CANADA’S NUCLEAR ENERGY PATHWAYS TO NET ZERO – WHO DECIDES?

Abstract

Recent history has seen a dramatic shift in the national debate regarding the role of nuclear energy in the transition of Canada’s energy system to “net-zero” GHG emissions by 2050. Instead of a debate on whether or not new nuclear should be part of the nation’s future energy mix, the focus has shifted to how much new nuclear and how to achieve it. This paper argues that this opportunity for an unprecedented nuclear new-build program - unprecedented in scale, in pace and in markets - requires a paradigm shift in how Canada’s nuclear energy sector engages within the sector, with governments, with investors, with communities, with Indigenous nations – addressing the fundamental question of “who decides?”. It suggests that this shift be anchored in two overarching concepts. One is to recognize that energy is a Critical Infrastructure that underpins the prosperity and well-being of the nation and its citizens. As such, there are many dimensions to the public good to which Canada’s nuclear new-build program must respond - and in so doing, will be fundamental to sustaining government and public support over the decades-long nuclear new-build journey. Canada’s nuclear new-build program will need a compelling, multi-dimensional public good ambition. The second is to shift the paradigm of nuclear energy decision-making from individual new-build projects to one encompassing new-build fleets, each fleet servicing a specific energy market. We argue that this fleet-of-fleets paradigm offers greater potential to build and sustain enduring enabling conditions with governments, to build and sustain public, community and Indigenous support, to attract investment and to build and sustain nuclear sector capacity. Building on these concepts, the paper presents a notional framework for planning Canada’s nuclear energy pathways to net-zero.