NB Power says future is nuclear, despite Point Lepreau concerns

Posted on October 6, 2026 by brucewark

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: Telegraph-Journal
October 6, 2026

NB Power is bullish on nuclear in its latest plan that looks 20 years into the future, despite huge problems at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.

Released Monday, the utility’s integrated resource plan makes the case that nuclear power should remain one of the top ways to produce electricity in the province and avoid pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The plan, used as a guiding document for politicians, policymakers and the regulator, states that extending the power plant near Saint John beyond its predicted lifespan of 2042 by another five to 10 years, or refurbishing it a second time, would have a lot of advantages.

NB Power estimates the annual cost of extending its life would be $600 million, whereas the electricity it would produce would be worth $900 million. That’s a $300-million net gain that would turn the utility into a net energy exporter, rather than a net energy importer as it is now.

“Bottom line here, we do think nuclear makes a whole lot of sense,” said Brad Coady, NB Power’s chief commercial officer, during an online press conference Monday.

“We do think it’s a big part of our future, and we do think that strong policy support from both levels of government, the federal and provincial government, are absolutely required to make it a reality in New Brunswick. And it is the best option.”

Critics, such as Green party Leader David Coon, have blamed problems at Point Lepreau for driving up NB Power’s debt and pushing up electricity rates.

The 43-year-old plant has broken down several times over the last few years, costing the public utility hundreds of millions of extra dollars that must eventually be paid by its nearly 400,000 customers.

This included an episode last month in which a broken line leaked radioactive heavy water within the reactor building. No one was hurt and the spill has since been cleaned up.

A $2.4-billion refurbishment of the plant that was completed in 2012 added significantly to NB Power’s $6-billion debt, but Point Lepreau has failed to live up to expectations, with its performance among the worst in the nuclear industry over the last decade.

Higher rates

The plan itself touches on people’s rancor over higher rates, which have increased by more than a quarter over the last few years, raising the cost of household bills hundreds of dollars annually.

The last time such a plan was presented by NB Power three years ago, it reported 28% of customers who responded said affordable rates were their top concern, with reliability a close second. This time, 43%  of respondents (close to 10,000 people) said affordability was the top priority, with 25 % citing reliability. Clean energy (13%) and debt repayment (9%) were way down the list.

NB Power VP Brad Coady

Coady said the nuclear plant should and would do better, pointing out that when Point Lepreau is down, NB Power must buy more expensive electricity from places like Quebec and New England, or burn more-polluting fuel at generators such as Belledune or Coleson Cove, to meet New Brunswick’s demand.

“I’d argue the larger driver to our debt is actually when Lepreau doesn’t produce the electricity,” the executive said. “We had to turn (to) the more expensive sources, which really shows the benefit that a healthy Lepreau provides NB Power and to all of its customers.

“So simply put, I feel like the recent history on its performance isn’t acceptable. I don’t think New Brunswickers should accept it. I know the management team at NB Power certainly doesn’t accept it. And we are working with the world-class team at Lepreau and other experts to make sure that we can turn that facility around to be a much stronger performer going forward,” Coady said.

To that end, NB Power signed a three-year, $20-million deal with Laurentis Energy Partners, a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation, that began in April, in the hopes of improving the CANDU plant’s long-term performance.

Greenhouse gas emissions

A big question mark hanging over the utility is an obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by burning less coal and other fossil fuels. The plan maps out several scenarios, including eliminating most greenhouse gases and getting to net-zero. The document also predicts increased energy demand should more people start buying electric cars.

Point Lepreau nuclear plant. Photo: NB Power

In this regard, nuclear is seen as a saviour. While NB Power plans on adding more renewables, such as wind and solar, these are intermittent forms of energy, and the public utility’s executives remain unconvinced that large batteries are enough of a dependable backup source. Point Lepreau, or even a second nuclear plant beside the existing reactor, would be able to provide the baseload power, Coady said.

“If you’re going to constrain carbon across the country or in New Brunswick, nuclear is a major part of how you can do that and do that effectively,” he said. “One of the stories I tell folks is just how different our system is today because of Point Lepreau.

“The short story is that if we didn’t have a Lepreau, we feel quite strongly that we would have over 2,000 megawatts of coal here.”

Coal is one of the single worst energy sources for greenhouse gas emissions, pumping about one-fifth of the world’s total into the atmosphere.

The Belledune Generating Station, which is being transitioned from coal to wood pellets, produces about 500 megawatts of power, but the original plan when it opened in 1993 was to expand it to a 2,000-megawatt coal plant. That plan was eventually shelved.

“When Lepreau is healthy, the utility is healthy,” Coady said. “Nuclear power is expensive to maintain and to keep operating, but when it’s operating and operating well, it’s a very, very low-cost source of supply.”

Additional note from brucewark regarding the addition of combustion turbines in the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan:

NB Power’s plan also anticipates adding another 500 to 1,600 megawatts of combustion-turbine capacity beyond the 500 MW gas/diesel project planned for Tantramar. The additional capacity appears in all four main planning scenarios, with the amount and timing varying according to electricity demand and emissions constraints. The detailed projections show additions beginning in 2036/37 under higher demand growth, or in 2040/41 under lower growth, bringing total new combustion-turbine capacity to between 1,000 and 2,100 MW by 2045/46. These are recommended future investments rather than firm construction commitments. (See Table ES.1 on page 14; Table 5.1 on page 72; and Appendix I – Expansion Tables on pages 153-154)

To read NB Power’s 2026  Integrated Resource Plan, click here.

This story was written by Local Journalism Initiative Reporter John Chilibeck with additional files from Bruce Wark.

Posted in LJI stories, NB Power | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Consultant challenges Tantramar gas plant approval, says wind and batteries would cost less

Posted on October 5, 2026 by brucewark

Retired consultant Martin Bush

A retired international consultant on environmental management, who recently moved to Moncton from Montreal, is questioning the New Brunswick Energy & Utilities Board’s  approval of the 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village as a prudent investment.

“How can it be a prudent investment if you’ve got an alternative, which is proven technology that is much less expensive,” Martin Bush said during an interview last month with Warktimes.

“I knew instantly when I moved here and somebody told me about the gas plant in Tantramar, that if NB Power went with renewables and batteries, that system would be much cheaper,” he adds.

In a 12-page paper he completed in September, Bush calculates that the cost of wind farm technology paired with battery energy storage systems would cost about $370 million less over 25 years than NB Power’s proposed RIGS plant.

“The RIGS gas/diesel facility proposed by NB Power is NOT a prudent investment,” he writes. “It is expensive, socially unacceptable, economically wasteful, and environmentally harmful.”

Bush says he is working on a second edition of his book, first published in 2019

Bush, who has written two books on climate change and is a member of various environmental groups, including Seniors for Climate Action Now, points to figures in the New Brunswick Auditor General’s report showing that the gas/diesel plant would cost more than $3 billion over 25 years while the costs of battery systems combined with wind farms would be substantially less with no emissions of greenhouse gases and no harmful air pollution generated by the burning of fossil fuels.

“Neither the battery system nor the wind farm requires frequent provisions of diesel fuel by heavy trucks along local roads in poor condition,” he writes.

“The environmental impacts of providing a RIGS gas/diesel facility with a regular supply of diesel fuel should not be underestimated.”

He writes that  battery energy storage systems and wind farms can be placed anywhere on the grid in locations where there would be minimal environmental and ecological effects.

“There is absolutely no reason why either the battery system or the wind farm should be located in Tantramar,” he writes. “The wind farm and the battery system do not need to be in the same location.”

In a later e-mail to Warktimes, Bush responded to NB Power’s argument that battery energy storage systems could not provide enough sustained power during a prolonged, three-day period of frigid weather similar to the cold snap in early February 2023.

Re the 3-day cold snap, the issue here is that NB Power continues to treat the battery system like it generates electricity.  It doesn’t. It’s a battery: it only stores electricity. Which is why batteries have to be coupled to a solar park or a wind farm or another source of electricity so they can be regularly charged. And utility batteries are ALWAYS integrated into the power distribution network—so they can be charged from any source on the grid that is operational including solar parks and wind farms , which are the cheapest sources of power.

Only in the improbable case of a frigid cold snap coincident with zero wind would a wind farm and battery system be inadequate. Not impossible but very low probability and routinely forecast days in advance.

But again, these systems are part of a province-wide network of generating assets that NB Power manages in their role as electrical system operator. And when an asset goes offline (like the Lepreau nuclear station), NB Power automatically brings in other sources of power.

Bush writes that his calculations also include the costs of maintaining and replacing batteries over 25 years.

“The fact that they’re locking in a polluting technology in the local environment for a couple of decades to come is an outrageous proposition by NB Power,” he says.

To read Martin Bush’s paper, click here.

Posted in climate change, Environment, NB Power, Town of Sackville, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 1 Comment

Goya’s staying in its Main St. location until new hotel is built in about 2 years

Posted on October 1, 2026 by brucewark

Goya’s Pizza on the left side of the 132-year-old Ford Block on Sackville’s Main St.

The owner of Sackville’s Goya’s Pizza says he expects his restaurant will continue to operate out of its Main Street location for up to two more years before developer John Lafford and his partner Mike Wilson demolish the Ford Block to build a hotel on the site.

“He might change his mind,” Fakher (Dave) Farah told Warktimes today, “but right now  it looks like about two more years.”

He says that once the hotel is built, he’s hoping to re-open his restaurant on its ground floor.

In the meantime, Goya’s will be opening a second location in Moncton around the end of November in Lafford Properties’ newly built Three Sisters complex overlooking the Petitcodiac River.

Goya’s notice on Facebook

Farah was anxious to dispel rumours he would soon be closing in Sackville after the recent sale of the building.

Property records show that AIL CEO Mike Wilson bought the Ford Block through his company Right Coast Realty for $1.4 million on March 31st.

He and Lafford are currently building a seven-storey commercial-residential building on the corner of York Street and Ford Avenue.

It will contain 90 apartments and will also house a Pump House Brewery outlet as well as Horizon Health’s collaborative care clinic now located next to the Sackville hospital.

So far, John Lafford has not responded to a phone message from Warktimes and in April when I first reported on his purchase of the Ford Block, Mike Wilson said through a spokesman that he did not wish to comment on any plans he might have for that building.

To read previous coverage, click here.

Posted in Town of Sackville, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mayor’s contentious gas plant statement divides Tantramar council on new code of conduct complaints

Posted on September 29, 2026 by brucewark

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell’s controversial statement about the 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village continues to generate code of conduct complaints against her that a sharply divided council has been unable to resolve.

At a special meeting on Monday, an evenly split council could not decide whether to dismiss or proceed with the latest complaints, so they will be forwarded to the  Local Governance Commission that the province created as part of municipal reform.

Earlier this month, council summarily dismissed a code of conduct complaint against the mayor filed by Dorchester resident Bill Steele.

It concerned her statement that was posted on the town’s Facebook page shortly after the province announced its approval of the NB Power gas plant on August 28th.

Among other things, her statement called on the town to move forward in the expectation that the 45 conditions the province had imposed on the project would address all public concerns about its potential health, safety and environment effects.

Dorchester resident Bill Steele

Steele’s complaint pointed out that even though Wiggins-Colwell wrote that she spoke on behalf of council, she had not consulted its members and that this council and the previous one had each voted to oppose the gas plant.

In a 6-2 vote on September 8th, council voted to dismiss Steele’s complaint without discussing or debating its merits.

The town’s new code of conduct bylaw prohibits any discussion on the merits of a complaint until council decides whether to dismiss or proceed with it.

Yesterday, in a tied 4-4 vote, council was unable to decide whether to dismiss or proceed with Steele’s latest complaint about the mayor’s participation and vote in a council discussion on whether to remove her Facebook statement.

Steele’s complaint says Wiggins-Colwell should have excused herself from the discussion and it points out that the mayor’s vote resulted in a tie that then allowed her statement to stand, even though it did not represent the town’s official position against the gas plant.

Councillor Barry Hicks said council should dismiss this latest complaint calling it frivolous.

“The mayor didn’t even write that report,” he said. “Somebody else wrote that press release.”

Councillors Haidee Robertson, Alyssa Greene and Wayne Wells voted with Hicks to dismiss the complaint, while Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen and Councillors Tori Weldon, Kristen LeBlanc and Allison Butcher voted to proceed.

Centre Village resident Terry Jones

Assistant Clerk Chris Hill said the tied vote meant that the complaint would have to be referred to the Local Governance Commission.

Council also tied 4-4 in a vote on whether to dismiss or proceed with a complaint from Centre Village resident Terry Jones.

It was similar to the one initially filed by Bill Steele accusing the mayor of speaking on behalf of council without consulting its members first.

It too will now be sent to the Local Governance Commission which has the power to investigate code of conduct complaints, rule on them and impose penalties.

To read Bill Steele’s latest complaint, click here.

To read the one submitted by Terry Jones, click here.

For CHMA coverage, click here.

For previous Warktimes coverage, click here and here.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Tantramar council welcomes Rogers cell tower despite former mayor’s concerns

Posted on September 28, 2026 by brucewark

Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell

Members of Tantramar Town Council, including the mayor, are welcoming the new telecommunications tower that Rogers Communications is building in the Sackville Industrial Park.

“I just came off of a three-day conference and a big concern from every one of the 13 mayors sitting around the table was cell coverage,” said Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, adding that coverage is poor to non-existent in many areas of the province.

“Nowadays, the way we depend on cell coverage, even for emergencies, 9-1-1, and all this,” she said, “so, I guess when I look around regionally, it is important for cell coverage.”

She was responding to a question from Warktimes about former Mayor Andrew Black’s letter to Rogers asking the company to reconsider building the tower close to one of the flood control ponds and the walking trails around it that serve as an extension of the Sackville Waterfowl Park.

Councillor Alyssa Greene

“I don’t share the former mayor’s concerns,” said Councillor Alyssa Greene.

“I think that it is something that is a positive addition to our community and to connectivity,” she added.

“I believe Rogers has a responsibility. They’re governed by laws and policies out there and they are responsible to those,” Greene said, suggesting there’s no substantive proof to back claims there are any health concerns related to telecommunications towers.

Warktimes reminded council during its Monday committee of the whole meeting that the South East Regional Service Commission’s planning agency, known as Plan 360, issued a letter approving the tower in spite of the commission’s own antenna siting policy which states that new antenna systems should avoid “ecologically significant natural lands [and] sites of natural or cultural prominence.”

“I think that describes the Sackville Waterfowl Park and our extensive food control ponds with trails around them,” I said during council’s public question period, adding that the 213 foot tower would be next to an extension of one of Tantramar’s most significant parks that helped earn it accreditation as a United Nations Ramsar City Wetland site.

Councillor Barry Hicks

Councillor Allison Butcher said Black wrote his letter on behalf of the previous council suggesting that the present one has other concerns.

“We are a municipal council and there are other levels of government above us that may or may not choose to go with the wishes of a council request,” she added.

“The cell coverage in New Brunswick is very poor,” said Councillor Barry Hicks, adding this one is not right in the Waterfowl Park.

He said ever since he’s been on council the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick has been pushing for more cell coverage in the province.

“In my opinion, I don’t see anything wrong with it. We need the cell phone coverage,” he concluded.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Rogers starts construction of controversial cell tower in Sackville

Posted on September 26, 2026 by brucewark

Photo showing part of a newly poured concrete foundation and steel rods to support the cell tower at 14 Crescent St. which is near the entrance to the Sackville Industrial Park

Rogers Communications has begun construction of a controversial 65-metre (213 foot) telecommunications tower in the Sackville Industrial Park to improve its local cell phone services.

Plan 360, the planning and building-permit service of the Southeast Regional Service Commission, has issued a letter of concurrence allowing the project to proceed.

That letter, in effect, grants municipal approval for the cell tower located at 14 Crescent Street across from the Armtec pipe plant and near homes on Beal Heights.

Rogers is leasing the land from Sackville resident Percy Best.

Retired law professor Logan Atkinson says he visited the Plan 360 offices on Friday where he confirmed that the letter of concurrence had been issued as well as a building permit allowing construction to begin.

“Apparently, there’s very little discretion in whether or not the letter of concurrence and then the building permit will issue,” he told Warktimes.

“There are steps the proponent [Rogers Communications] must follow, and as long as those steps are followed properly and met, then the letter of concurrence will issue,” Atkinson says.

One of those steps requires public consultation. The company held an open house in March 2025, where many residents expressed strong opposition to placing the cell tower so close to homes and the Marshview Middle School.

Michelle Klein of Scott Telecom Services, acting as an agent for Rogers, said her company selected the site because it’s zoned industrial and has ready access to electric power.

Former Sackville Mayor Pat Estabrooks expressed concern about potential health effects.

“I live on Beal Heights, so that tower will be directly behind our home,” she said.

“It’s not the right place to put it…[and] I just want to tell you you’re making a wrong decision.”

The company also received written comments from the public as part of its consultation process.

Mayor Black’s letter

Former Mayor Andrew Black addressing council in February 2025 about the Rogers cell tower

When he first heard about the cell tower project in February 2025, then Mayor Andrew Black sent a letter asking Rogers to reconsider the Crescent Street location.

“We are deeply concerned about the potential negative impacts this tower would have on the health of our residents, their property values and their overall quality of life,” his letter said.

Black also objected on aesthetic grounds to placing the tower close to one of the flood retention ponds and the walking trails around it that serve as an extension of the Sackville Waterfowl Park.

“[It’s] a beautiful gem that will only continue to get better as more and more trees grow and more animals move in,” Black said during a town council meeting.

“We will have a…Rogers tower right next to it, which I personally find offensive,” he added.

When asked by Warktimes for a comment on Black’s letter, a Rogers spokesperson e-mailed the following response:

“We are committed to delivering a reliable, consistent wireless experience and are looking to enhance our network in Sackville to provide more seamless coverage for residents, businesses and emergency responders. We want to ensure our services, equipment and design meet local needs, and we will continue to work with the community.”

The company also said that it works closely with the federal regulator to make sure its products and services meet rigorous safety standards including Health Canada’s Safety Code 6.

Skepticism about safety

Sackville resident & retired law professor Logan Atkinson

But, for his part, Logan Atkinson is skeptical about the effectiveness of federal safety standards.

“Wireless technologies are all around us in all aspects of our life,” he says.

“You can’t get on the train without being bombarded with these, with the impulses from wireless technologies and so I think it’s fair to say if we’re learning from the lessons of the past around tobacco use and chemical use in agriculture etc., that we ought to be more cautious especially before siting this tower in the middle of a residential area next to a schoolhouse,” he adds.

To read warnings about the health effects of wireless technologies from Canadians for Safe Technology, click here.

To read Health Canada’s assurances that there are no health risks from cell phones, cell phone towers, antennas and 5G devices, click here.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 4 Comments

UPDATE: 200 litres of radioactive heavy water spilled at Lepreau nuclear plant

Posted on September 21, 2026 by brucewark

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: Telegraph-Journal
September 21, 2026

Point Lepreau nuclear plant. Photo: NB Power

NB Power says about 200 litres of radioactive heavy water gushed out of a broken instrumentation line earlier this month at its Lepreau nuclear plant, a dangerous problem that’s still under repair.

But the public utility insists no workers were exposed to heavy radiation in the  cleanup, a claim backed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which oversees the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.

“Approximately 200 litres of heavy water was contained and collected in the reactor building as per station design,” wrote spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser-McAllister, in an email to Brunswick News on Monday. “There was no impact or safety risk to the public, staff, or the environment.”

Asked how many staff were involved in the cleanup and repair, the spokesperson didn’t give a firm number. However, she said trained and qualified station staff with specialized expertise entered the reactor building using personal protective clothing and equipment appropriate for the conditions.

Two hundred litres of water is about the amount that a standard-size bathtub would hold.

“Staff accessing the area where the leak was located completed their work under strict radiation protection and industrial safety controls, including specialized monitoring equipment and personal protective equipment,” Fraser-McAllister wrote. “There were no unplanned or unexpected exposures associated with this event. Worker safety remains our top priority.”

NB Power slow to respond

Critics have accused NB Power of downplaying the hazardous spill, detected on September 10th.

When Brunswick News asked early Friday morning whether the leak, first reported via a public news release on September 14th, was highly radioactive, it took NB Power nearly 10 hours to answer the question.

Blitzed with follow up questions, the utility took until Monday afternoon to provide more information.

On Monday, the utility said repairs were progressing.

“The work is being carried out methodically and in accordance with strict safety standards. We will provide updates as new information becomes available.”

In the meantime, the plant remains offline and won’t produce any electricity.

For earlier coverage, click here.

This story was written by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Reporter with Brunswick News.

Posted in Environment, LJI stories, NB Power | Tagged | 5 Comments

Heavy water leak at Lepreau nuclear plant is radioactive: NB Power

Posted on September 19, 2026 by brucewark

Point Lepreau nuclear plant. Photo: NB Power

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: Telegraph-Jounal
September 18, 2026

The heavy water that leaked last week at a nuclear plant near Saint John is radioactive, NB Power has confirmed.

At just past 5 p.m. on Friday, the public utility responded to questions posed by Brunswick News early Friday morning asking if the leak at the Point Lepreau Generating Station was highly radioactive.

Critics have accused NB Power of downplaying a hazardous spill.

“The heavy water involved is radioactive and contained within the reactor building,” wrote spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser-McAllister, in an email. “The heavy water is at the levels expected in the heat transport system where it circulates.”

Blitzed with follow-up questions from Brunswick News, NB Power said it would respond Monday.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which oversees all nuclear plants in the country, said late Friday that as soon as its site inspectors stationed at Point Lepreau found out about the spill on Sept. 10, they acted.

“We are engaged with NB Power as it conducts a thorough assessment of the incident and undertakes the necessary repair activities,” wrote Sarah Dolan, a spokeswoman with the safety commission. “There has been no impact on the safety of workers, the public or the environment, and no workers have been reported to have received radiation doses above regulatory limits.”

She said the commission’s staff would continue to oversee NB Power’s response and review the results of the ongoing assessment of how to repair the leak.

Danger to workers

Gordon Edwards. Photo: NB Media Co-op

Still, the leak raised the alarm for Gordon Edwards, the president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.

He said in an interview on Friday the coolant water from a small instrumentation line that was found leaking inside the reactor building has tritium in it.

Tritium is an isotope that is radioactive and unstable.

The heavy water normally circulates through the reactor in a closed-loop system and is used as a coolant.

Edwards said the danger would be to workers if they inhaled the warm vapour of the spilled heavy water.

“When the stuff leaks, like in this case, it’s a genuine problem for the workers, because they’re going to get a brief high exposure to the tritium that they normally wouldn’t be exposed to,” said Edwards, a retired mathematician from Montreal who’s in his eighties and has spent much of his life researching nuclear plants.

“Normally that stuff is in the pipes. It’s not out where they can breathe it. But once it gets out of the pipes, it’s mostly the water vapour that’s a danger.”

NB Power told Brunswick News on Tuesday the leak was contained to the heavy-walled reactor building and there was “no risk to the public, employees or the environment.”

In its earlier news release from Sept. 14, the public utility did not mention the heavy water was radioactive, nor did spokespeople use the word during a subsequent interview and follow up emails, until Friday evening, after Brunswick News posed more questions.

Lack of transparency

Susan O’Donnell

Susan O’Donnell, lead researcher at the Cedar project at St. Thomas University, which pushes for green energy transitions, criticized NB Power for not being more transparent.

“It would have been even more informative to mention that the heavy water that leaked has been in the reactor since 1983 and is now highly radioactive,” she wrote on a reader’s forum. “Interesting that nobody interviewed for the story mentioned that salient fact.”

The union representing most of NB Power’s nuclear employees, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, IBEW local 34, did not immediately reply when Brunswick News sought comment on early Friday afternoon.

The safety commission sets limits on the releases of tritium and requires all Canadian nuclear operators to conduct and report on their environmental monitoring.

Heavy water in and of itself is not radioactive. The special liquid is used in Candu reactors like Point Lepreau so they can run efficiently on cheap, unenriched natural uranium.

The heavy water has two express purposes: a neutron moderator to slow down fast neutrons and a coolant to transfer heat away from the reactor core.

The line that leaked was circulating coolant water, which Edwards said has less tritium, and as result, less radioactivity than what’s in the 360,000 litres of heavy water that just sits in the reactor moderator tank, called the calandria. It builds up radiation over time.

But the coolant is still highly radioactive, he said, estimating it had about 50 billion becquerels per litre.

For comparison, the maximum permissible level of tritium in drinking water is 7,000 becquerels per litre, so the heavy water used as a coolant was millions of times more radioactive than the maximum level of contamination allowed by law, he said.

Repairs could take weeks

It’s still unclear, however, how much water leaked, several litres or just a few drops. And there’s been no indication that the workers were unprotected and exposed to the hazardous vapours.

The commission on its website states that tritium can increase the risk of cancer if consumed in extremely large quantities.

It also states the highest average annual tritium level measured in the drinking water of Canadian communities near nuclear facilities is about 18 becquerels per litre, well below Health Canada’s recommended drinking water limit of 7,000 becquerels per litre.

Edwards said he hoped none of the workers had been exposed.

“Water with tritium generally goes right through the body, but some of it doesn’t go out. It gets absorbed into the organic molecules of the body. It’s called organically bound tritium. And this organically bound tritium stays in the body longer and continues to radiate the sensitive cells. The long-term consequences are mostly cancer.”

NB Power earlier this week said the work to repair the leak was difficult and complex and that multiple shifts of workers had to be used because the reactor building is warmer than most places. Kathleen Duguay, a spokeswoman, said the work could take days or several weeks.

In the meantime, the plant remains offline and won’t produce any electricity.

Workers leaving sensitive areas of the plant are always scanned for radiation levels.

This story was written by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with Brunswick News.

Posted in LJI stories, NB Power | Tagged | Leave a comment

Midgic meeting discusses ways to fight NB Power gas plant

Posted on September 17, 2026 by brucewark

About 40 people, many of them local residents, shared their ideas Wednesday evening for stopping NB Power’s planned 500 MW Chignecto Isthmus gas/diesel plant during a two-hour meeting at the Midgic Baptist Church.

“We need to fight,” said Andy Mills, who moved from the Windsor, Ontario area in 2021 to build his $400,000 retirement home on property he bought in Midgic about five miles from the proposed gas plant.

“These people who are dictating to us live in Missouri,” he said referring to executives from the big U.S. company PROENERGY that would build and operate the gas plant.

Midgic resident Andy Mills says it’s time to confront the politicians & executives backing the gas plant

“They live in Fredericton, they live in other places, but we live here. We need to fight and we need to fight hard and stop with the political correctness words because they don’t work,” he added, as he argued that it’s time to confront the politicians and executives backing the gas plant even if it means swearing at them sometimes.

“They’re laughing at us,” he said. “They don’t care about us.”

Mills who worked as a mechanical engineer for most of his career before going into human resources said later that he moved to Canada from England in 1979 and wasn’t that interested in politics until in the last 10 to 15 years he’s seen how politicians are walking all over the people who actually pay their salaries.

He says that Premier Holt has not responded to the politely worded e-mails he’s sent.

“So, I think we need to be more forceful in the words we choose,” he said.

Challenges to gas plant

Meeting organizers Juliette Bulmer (L) & Terry Jones

Meeting organizer Juliette Bulmer mentioned that Barry Rothfuss, executive director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute and five other opponents of the gas plant have registered a formal complaint with the federal Competition Bureau.

Among other things, it accuses NB Power and PROENERGY of falsely claiming that Indigenous investors would be partners in the project, an example, their complaint says, of a “false narrative” about Indigenous reconciliation that is “direct evidence of corporate deception and federal greenwashing.”

Bulmer also mentioned that on November 17th, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear a case launched by the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition challenging the fairness of the Energy & Utility Board hearings on the gas plant before the EUB approved the project in May.

Meeting organizer Terry Jones said she would be preparing cards for people to keep in  their wallets based on a booklet from the Canadian Constitution Foundation called Know Your Rights: A Guide to Protest in Canada.

She suggested it could be useful during peaceful protests against the gas plant.

“The document shows you what to do if you’re protesting, what to do if you’re arrested or threatened with arrest, where you’re allowed to protest. It’s broken down quite concisely,” she said, adding that the document can also be found online.

Celebrity & social license

“This is the single most important issue to me in my life right now,” said Shelley Chase, artistic director of Sackville’s annual music festival Levee on the Lake who added that she had a few ideas to contribute.

“Celebrity,” she said. “Celebrity always helps. The social license and the court of public opinion matter. Shame matters,” Chase said.

Shelley Chase, artistic director at Levee on the Lake

“So, when I leave here, I’ve worked in the music industry for 30 years, I’m going to call some celebrities,” she added, promising to ask if they would take a public stand against the gas plant.

“I will try to get hold of Jim Cuddy and Matt Andersen and a few other folks that I’ve met,” she said even though they may or may not agree to get involved.

“Usually folk musicians are fairly politically active against things that will harm the environment.”

Chase also suggested making a bigger effort to enlist students who are members of environmental groups at Mt. A. and said opponents should think about arranging for a huge, digital sign in an area with high traffic in Moncton.

Later someone suggested asking for support from the Indigenous rapper Wolf Castle and Meredith Fisher of Seniors from Climate Tantramar mentioned Jeremy Dutcher, the classically trained tenor and composer who is a member of Tobique First Nation.

Juliette Bulmer also reminded the meeting that Seniors for Climate Tantramar will be running an information table on the gas plant at this year’s Fall Fair, also gathering at one o’clock on Saturday December 18th at the Drew Nursing Home to participate in the Fall Fair Parade and at 3 p.m., staging a crosswalk demonstration at the Bridge and Main traffic lights.

“Everybody is invited,” she said.

Posted in Environment, NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 2 Comments

‘Marketing material’ on Sisson mine needs to be scrutinized: critic

Posted on September 15, 2026 by brucewark

Sisson Mine in last year of operation with approximately 145-hectare open pit, 370 metres deep and tailings pond of over 350 million cubic metres. Figures from Conservation Council of New Brunswick. Illustration: Northcliffe Resources Ltd.

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.
Source: Telegraph-Journal
September 13, 2026

Groups opposed to a big new mine in central New Brunswick are demanding that the provincial government scrutinize the project’s latest plans, including changes to a tailings pond and massive earthen dam that would hold back toxic wastewater.

Northcliff Resources, a firm in Vancouver, recently published a summary of a new feasibility study that showed the $1.5-billion Sisson mine would be a big money maker.

The open-pit mine, which would dig up the critical metals tungsten and molybdenum, is supposed to create 500 jobs during construction and 300 jobs when it’s up and running in 2030.

Over the span of 27 years, the mine about 60 kilometres north of Fredericton, would generate taxes and royalties of just under $14.5 billion, the study suggests. For investors, there’s the lure of payback within less than two years.

“I don’t consider this much more than marketing material,” said Tom Cheney, the executive director of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, in an interview last Friday.

“The government should be asking bigger questions about the trade-off. Even if we do take some of this feasibility study at face value, these claims about jobs and royalties, etc., is this worth it? I mean, it is an insane risk.”

Cheney said it wouldn’t be just a few thousand people in the Nashwaak Valley who would be affected if the tailings pond failed. The Nashwaak River drains into the St. John River, home to the cities of Fredericton and Saint John.

“Do you know how many property values would be damaged? It’s a whole third of the province that lives downstream of this mine,” Cheney said.

Advantages of location

Northcliff’s CEO Andrew Ing has promoted the project for a similar reason – proximity. With Fredericton and other nearby communities, such as Juniper, Napadogan and Stanley, within easy driving distance, there would be no need to build a work camp, and it would be easier to lure workers and executives to the area.

The updated feasibility study, which will be released in full on October 15th, also states that a special fund would be created – a bond – that would be worth $210 million by the time the mine closes in 2057 that would pay for ongoing water treatment and other reclamation in perpetuity.

“With the positive results released, I think that de-risks this project even more, which should increase the appetite for investors to participate in the building of this mine,” Ing told Brunswick News last week.

An opponent had a more skeptical view.

“Essentially, the document that Northcliff Resources released is a tool for the company to get it what it desperately needs – investors,” said Allyson Huestis, the executive director of the Nashwaak Watershed Association, in an interview on Thursday. “It highlights the positive aspects to drum up investment for them.”

Lawn sign distributed by the Coalition to Stop Sisson Mine

Huestis and Cheney are part of the Coalition Against the Sisson Mine, which includes several organizations and individuals.

They have an uphill battle: both Prime Minister Carney and Premier Holt have thrown their support behind the project. The premier plans on pushing Sisson to private investors at a Toronto summit this week as one of eight major New Brunswick projects they should back.

Still, the mine’s opponents say the provincial government has a responsibility to scrutinize Sisson. They want it to conduct an independent, third-party study of the updated feasibility study, the same way it examined Northcliff’s first feasibility study in 2013.

That culminated in a report in April 2015 by the consulting firm Amec Foster Wheeler, which concluded that Northcliff had badly underestimated the cost of building a wastewater treatment plant – by 50 per cent.

The old report also said the firm had low-balled the cost of maintaining the site once the mine closed, when the open pit is supposed to slowly fill with water.

An updated review, Huestis said, would likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, money a nonprofit like hers just doesn’t have.

“We need the province to hire independent experts who can really look at it in depth,” she said.

Provincial response

Brunswick News asked the provincial government whether it would conduct such a study. A spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources wrote in an e-mail on Monday that a review would be undertaken, without saying if it would be done by civil servants or outside experts.

“The feasibility study is a business document prepared by the company for its shareholders and potential investors,” Nick Brown said. “As part of the mining lease application process, departmental staff will conduct a thorough review of the study to assess it against the requirements set out in the Mining Act and its general regulation.”

Mayor David Sweeney. Photo: Nashwaak Rural Community

David Sweeney, the mayor of Nashwaak Rural Community, said his council would reserve comment until the full report is released. However, he told Brunswick News they still expected Northcliff and the provincial government to prove the mine wouldn’t pollute the Nashwaak and Tay rivers.

“We welcome jobs but not at any cost,” he said.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation, meanwhile, has embarked on a study of its own, an economic one for the Nashwaak Valley. The organization is paying $20,000 to the Pond-Deshpande Institute at the University of New Brunswick, which should deliver the research by late fall or early winter.

It will examine some of the economic consequences of the mine, including “local people whose businesses could be ruined if there’s a catastrophic breach, such as people working in the outdoors industry,” Cheney said.

The study will also include an inventory of economic assets in the region and the drivers of prosperity.

“And then finally, the study will chart a path for alternatives that work with the ecology rather than against it.”

Cheney doubted Sisson would create anywhere near 300 jobs.

The first version of the feasibility study from 13 years ago also said the mine would need 300 employees, a figure that hasn’t changed.

The updated version mentions the company would optimize operations by using autonomous haul trucks and electric shovels in the open pit.

“We have to keep in mind that these are highly mechanized, highly automated processes,” Cheney said. “It just doesn’t require that much human labour.”

This story from Brunswick News was written by Local Journalism Initiative Reporter John Chilibeck.

Posted in economic development, Environment, LJI stories, New Brunswick government | Tagged , | 3 Comments

First Nation demands stop to construction of Tantramar gas plant

Posted on September 11, 2026 by brucewark

By: John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: The Daily Gleaner
September 8, 2026

New Brunswick’s biggest First Nation says it wants the provincial government to stop the construction of the proposed 500 MW gas plant on the Chignecto Isthmus, arguing no preparation work should happen until it reaches an accommodation agreement with the builder.

Elsipogtog First Nation posted a statement from the chief and council on its Facebook page on September 2nd about the Holt government’s decision to give the Tantramar gas plant conditional approval.

Their statement expresses concern about the plant disturbing critical moose habitat, a migratory corridor for wildlife and a “documented family trapline and camping area.”

But, it appears, the First Nation is unlikely to get its way, judging by the provincial government’s response.

The Mi’kmaq community is about 100 kilometres north of Centre Village, where the American firm PROENERGY plans to build the gas/diesel plant to generate up to 400 MW of electricity for NB Power and an additional 100 MW for Nova Scotia’s Independent Energy System Operator.

The chief and council consider it part of their traditional Indigenous territory, with a legal title claim for more than 20,000 square kilometres of land that’s still pending.

“Elsipogtog is asking the Province to pause further licences, permits and approvals while the Nation, and the Crown and the project proponent complete consultation and reach agreement on reasonable accommodation,” the Facebook post states.

The “Nation” refers to the Indigenous government, while the “Crown” is the provincial and federal governments, which have inherited the role of the British monarchy in treaties signed between the two sides three centuries ago. The “proponent” is PROENERGY.

“Chief and Council remain open to a constructive path forward, including meaningful benefit sharing, decision-making and the exploration of majority Mi’kmaq ownership,” the statement says.

Arren Sock, Elsipogtog’s chief, and the rest of the 13-member council did not reply to messages from Brunswick News seeking further comment.

Provincial response

Environment Minister Gilles LePage. Photo: Government of New Brunswick

A spokesman for the provincial government said last week that the environmental impact assessment, or EIA, the department of environment undertook already considered their concerns.

“The Environmental Impact Assessment process provides an opportunity for the public, including First Nations, to provide input and ask questions,” wrote Bruce Macfarlane in an e-mail to Brunswick News.

“In addition, and in parallel, there is a duty to consult obligation, and the required consultation is considered completed,” he added.

On August 28th, Gilles LePage, the province’s environment minister, announced conditional approval for the project, which NB Power says must be up and running by 2028 or the province risks running short of electricity. Without it, executives with the public utility say, New Brunswickers could face brownouts or rolling blackouts.

Opponents, including the 26 groups that have formed the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC)  have condemned the plan, arguing a gas plant, backed up by diesel, shouldn’t be used to supplement wind and solar power when the weather isn’t favourable or during winter peaks. They argue that battery energy storage systems (BESS) would be more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable combined with other measures to reduce the demand for electricity.

The PCIC warns that greenhouse gases from the plant would worsen the climate crisis, emit toxic gases and soot that damage human health and threaten wildlife on the ecologically sensitive Chignecto Isthmus.

LePage, however, argued that a technical review committee, with dozens of experts, carefully reviewed the plan and imposed 45 conditions that address all of these concerns. The site was selected partly because it intersects with NB Power’s main transmission line and a natural gas pipeline from the U.S. that would supply fuel to the plant.

Keeping Elsipogtog informed

Sign posted on Rte. 940 across from the entrance to the proposed gas plant site

One of the provincial conditions requires PROENERGY to keep the First Nation informed.

“The proponent must engage in on-going information sharing with Elsipogtog First Nation throughout the project in relation to any impacts on plant or wildlife, including moose, as identified by monitoring programs.”

Reporters asked LePage why other First Nations weren’t mentioned. The project is closer to Fort Folly First Nation, near Dorchester, which is about 22 kilometres from Centre Village as the crow flies.

Besides Elsipogtog and Fort Folly, there are seven other Mi’kmaq communities in eastern New Brunswick, all with territorial claims to the area.

LePage said Elsipogtog was included because it had raised the most concerns.

There are a series of permits and approvals PROENERGY must meet before and after construction starts.

Those outstanding licences and permits are what Elsipogtog wants paused.

The Facebook post argued that LePage gave conditional approval, “even though consultation with Elsipogtog is not complete. Elsipogtog First Nation has not consented to the project.”

The chief and council say a Mi’kmaq knowledge and land use study hasn’t been completed, and “meaningful accommodation for impacts on our rights and interests has not been agreed upon.”

Government spokesman Bruce Macfarlane, however, pushed back against these assertions.

“The Department of Environment and Local Government will continue to work closely with the proponent to ensure the conditions of the EIA determination are followed,” he wrote.

The chief and councillors insist NB Power chose the site without asking Elsipogtog’s opinion.

“Earlier involvement could have allowed alternatives that reduce impacts on medicines, wetlands, wildlife habitat and the exercise of Aboriginal and Treaty Rights,” their release states.

It also says the chief and council are not opposed to reasonable development.

“Elsipogtog remains willing to work toward solutions, but respect for our rights requires more than being informed after decisions have already been made.”

To read the release from the Elsipogtog chief and council, click here.

This story was written, with additional files from Bruce Wark, by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with Brunswick News.

Posted in climate change, Environment, Indigenous affairs, LJI stories, NB Power | Tagged , , | 1 Comment