Liberal Minority Government 2025 - ???

[Kirkhill]

Some really interesting current info on SMR reactors from the World Nuclear Association.

Reactors as small a 5 MWth on the books.
Westinghouse has one that requires refuelling every 8 years
Toshiba's lasts 30 years

The capital cost is projected at 3 to 8 dollars per We. So a 5 MWe plant is projected to cost 15 to 40 Million dollars. The electricity would sell at about 10 cents per kWh, so competitive with the grid.

All of them are about 30-40% efficient so for every MW of electricity the plant will also produce 2 MW of high quality heat.

Small Nuclear Power Reactors - World Nuclear Association

There is revival of interest in small and simpler units for generating electricity from nuclear power, and for process heat. This interest in smaller nuclear power reactors is driven both by a desire to reduce the impact of capital costs and to provide power away from large grid systems.

world-nuclear.org

 

[lenaitch]

It is.



I assume it is a given that the locals will be making the call.

They have a thousand year history of trade with the Europeans to acquire things they don't have.

Patently, currently, they want warmth, light, hot and cold running water, potable water, sewage and waste disposal, communications, computers, vehicles, doctors, peace, order and good government .... all the appurtenances of modern life. And they are coming to the realisation we value stuff that they have. A couple of big holes in the ground are worth it if it means all the stuff I listed above.

And even if the hole goes dry at least they are left with infrastructure that will improve the lives of the locals even after the mines and mills shut down.

If we value what is in the ground, or on the land, enough then we will pay to access it.

If we install a 5MWe reactor to pwer a project with a 10 year profitable life then the locals are left with another 20 plus years of useful energy and access to the outside world.

And just like in the south, they will want to be part of the decision making. The odds of a mine being developed near an existing community are likely slim, and will probably be a fly in/fly out operation. The locals will want as much economic benefit as they can garner while the tap is open.

 

[lenaitch]

Agreed. Any venture is likely to fail. Some fail faster than others. But some survive long enough for the unexpected to happen and the place takes on a life of its own.

I think the same thing would apply to a military installation.

It might be difficult to get people to relocate, but relatively easier to get people to fly in and out on two week, or even two month, cycles. A lot of Roman casters still exist even after the troops pulled out because the people that moved in to serve the troops and take advantage of the traffic they generated are still there, serving each other and the traffic on the roads that still move through their towns.

I'll go you this far. Any development sites that we establish have the potential for becoming permanent. Some may succeed. Many may fail and disappear. But some may only fall back as far as a place like Cobalt - which serves a local population of less than 1000 after being established as a boom town of 5000 in the 1920s.

I think, for a native community of 500 or so that might be considered a win.

It certainly won't be happening in Ontario since the government long ago determined that no new town sites will be approved because they are stuck maintaining services long after the reason for the town ceased. Two large remote mines that I can think of (Musslewhite and Detour) are both fly or drive in and out, even though both are on roads (ish). Lumber mills are a little different since the raw resource is drawn from a large area so haulage to a mill in an existing community is more viable.

When towns used to form, sure, there were other economic reasons for being there. People opened stores and services, maybe a miner got tired of the work and opened a fishing camp. Farming, even subsistence, depends on the land available.

FN communities are a little different since they have complete control over who lives there.

 

[lenaitch]

Some really interesting current info on SMR reactors from the World Nuclear Association.

Reactors as small a 5 MWth on the books.
Westinghouse has one that requires refuelling every 8 years
Toshiba's lasts 30 years

The capital cost is projected at 3 to 8 dollars per We. So a 5 MWe plant is projected to cost 15 to 40 Million dollars. The electricity would sell at about 10 cents per kWh, so competitive with the grid.

All of them are about 30-40% efficient so for every MW of electricity the plant will also produce 2 MW of high quality heat.

Small Nuclear Power Reactors - World Nuclear Association

There is revival of interest in small and simpler units for generating electricity from nuclear power, and for process heat. This interest in smaller nuclear power reactors is driven both by a desire to reduce the impact of capital costs and to provide power away from large grid systems.

world-nuclear.org

I can guarantee you that those capital costs will be much higher in the high arctic.

 

[foresterab]

So what you are saying is that nobody is willing to be a homesteader.

The Peace River district was settled by Dominion Lands Act settlers as recently as the 1930s.

I knew people that homestead still in the 1970's. No longer an option though.