Report to assess feasibility of nuclear plant’s repair

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – Skeptics in New Brunswick are already downplaying the significance of a report to be released Friday on the feasibility of fixing up the province’s aging nuclear power plant.

The Conservative government will release a report on the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant prepared by Robin Jeffrey, former president of Bruce Power in Ontario and chairman of British Energy.

The report will give the government information on the viability of investing roughly $1 billion to keep the 21-year-old station, the only nuclear power plant in Atlantic Canada, running for another 25 to 30 years.

But Elizabeth Weir, leader of the New Brunswick NDP, said it’s highly unlikely a nuclear energy expert would recommend anything other than maintaining the plant, located near Saint John, about 25 miles from the Maine border.

“You buy the report you want,” Weir said on Thursday. “You know when you pick the consultant what kind of report you’re going to get. You know what they’re going to recommend.”

Weir said she does not want to see the Lepreau plant refurbished.

She said the thought of giving NB Power a free hand to rebuild the plant makes her wake up at night in a cold sweat.

“I’m not prepared to give NB Power a green light to rebuild a nuclear plant inside one that is falling to pieces,” she said. “They didn’t get it right the first time and I’ve got no confidence that they’d ever get it right the second time.”