THE CANADIAN PRESS
SASKATOON - A panel formed to advise the Saskatchewan government on developing its uranium industry recommends opening the door to nuclear power.
Nuclear energy is the best option for the province, Richard Florizone told a news conference Friday.
Flipping through a 120-page report, Florizone said nuclear power is clean, safe and economically viable.
"Nuclear deserves a close look," said the nuclear physicist and chairman of the Uranium Development Partnership. "Our recommendation is that Saskatchewan should include nuclear in its energy mix."
The government appointed the 12-member group last year to study the nuclear cycle from mining through to disposal.
Saskatchewan is the world's largest producer of uranium, the key component in nuclear power generation.
Earlier this week, the provincial legislature passed a motion to consider the development of nuclear power.
Enterprise Minister Lyle Stewart said he understands some people are strongly opposed to having a nuclear plant in the province.
He said the government plans to consider all of the panel's 20 recommendations but won't make a decision until public consultations wrap up in June.
"We'd certainly want to be assured that the majority of Saskatchewan people supported it," Stewart said.
New Democrat Pat Atkinson said she's upset the province's consultation process will only involve nine community meetings over two weeks this spring. She believes the government has already made a decision to go ahead with nuclear power.
"This railroad job of two weeks and three days is unacceptable," Atkinson told reporters. "This government is obviously on a path."
The party has also questioned whether the panel can be unbiased because it includes presidents of the Areva, Cameco and Bruce Power companies.
Cathy Holtslander with the Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan said she's worried about the short consultation process as well as the environmental effects of nuclear waste storage.
She said nuclear energy is not in the public's best interest.
"This is in the interest of the uranium industry and the nuclear industry."
The panel recommended storage of nuclear waste would be a good economic option for the province, but it must have community support.
Stewart earlier pledged the province won't build waste storage.
Last November, Bruce Power released its own feasibility study identifying a region from Prince Albert west to Lloydminster as a good spot to build a nuclear power plant.
That report suggested the plant could be in operation by 2018 and contribute 1,000 megawatts of electricity to the province by 2020.
Bruce Power is a joint venture of Saskatoon-based uranium giant Cameco, TransCanada Corp. of Calgary and other partners. It operates six Candu reactors at its electricity generating stations northwest of Toronto.
In Alberta, the company has already picked a site about 30 kilometres north of Peace River for a potential power plant. The proposed $10-billion facility is supposed to be capable of producing enough electricity to power two million homes by 2017.
The Alberta government also appointed an expert panel that released a similar report on nuclear energy last month. Alberta is also holding public consultations before it makes a decision whether or not to move forward.
Saskatchewan Crown Corporations Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said Bruce Power has assured him it doesn't intend to choose between building in Saskatchewan or Alberta.
"Bruce Power is looking at both provinces," he said. "It's not an either-or situation."
