Panel to help Alberta develop nuclear policy

As the application to build Alberta's first nuclear plant moves ahead, the province announced a four-member panel Wednesday to help it form a policy on nuclear power.

Ontario-based Bruce Power has filed an application to build several reactors in the Peace River area near Lac Cardinal, about 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, in the next decade. The regulatory process could take up to three years.

The Alberta government does not have an official position on nuclear power, so the panel will help the province answer questions on environmental, health and safety issues and waste management.

"The piece that we want to do here is to develop a policy for Alberta with respect to the nuclear issue," said Energy Minister Mel Knight Wednesday. "We don't have a solid written policy and this is the first step in developing that policy."

Former Calgary MP and federal cabinet minister Harvie Andre will chair the panel.

He will be joined by Joseph Doucet, a professor of energy policy at the University of Alberta, Harrie Vredenburg, a business professor from the University of Calgary and John Luxat, a nuclear safety expert and an engineering professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Knight said after the panel is finished its work and has submitted a report in the fall, there will be public consultations across the province.

Liberal Leader Kevin Taft said Wednesday he fears the panel will open the door to Alberta's first reactors when nuclear power should be a last resort.