Residents want say in nuclear proposal

People living northwest of Edmonton deservea bigger sayon a proposal to build a nuclear power plant in their community, says a resident who organized a public meeting on the issue.

More than 100 people showed up atthe Wednesday night meetingto talk about a proposal to build a $6.2-billion reactor in north-central Alberta.

Bernard Kruhn, a Fort Assiniboine resident who organized the meeting, said he's not for or against the project, but is concerned residents aren't getting enough information.

"We are asking the council to step back, to put on the brakes for a second here. This is probably the biggest choice people in this county will ever make in their life," he said.

The councils for the Town of Whitecourt and Woodlands County have come out in favour of the project, which has been proposed by Energy Alberta Corp.

They wrote letters of support afterEnergy Alberta flew the town's mayor and several area councillors to the East Coast to tour a reactor.

On Wednesday night, Alison Jamison of the Pembina Institute told the crowd about the huge amount of fresh water that is needed by nuclear plants and the problem of disposing of nuclear waste.

Woodlands County Mayor Jim Rennie, who supports the proposal, accused organizers of fearmongering.

"The people who were presenting did an excellent job of what they are paid to do, which is to scare people," Rennie said.

Kruhn said the presentation by the Pembina Institute was needed to give residents important information about nuclear power.

"We have a responsibility to show both sides in order to help people make up their minds," he said.

Energy Alberta's ambitious plan is to build two 1,100-megawatt nuclear powered generation plants in northwestern Alberta — the first in the province.

The two-year-old company partnered with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the federal Crown corporation and makers of Candu reactors, to provide the science and expertise. It also lined up a bank for financing and started collecting potential clients.

The only other community that's expressed an interest in housing the reactor is Peace River.

Energy Alberta officials have said the plants could be built in eight to 10 years, would provide a stable supply of electricity and would not produce very much greenhouse gas.

The last nuclear plant in Canada was built more than 25 years ago.