-hydro would easily provide enough power. The added plus would be that with municipal solutions invested in by the province, it would mean that reservations would finally get power and stop having to use generators.
As for reactors, the cost issue is political. PEI, which has been using wind for longer than anyone, maintains that it costs 300 million to produce 200MW of power. This is why they've been lobbying the feds, because they simply don't have the money to invest in it. Just for analogy, in New Brunswick they maintain that it will cost over 1 billion to refit Lepreau, a candu reactor which produces 600 MW of power at peak. Take into account that the wind doesn't blow 25% of the time and it compares fairly close with the almost equivalant cost overruns and shutdowns typical of Nuclear-with none of the by-products. The above states some generous comments about Bruce Hydro, forgetting that the company is private and can say whatever it wants. At least with public energy we can find out about issues before they become critical.
Of course none of the above is even suggested let alone considered seriously, there are so many caveats built into the system that nuclear is SUPPOSED to be the only option. Partly because with so few other countries buying CANDU reactors we've got a whole generation of nuclear engineers who'd be sitting on their hands.
Just as an aside, in the London Free Press (not actually free-I'm thinking of suing:) it was reported that most of the latest Martin pro-China trade talks was because Martin is playing salesman again (after Toyota) and trying to sell China on AECL's candu. Turns out they are leaning toward France whose reactors don't use heavy water but pressurized water. Gee, I wonder which reactors Ontario will choose.
Have we gone mad or what? Where do they plan putting the heavy water and waste? Have we not learned anything from over the years what has happen when a plant exploads. And farthermore who is fooling who by telling the public it not them who paying all this money to re-start this plant.
And who flips the bill should something ever happen. Give you heads a shake and wate up to the fact we have seen a disater already. And why should any tax payer be taxed.
Why not use all this money and build WIND TURBINES INSTEAD.
Who out there can asure the people that nothing will happen?
Again I say where not ready for nuclear power,after all why did they close the plant? Has our goverment gone mad or just insane.
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The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfield deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.
- Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, The Iraqi Informat
China is likely trying to simply steal France's technology as well, then try to build it themselves.
Another example of superior western tech being given away to the advantage of a murderous, anti-western communist dictatorship which is a threat to us all.
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The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfield deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.
- Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, The Iraqi Informat
There is a facility on that very same Bruce site that stores waste from that and other plants. It is basically a big room with metre-thick containers which are filled and then sealed. The material sealed is material that has cooled down after 2-3 years cooling in the pools of water that are used IIRC.
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The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfield deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.
- Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, The Iraqi Informat
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Consumers will at least get more power--and possibly new CANDU plants in the future. It is true future government will be blamed if there are cost overruns, but remember that of the 14 billion spent on Darlington--11 BILLION was for interest payments due to our reliance on private debt. see <a href="http://www.comer.org">www.comer.org</a><br />
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Also, this will employ Canadians at AECL and in Saskatchewan where the fuel for the reactors is produced.<p>---<br>The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfield deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.<br />
<br />
- Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, The Iraqi Informat