Alberta panel report supports leaning into nuclear power, but province won’t commit

Alberta Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf says a public feedback report that suggests support for nuclear energy is not a “slam dunk” for the industry given the report urges the pursuit of nuclear power while also doing the legwork to keep people safe.

The report from Alberta’s Nuclear Energy Engagement panel heard from close to 6,000 people in a survey, with more than 400 tuning in to webinars on the topic.

“We didn’t have a baked-in solution before we started. We want to hear from Albertans and, to be perfectly honest, they raised a lot of questions,” Neudorf told reporters Wednesday as he released the report.

Those questions included where the water to cool the facilities would be drawn from and how the province would manage radioactive waste.

“Even if we moved into nuclear, we wouldn’t have that waste for 35 or 40 years. They do want to know that up front and I think that’s a prudent, reasonable question that should be answered before we begin,” Neudorf said.

Overall, the participants backed adding nuclear to “Alberta’s energy mix,” the report’s authors stated, but noted that support was tied to the desire to consider safety, protect the environment, and respect the rights and priorities of Indigenous and local communities.

The authors also cautioned that survey answers likely came from people already interested in pursuing the nuclear option and cautioned “survey results should not be considered to reflect the views of Alberta’s population.”

Neudorf says this report shows an interest in Alberta.

“This isn’t a slam dunk that the Alberta government will proceed, but we did get feedback,” he said.

One survey showed the vast majority of respondents were comfortable having a nuclear facility in Alberta. That number dwindled when people were asked if they felt the same if a site were built near their community, but the majority still backed it.

The same survey also found that while most people were undeterred by the safety risks of nuclear energy, close to half were at least somewhat concerned.

Nuclear power is already being considered in Alberta, with a proposed site from the company Energy Alberta. Neudorf says other companies have also expressed interest.

Energy Alberta is proposing the construction of a two-towered plant, the first of its kind in the province, with as many as four nuclear reactors near the town of Peace River. A group in northern Alberta organized a plebiscite in October that suggested the majority of residents were opposed to the site.

As proposed, the site would cover about 14 square kilometres and generate 4,800 megawatts, enough to power close to five million homes.

Nagwan Al-Guneid, the Opposition NDP’s energy critic, welcomed exploring nuclear energy in the province but questioned the cost of including nuclear in Alberta’s energy portfolio, asking who would pay for the new developments.

“We haven’t seen a single nuclear project worldwide that was not subsidized by public money,” said Al-Guneid.

Neudorf said private investment would drive the construction of new facilities, rather than taxpayer funds.

Ontario and New Brunswick already use nuclear power, while others like Saskatchewan are also looking to ramp up their nuclear power supply.

In B.C., the province’s Clean Energy Act restricts the use of nuclear power, and other provinces have banned mining or exploration for uranium, the metal primarily used as fuel to generate nuclear power.2026.