David Coon, MLA/Député

By Julia Wright

“Time has moved on, and nuclear power’s time has passed,” said Coon.

The idea of a second nuclear power plant at Point Lepreau has resurfaced periodically since the 1980s — most recently in a Feb. 15 op-ed by Frank McKenna, in which the former premier said increased demand for non-emitting energy in New England, and a proposed transmission line by Emera, have created the “best set of conditions in recent history” to build a new plant on the site.

>But Green Party leader David Coon — who has been speaking against the idea since at least 1985 — said McKenna is “dreaming in Technicolor” if he thinks Ottawa would support it.

“Time has moved on, and nuclear power’s time has passed,” said Coon.

2nd N.B. reactor threatened by AECL, weak economy

Long history of false starts

Point Lepreau was approved for more than one site when it received its environmental permitting in the 1970s. A second reactor was first contemplated when the plant was finished in 1981.

In 2007, Team Candu New Brunswick, a consortium of corporations including AECL, launched a $2.5 million feasibility study regarding the possibility of privately building an ACR-1000 reactor and selling that power directly to the U.S. market.

In July 2010, the then-Liberal government signed an agreement with Areva to study the feasibility of a new light water nuclear plant.

But that plan was shelved in 2010 by David Alward, the Progressive Conservative premier at the time.

In 2010, Shawn Graham’s Liberals signed an agreement with nuclear manufacturer Areva to study the feasibility of a light water nuclear plant on the Point Lepreau property. The plan was shelved in 2010 by premier David Alward. (CBC)

Given the long history of false starts, “it’s a surprise for me to hear this in 2017,” Coon said in an interview with Information Morning Saint John.

He pointed out that Point Lepreau is Canada’s only nuclear power plant outside Ontario, and that “in Ontario, the dependence on those has driven their rates through the roof.”

He added that if Ottawa were to help fund the building of a second reactor, Ontario would be “the first at the door asking ‘where is our help here?'”

‘Beating a dead horse’

As for the export market, Coon said energy-hungry Massachusetts and Connecticut are “looking specifically for hydro, wind, and solar.”

“That is the future, and everyone knows it,” Coon said.

For that reason, Coon believes Ottawa would be more willing to fund solar and wind power initiatives, as well as upgrades to make home heating systems more energy-efficient and reduce their carbon footprint.

Coon believes Ottawa would be more willing to fund wind and solar power initiatives, as well as upgrades to make hom-heating systems more energy-efficient than a new nuclear power plant on the Point Lepreau property.

Writing in the Telegraph Journal, McKenna said a second-reactor project would create 4,000 highly paid jobs a year over five years, but Coon wasn’t persuaded.

“Whenever you build or demolish anything, the GDP goes up,” he said. “There are lots of things we need to build — from nursing homes to new clean energy sources — but a nuclear power plant is probably the last one that one would consider,

“I felt like this is beating dead horse.”