2023-08-10 04:05:00
In search of a massive dose of energy, the new boss of Hydro-Québec Michael Sabia initiates a feasibility study on the comeback of the Gentilly 2 nuclear power plant, which has been inactive since 2012.
• Read also: Gentilly 2: almost 10 years since the cessation of operations
Michael Sabia is looking for energy to meet the growing demands of the Government of Quebec. In addition to hydroelectricity, wind power and energy sobriety, the state company could turn to nuclear power.
Sophie Brochu’s successor has therefore just made his first big decision: he asked his team for a feasibility study to restart the defunct Gentilly 2 plant in Bécancour, our Parliamentary Office learned.
Photo d’archives, Pierre-Paul Poulin
Hydro employees have been informed of this request from the CEO.
The type of dismantling chosen at the time had to be irreversible, however, agrees Hydro. The state corporation, however, wants to be clear.
“Yes, we are looking at whether, where we are in the decommissioning of this installation, there is a way to go back,” confirmed Francis Labbé of media relations at Hydro-Québec, indicating that this was a preliminary step.
“We are in a context in the coming years where we will need massive terawatt hours to meet the demand that we anticipate in Quebec. We are at the stage where we want to look at all the options that are in front of us, including this one.
More than 100 TWh of additional clean electricity will be required for Quebec to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, recalls the government corporation.
The new CEO had left the door open to nuclear power when he took office, just like the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, before him.
Expensive repair
Following its election in 2012, the PQ government of Pauline Marois had axed the plant’s refurbishment project and announced the end of its production of 635 megawatts.
Hydro wanted to carry out major renovations to the reactor and the turbogenerator there.
Andréanne Lemire/QMI Agency
The state corporation also wanted to expand its facilities to manage radioactive waste.
“There were major investments which amounted to several billion dollars and the decision had been taken, in the context of the time, to put an end to the activities of the plant”, recalls Mr. Labbé.
Nuclear fears were also in the air, following the earthquake in Japan which had hit the Fukushima power plant hard.
billions of dollars
For more than 10 years, Hydro-Québec has committed approximately $80 million to declassify the nuclear power plant. The nuclear fuel from the plant has also been stored.
The declassification phase was to be completed this year before the complex was placed in dormancy until 2057. It was only after this process that the dismantling of the site was to begin.
The director of the Gentilly 2 nuclear facility, Patrice Desbiens, pointed out last year to TVA nouvelles that Quebec would have to build a new plant if it decided to reverse its decision.
A plan that could be reviewed now that Hydro-Quebec wants to rely on the nuclear power plant to increase its electricity production.
“We have to look at what can be done (…) We have a responsibility to look at all the ways to meet demand,” said Mr. Labbé. “The idea is to make an inventory of the plant’s assets in order to document whether a return to service is conceivable, or if it is simply impossible.”
The Gentilly-2 nuclear power plant in brief
-Opened in 1983 in Bécancour on the shores of the St. Lawrence
-800 workers
– Maximum output of 635 megawatts of clean energy
– Estimated cost to renovate the plant: approximately $3 billion in 2012
-The government of Jean Charest had thought about the possible repair, but following the election in the fall of 2012, the Parti Québécois of Pauline Marois closed the plant
-End of declassification planned for 2023
-End of dismantling scheduled for 2064
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