Saskatchewan releases nuclear studies archive

08 July 2008

[CBC, Canadian Press, 7 July] SaskPower, Saskatchewan's provincially-owned utility, has made fourteen studies conducted over the past 36 years into the viability of nuclear power in the province publicly available. The release of the studies on the company's website comes two months after a consultant's report on possible plant locations was leaked to the media. That report recommended the Lake Diefenbaker region in southern Saskatchewan as the site for the province's first nuclear power plant. The Saskatchewan Party, long before taking office in November 2007, called on the previous New Democratic Party (NDP) government to make SaskPower's nuclear information public. Crown corporations minister Ken Cheveldayoff said, "We felt it was something that could be done for an open and transparent process." He added, "I think that anybody who has taken a look at it and studied it knows that Saskatchewan has looked at [nuclear power] from time to time, but really hasn't moved forward at all on it." Ann Coxworth, program co-ordinator of the environmental group Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said that the fact that the company had been considering the nuclear option since 1972 was not a big surprise. However, she commented, "I think it's helpful to have that material out in the public arena so that we can all share in the review of that material."

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