June 1, 2007 Paul Zed Urges Government of Canada to Partner with the Government of New Brunswick to Study Feasibility of a Second Nuclear Reactor at Point Lepreau; Requests Support from Southern New Brunswick Mayors OTTAWA - Saint John Member of Parliament Paul Zed is urging the Government of Canada to partner with the Government of New Brunswick in a feasibility study of a second nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau. Mr. Zed has written the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) urging this partnership to move ahead. "Premier Graham's recent Budget committed his government to undertake this study," said Mr. Zed. "The Final Report of the New Brunswick Self-Sufficiency Task Force recommended a feasibility study with AECL as a partner. It's now time to move ahead with this important study." In his letter to Minister Lunn, Mr. Zed points out that this project is something that the community has been working on in Greater Saint John for more than four years. "I strongly advocated the opening of an AECL office in Saint John to work on the Point Lepreau refurbishment in 2005, and I was pleased when AECL signed an agreement with Argentina to provide specialized training on retubing the CANDU 6 reactor in Saint John," said Mr. Zed. "This was recognition of the leading role that Saint John and New Brunswick are playing as an energy and nuclear Centre of Excellence, and I believe that we can build on this successful work by having AECL participate in this feasibility study." Mr. Zed also points out that when the Point Lepreau Generating Station was initially constructed, there were plans for the construction of two CANDU reactors; therefore the site could accommodate the construction of this second reactor. "Generating power at Point Lepreau has also avoided over 100 million tones of air pollution from entering our environment," said Mr. Zed "As your government looks for ways to reduce greenhouse gas production, I would suggest to you that the construction of a second reactor could go a long way to meeting this important objective. Mr. Zed has also written to Mayors from Southern New Brunswick to enlist their support in lobbying the Government of Canada to be a partner in the feasibility study. A copy of Mr. Zed's letter to Minister Lunn is below. -30- Media contact: Anne Gilbride 506-657-2500 June 1, 2007 Honourable Gary Lunn, P.C., M.P. Minister of Natural Resources Sir William Logan Building, 21st Floor 580 Booth Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E4 Re: Feasibility Study of a Second Nuclear Reactor at Point Lepreau Dear Minister Lunn: I am writing to seek your support and participation in a feasibility study of a second nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau, in New Brunswick. As you know, in his March 13, 2007 Budget, New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham committed his government to undertake this study, and in their May 7th Final Report, the New Brunswick Self-Sufficiency Task Force made the following recommendation: Negotiate with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) a feasibility study for the Advanced Candu reactor program, a new nuclear fuel fabrication facility and a centre of excellence for the retubing of the AECL Candu reactors. In this regard, I would ask that your department as well as the Crown Corporation AECL participate and become partners and assist with funding for this study. I support this and offer any help and support you may need to move this file forward to a successful conclusion. As you may know, this project is something that we have been working on in Greater Saint John for more than four years. I strongly advocated the opening of an AECL office in Saint John to work on the Point Lepreau refurbishment in 2005, and I was pleased when AECL signed an agreement with Argentina to provide specialized training on retubing the CANDU 6 reactor in Saint John. This was recognition of the leading role that Saint John and New Brunswick are playing as an energy and nuclear Centre of Excellence, and I believe that we can build on this successful work by having AECL participate in this feasibility study. The Point Lepreau Generating Station has produced over $5 billion dollars worth of power over the course of its life, and with its refurbishment it will produce a similar amount. Generating power at Point Lepreau has also avoided over 100 million tonnes of air pollution from entering our environment. As your government looks for ways to reduce greenhouse gas production, I would suggest to you that the construction of a second reactor could go a long way to meeting this important objective. When the Point Lepreau Generating Station was initially constructed, there were plans for the construction of two CANDU reactors; therefore the site could accommodate the construction of this second reactor. I look forward to discussing this with or your officials so that we can develop a plan to announce this feasibility study as soon as possible. Kind regards, Paul Zed c.c. Honourable Greg Thompson, P.C., M.P.