Yellowcake

The power solution that dare not speak its name

Will B.C. ever see a nuclear-powered generating facility along the lines of what Ontario has? “If you want to get people up in arms, just wave that red flag around British Columbia,” says Richard Neufeld, B.C.’s minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources. “I know it is used safely in many countries around the world – France is all nuclear, I think. But it is not an option here.” Despite a global renaissance – including in other parts of Canada – nuclear energy is specifically ruled out in B.C.’s energy policy. And in the spring of 2008, Victoria cemented that exclusion by implementing an additional ban on uranium exploration and development.

SFU professor Mark Jaccard points out that there’s a strong demographic angle that would work against a nuclear plant being a near-term option in this province. All the plants being proposed around the world are set in locations that already have a plant, he says. “There’s been a shakeout of who wants to live near them. The people that would be terrified have all moved away; the people who live there are all tolerant of that kind of risk now. That’s an order of magnitude easier than to suddenly go to a new location way out in the boonies in B.C. There will still be local citizens, First Nations, environmentalists who will get lots of media attention and blow it into a huge issue – with the politicians saying ‘let me out of here.’”

B.C. did have a nuclear issue on its hands, revolving around exploring and mining uranium. Potential uranium resources in this province have always been considered marginal – certainly when compared with Saskatchewan or even Ontario – but spectacular price increases, sparked by a demand curve that forecasters see going nowhere but up in the foreseeable future, have made even B.C.’s low-grade deposits potentially lucrative. That is, until the provincial government decided it wasn’t interested in waging the environmental battles that loom at the mere mention of “uranium.”

Closest to the flashpoint was the Blizzard claim. Boss Power Inc. holds – or, rather, held – exploration rights to a 335-hectare uranium-rich property east of Kelowna, near the Big White Ski Resort. The Vancouver-based junior mining company was scheduled to begin environmental work on the prospect and had expressed intentions to seek permits for a summer drilling program.

Before the company could even submit applications for permits, however, B.C. Mines minister Kevin Krueger announced a “no registration reserve” under the Mineral Tenure Act – effectively removing uranium and thorium from the list of minerals open to exploitation. To snuff out any hope that existing claims might have their uranium components “grandfathered,” Victoria said it would also take action to ensure that all uranium deposits remain undeveloped.

End of story. Mining industry representatives want clarification on these new rules, but the odds of Boss Power or anyone else getting permits to explore for uranium do not look good. As Byng Giraud, vice-president of policy and communications for the Mining Association of B.C., put it: “It’s like telling us you can look in a box of Smarties, but you can’t have the red ones.”