The editor:
Yes, we are going to lose jobs from the coal mines. Let’s start thinking about nuclear.
Everything we need to make Estevan the Energy City again is here. The only thing we are lacking is the method to make steam. We cannot expect the sun and wind to run the blast furnace at Evraz Place or the potash mines or the upgrader in Regina.
Think about what it would take now to run a natural gas pipeline to Shand from Alberta. Pipelines for this purpose are bad news now.
What I am talking about is ripping out one boiler at Boundary Dam and replacing it with a nuclear reactor. With a little modification on the steel superstructure to accommodate the reactor, it could be done.
What we have here is the cooling water for the reactor, the turbine, the generator, the transformer, the transmission lines to all parts of the province. The environmental impacts would be held to a minimum.
We have the SE College and two first-class universities that could start teaching fission classes now to keep the high paying jobs for the young people here.
Let’s get the city council and the provincial politicians thinking this way and build on what we have.
Vernon (Butch) Mclean
Estevan
